 Until the late 1970s, however, spare parts were produced by different plants all over the USSR, and some plants were re-building M21s using spare parts, wrecked, and junked cars.In 1988, about 80,000 M21 Volgas were registered in the USSR.One M21 was given to Yuri Gagarin after his orbital flight; Gagarin was very fond of his Volga.