It was the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a car for disabled people, distributed to all those in need through SOBES. Since before the Second World War, the Soviet auto industry was only in its infancy, and immediately after it, the leader of the world proletariat was simply not up to it, the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating the first invalid car appeared only in 1950, when Nikolai Yushmanov (who is also the chief designer of the GAZ-12 Zim and GAZ-13 "Chaika") created a prototype of the first disabled woman. Moreover, it was not a motorized carriage, but a full-fledged car. This miniature car was GAZ-M18 (at first in the index of the car, according to old memory, the letter M remained - from "Molotov Plant").

The closed all-metal body, stylistically reminiscent of "Victory", looked a bit ridiculous, but it had full-fledged seats that were not cramped, full-fledged control with several options (designed even for disabled people without one arm and both legs). The designers did not go for the use of weak motorcycle engines. By the way, according to the terms of reference, the power was supposed to be about 10 liters. from. Gorky residents "cut" the "Muscovite" engine in half, having received a two-cylinder, but quite efficient, powerful enough and reliable unit. It was installed at the back. It had an independent torsion bar suspension, and the gearbox was (ho ho!) Automatic, from the GAZ-21. There is one checkpoint larger than the motor :) The car was successfully prepared for serial production. In a literal sense, this car was brought to Serpukhov on a silver platter, where, on the instructions of the party, this car was to be produced, because GAZ did not have enough capacity to produce a new model ..

But at SeAZ they simply could not cope - the Serpukhov plant was unable to produce anything more complicated than motorized carriages. And there were not enough workers, and those that were, were, to put it mildly, not the best spill, and there was no equipment. However, proposals to move the production to GAZ received a tough and decisive refusal "from above". Which is extremely insulting. She was an advanced disabled woman at that time, in fact, for the whole world.

This is how the Serpukhov plant mastered the production of wretched sidecars, which were proudly called "cars for the disabled."

1) The first in the list of squalor was SMZ S-1L.

The chosen three-wheeled scheme allowed the use of extremely simple motorcycle steering, and at the same time saves on wheels. A welded space frame made of pipes was proposed as a supporting base. Sheathed the frame with steel sheets, we received the necessary closed volume for the driver, passenger, engine and controls. Under the guileless panels of the roadster (it was decided to make the two-door body open, with a folding awning), there was a relatively spacious two-seater cabin and a two-stroke single-cylinder engine located behind the seat back. The main component of the front "engine compartment" space was the steering and suspension of the single front wheel. The rear suspension was made independent, on wishbones. Each wheel was "served" by one spring and one friction shock absorber. ABOUT

ba brakes and main and parking - were manual. Of course, the rear wheels became the leading ones. The electric starter was considered a luxury, the engine was started with a manual "kick", a single headlight nestled on the nose of the body. The cyclopean appearance was slightly brightened up by two lanterns on the rounded sidewalls of the front end, which simultaneously served as sidelights and turn signals. The stroller did not have a trunk. The overall picture of rationality bordering on asceticism was completed by the doors, which were metal frames sheathed with awning fabric. The car turned out to be relatively light - 275 kg, which allowed it to accelerate to 30 km / h. The consumption of "66" gasoline was 4-4.5 liters per 100 km. The undoubted advantages are the simplicity and maintainability of the design, however, the C1L barely overcame even not very serious climbs, it was practically unsuitable for off-road conditions. But the main achievement is the very fact of the appearance of the country's first specialized vehicle for disabled people, which gave the impression of a simple car, albeit a simple one.

Specifications

Dimensions, mm
length x width x height	2650x1388x1330
base	1600
Body	phaeton
Layout
engine	behind
driving wheels	rear
Maximum speed, km / h	30
Engine	"Moscow-M1A", carburetor.two-stroke
number of cylinders	1
working volume	123 cm 3
power, hp / kW	4 / 2.9 at 4500 rpm
Transmission	mechanical three-stage
Pendants
front	spring
back	independent, spring
Brakes	mechanical
in front	no
behind	drum
Electrical equipment	6 in
Tire size	4.50-19

SMZ-S1L was produced from 1952 to 1957. In total, 19,128 sidecars were produced during this time. Of course, against the background of the need of hundreds of thousands of our disabled people for a specialized vehicle, such a number looks insignificant. But in Serpukhov, they worked in three shifts in order to "Provide the motherland with disabled women, BLEAT!" I apologize, I could not help but insert the last word, but it accurately describes my attitude to such a kind of stupid slogans (I respect the USSR and even love all sorts of slogans, but these really enrage).

