The LAZ-697M "Tourist" bus replaced in 1970 the previously produced LAZ-697E bus. The new bus was different from the previous one with a slightly different upper body part with enlarged side windows and the absence of an air intake-pipe at the back - Air intake for the engine was now carried out through the side deflectors. The first demonstration bus LAZ-697M was shown at an exhibition in Moscow in 1969 and differed from the serial ones in a slightly different design of the front end and emergency opening exits in place of some side windows. This bus was then demonstrated several times at various exhibitions up to the year of the end of the production of the entire LAZ-697M series. LAZ-697M buses were mass-produced until 1975, and you can always distinguish them by the capital letter "L" on the front end. At the end of the production of LAZ-697M, a transitional model was produced in which the front part of the bus was still preserved from LAZ-697M, and the rear part of the body already corresponded to LAZ-697N.