[1][2] The car was built to serve high and medium rank Soviet nomenklatura, but was also readily available as a taxi and ambulance.

Unlike its successors, ZIM was the only Soviet executive class full-size car that was actually made available for private ownership.

[1] GAZ began the design process for what became the M12 in May 1948, when the Soviet government requested a six-passenger sedan for the niche between the ZIS-110 and the Pobeda, with a deadline of twenty-nine months to produce it.

[3][1] Due to the lack of time, head designer Andrei Lipgart was given a choice between copying an American product (a Buick) or developing an entirely new model.

[2] The first car was built in October 1950, and was notionally available to average citizens; its 40,000 ruble price made purchase unlikely (comparing to 16,000 for mid-class Pobeda).

[8] There was also a taxi variant GAZ-12A, used mainly as a marshrutka in state-owned inter-city communication,[1] and a draisine designed and built on the ZIM basis for the use on narrow-gauge railways.

[1] Due to the high price, the ZIM was exported only to a limited extent, including some examples to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Finland (as large-capacity taxis or sometimes even for private sale) and the GDR.

In Czechoslovakia, it was intended to replace the Tatras of the pre-war period, but was not particularly popular due to the poorer driving performance and the initially not fully satisfactory build quality.