Since the SMZ-S1L was at first the only vehicle available to disabled people in the USSR, and the SMZ did not have enough capacity to produce motorized sidecars in sufficient quantities, all the efforts of the factory OGK were aimed only at improving the already created design. No experiments were carried out to get something else out of a motorized carriage.

The only two modifications of the "invalid" (SMZ-S1L-O and SMZ-S1L-OL) differed from the base model by the controls. The "basic" version of the SMZ-S1L was designed for two-handed operation. The right, rotating handle of the motorcycle steering wheel controlled the "throttle". On the left side of the steering wheel was the clutch lever, headlight switch and signal button. In the front of the cab, to the right of the driver, there were levers for starting the engine (manual kick-starter), gear shifting, reverse gear, main and parking brakes - 5 levers!

When creating modifications SMZ-S1L-O and SMZ-S1L-OL, they clearly looked at the GAZ-M18. After all, these strollers were designed to be operated with only one hand - respectively, right or left. All wheelchair control mechanisms were located in the middle of the cab and represented a swinging arm mounted on a vertical steering shaft. Accordingly, turning the lever left and right, the driver changed the direction of travel. By moving the lever up and down, it was possible to change gears. To brake, you had to pull the "steering wheel" towards you. This “joystick” was crowned with a motorcycle throttle, clutch lever, left turn signal switch, headlight switch and horn button.

On the right, on the central tube of the frame, there were levers for the kick-starter, parking brake and reverse gear. To keep the hand from getting tired, the seat is equipped with an armrest. The difference between the modifications SMZ-S1L-O and SMZ-S1L-OL was only in the fact that the first was designed for drivers with a valid right hand, the driver was sitting in a "legal" place for right-hand traffic, that is, on the left, and, accordingly, all controls were slightly shifted towards him; SMZ-S1L-OL was a "mirror" in relation to the described option: it was designed for a driver with only one left hand, and in the cockpit he was located on the right. Modifications so intricate in management were produced from 1957 to 1958 inclusive.

2) The second on the list of dull freaks (and I do not mean design) was the SMZ S-3A.

Produced from 1958 to 1970, 203,291 cars were produced. In fact, this is still the same S-1L, only 4-wheel with a front torsion bar suspension and a simple round (not a concept car) steering wheel.

The hopes that hundreds of thousands of post-war disabled people had pinned on the appearance of the first motorized carriage in the USSR were soon replaced by bitter disappointment: the three-wheeled design of the SMZ S-1L, for a number of objective reasons, turned out to be too imperfect. The engineers of the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant carried out a serious "work on the mistakes", as a result of which in 1958 the second generation "invalid woman" - SMZ S-ZA - was published.

Despite the creation of its own design bureau in Serpukhov back in 1952, all further work on the creation, modernization and refinement of sidecars at the plant took place from now on in close cooperation with the Scientific Automotive Institute (NAMI).

By 1957, under the leadership of Boris Mikhailovich Fitterman (until 1956 he developed off-road vehicles at the ZIS), NAMI designed a promising "invalid" NAMI-031. It was a car with a fiberglass three-volume two-seater two-door body on a frame. The Irbit motorcycle engine (obviously, the M-52 version) with a working volume of 489 cm3 developed a power of 13.5 liters. from. This model, in addition to the two-cylinder engine, was distinguished from the Serpukhov motorized carriage by hydraulic brakes.
However, this option only demonstrated what a motorized carriage should be, ideally, but in practice it all boiled down to the modernization of an existing design. This is how the touching four-wheeled little car C-3A was born, the only source of pride for which was the disappointing: "And still ours." At the same time, one cannot blame the Serpukhov and Moscow designers for the negligence: the flight of their engineering thought was regulated by the meager technical capabilities of a motorcycle factory located on the territory of a former monastery.

