Since the Soviet automobile industry had gained experience with US designs through the licensed production of the Ford AA as GAZ-AA, its new developments were strongly influenced by American truck construction.

The ZIS-15 had a newly developed chassis, an advanced engine with an output of 82 hp (60 kW) and a new all-metal cab with three seats.

In 1956, Stalin's name was erased and the manufacturing plant was renamed Zavod imeni Likhacheva (Завод имени Лихачёва).

In the following year, production of the vehicle, now called the ZIL-150, was discontinued in favor of its successor, the ZIL-164, which however was basically nothing more than a modernized and modified variant of the ZIS-150 truck.

Visually, the vehicles differed mainly in the modified radiator grille, the struts of which now ran vertically instead of horizontally.

In addition, an engine preheater was installed and other minor adjustments were made to keep the truck operational even at low temperatures.

For the first time in Soviet commercial vehicle construction, a five-speed manual transmission was used, which was connected to the engine via a two-disc dry clutch.

In the process, the hoses of the compressed air system were often destroyed, which led to a sudden loss of braking power.

The frame was reinforced, the vehicle was now fitted with hydraulic shock absorbers and the travel of the leaf springs on the front axle was limited by rubber buffers.