The only proper Russian major manufacturer, car maker and, later, warplane-maker, was Russo-Balt (or Russo-Baltique), founded in 1903 at Riga, then the industrial centre of Imperial Russia, with German and Russian private funds. This was at first a subsidiary of the German Company Van der Zypen & Charlier based in Cologne and known in 1874 as the “Russo-Baltic wagon Factory”.Cars were built from 1909 at the railway car factory RBVZ, until 1915 when the company was evacuated near Moscow (after the revolution taking the name of BTAZ.). By 1909 the company launched the 24-30 and later the Type C, which was declined in many variants. This was a reliable model which was chosen, due to its availability, to create one of the first Russian armoured cars before the war, in 1912. Designer Jarlang