It will probably be useful to remember that in 1957, when variants of primitive sidecars were being developed at one "pole" of the Soviet automobile industry, at the other they were mastering the representative ZIL-111 ...

Note that “correcting mistakes” could have taken a completely different path, because there was also an alternative Gorky project for a wheelchair. It all began in 1955, when a group of veterans from Kharkov on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Victory wrote a collective letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU about the need to produce a full-fledged car for disabled people. The assignment for the development of such a machine was given to GAZ.

The creator of ZIM (and later "The Seagull") Nikolai Yushmanov took up the design on his own initiative. Since he understood that at the Gorky plant, the car, called GAZ-18, would not be mastered anyway, he did not limit his imagination in anything. As a result, the prototype, which appeared at the end of 1957, looked like this: a closed all-metal two-seat two-door body, stylistically reminiscent of the "Victory". Two-cylinder engine with a capacity of about 10 liters. from. was a "half" of the power unit "Moskvich-402". The main thing in this development was the use of a gearbox torque converter, which makes it possible to do without a pedal or clutch lever, and to drastically reduce the number of changes, which is especially important for disabled people.

The practice of operating a three-wheeled motorized carriage showed that a two-stroke single-cylinder motorcycle engine IZH-49 with a working volume of 346 cm3 and a capacity of 8 liters. s, which in 1955 began to equip the modification "L", a car of this class is enough. Thus, the main drawback that had to be eliminated was precisely the three-wheeled scheme. Not only did the "lack of limbs" affect the stability of the machine, it nullified its already low cross-country ability: it is much more difficult to make three tracks on the off-road than two. The “four-wheeled vehicle” entailed a number of inevitable changes.

The suspension, steering, brakes and body were to be brought to mind. The independent suspension of all wheels and rack and pinion steering for the serial model were still borrowed from the prototype NAMI-031. At zero thirty-first, in turn, the design of the front suspension was developed under the influence of the Volkswagen Beetle suspension: plate torsion bars enclosed in transverse tubes. Both these pipes and the spring suspension of the rear wheels were attached to a welded space frame. According to some reports, this frame was made of chrome-plated pipes, which at first, when production required a significant amount of manual labor, made the cost of a motorized stroller higher than the cost of its modern Moskvich! Oscillations were damped by the simplest friction shock absorbers.

The engine and transmission have not changed. The Izh-49 two-stroke "tarahtelka" was still located in the rear. The transmission of torque from the engine to the driving rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox was carried out by a sleeve-roller chain (like on a bicycle), since the main gear housing, which combines the bevel differential and the reverse "speed", was located separately. The forced air cooling of a single cylinder with the help of a fan has not gone anywhere either. The electric starter inherited from its predecessor was low-power and therefore ineffective.

The owners of SMZ S-ZA used the kick-starter lever that went into the salon much more often. The body, thanks to the appearance of the fourth wheel, naturally expanded at the front. There were two headlights, and since they were placed in their own cases and attached to the sides of the hood on small brackets, the little car acquired a naive and silly "facial expression". There were still two places, including the driver's one. The frame was sheathed with metal stamped panels, the fabric top was folded, which, among other things, in combination with two doors, allows the body of the motorcycle to be classified as a "roadster". Here, in fact, the whole car.

The car, started with the aim of improving the previous model, ridding its design of significant shortcomings, was itself stuffed with absurdities. The stroller turned out to be heavy, which negatively affected its dynamics and fuel consumption, and the small wheels (5.00 by 10 inches) did not contribute to improving cross-country ability.
Already in 1958, the first attempt at modernization was made. A modification of the S-ZAB with rack-and-pinion steering appeared, and on the doors, instead of tarpaulin sidewalls with transparent celluloid inserts, full-fledged glasses appeared in frames. In 1962, the machine underwent further improvements: friction shock absorbers gave way to telescopic hydraulic; rubber bushings for axle shafts and a more advanced muffler appeared. Such a motorized carriage received the SMZ S-ZAM index and was subsequently produced without changes, since since 1965 at the plant and in NAMI they began work on the third-generation disabled woman SMZ S-ZD, which seemed more promising.

SMZ-S-3AM⁄
SMZ S-ZA somehow did not work out with “variations” ... The versions with hydraulic shock absorbers SMZ S-ZAM and the SMZ S-ZB adapted for one-hand and one-leg control can hardly be considered independent modifications of the base model.

All attempts to improve the design boiled down to the creation of many prototypes, but none of them made it to mass production for a banal reason: the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant lacked not only experience to master prototypes, but also funds, equipment, production capacity.

Experimental modifications:

* C-4A (1959) - an experimental version with a hard roof, did not go into production.
* C-4B (1960) - prototype with a coupe body, did not go into production.
* S-5A (1960) - a prototype with fiberglass body panels, did not go into the series.
* SMZ-NAMI-086 "Sputnik" (1962) - a prototype of a micro-car with a closed body, developed by the designers of NAMI, ZIL and AZLK, did not go into series.

A well-known fact, but still ..

- "WHERE IS THE FUCK DISABLED?
- "Do not be noisy! I am disabled!"

Due to the low weight (425 kilos, which, however, was extremely small for an 8-horsepower engine), the hero of Morgunov (hence the nickname "Morgunovka") could easily move the car in the snow alone, taking it by the bumper.

By the way, why do Soviet disabled people need a convertible? Take a sip of the sweet life in the summer and freeze everything in the winter without a stove?

3) Closes the top three of the outsiders of the Soviet automotive industry, ugly, both externally and technically, the FIRST invalid woman is NOT a convertible (bespontovaya invalid ...).

It was produced right up to 1997! And it was a modified version of the C-3A with an 18-horsepower Izh-Planet-3 engine and plenty of legroom

The production of SMZ-SZD began in July 1970 and lasted for over a quarter of a century. The last motorized carriage rolled off the assembly line of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant (SeAZ) in the fall of 1997: after that the enterprise completely switched to the assembly of Oka cars. A total of 223,051 copies of the SZD motorized sidecar were produced. Since 1971, the SMZ-SZE modification has been produced in small batches, equipped to operate with one hand and one foot. Motorcycle carriages with an open top manufactured by the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant (SMZ) became obsolete by the mid-60s: a modern micro-car was to replace the three-wheeled "invalid".

The state allowed not to save on people with disabilities, and the designers of SMZ began to develop motorized carriages with a closed body. The design of the third generation motorized carriage by the forces of the Department of the Chief Designer of the SMZ began in 1967 and coincided with the reconstruction of the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant. But the reconstruction was aimed not at expanding the technological capabilities associated with the production of minicars, but at the development of new types of products. In 1965, SMZ began to produce units of potato harvesters, and since 1970 in Serpukhov they began to produce children's bicycles "Motylek". July 1, 1970 at the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant began mass production of the third generation SZD sidecars. The design, dictated by the economy rather than ergonomics, had several drawbacks. The nearly 500-pound stroller was heavy for its powertrain.

A year and a half after the start of production, on November 15, 1971, motorized carriages began to be equipped with a forced version of the Izhevsk IZH-PZ engine, but even its 14 horsepower was not always enough for a disabled woman who was almost 50 kilograms heavy. The control fuel consumption in comparison with the SZA model increased by a liter, and the operating fuel consumption by 2-3 liters. The "congenital" disadvantages of the SPD include the increased noise emitted by the two-stroke engine and the ingress of exhaust gases into the passenger compartment. The diaphragm fuel pump, which was supposed to provide an uninterrupted supply of fuel, in cold weather became a source of headache for drivers: the condensate deposited inside the pump froze, and the engine "died", negating the advantages of a cold start of an air-cooled engine. And yet, the SMZ-SZD motorized carriage can be considered a completely complete, "established" micro-car for disabled people. The USSR fell into the lethargy of stagnation.

The Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant did not escape stagnation either. SMZ “increased the pace of production”, “increased volumes”, “fulfilled and exceeded the plan”. The plant regularly produced motorized carriages in an unprecedented amount of 10-12 thousand per year, and in 1976-1977 production reached 22 thousand per year. But compared with the turbulent period of the late 50s and early 60s, when several promising models of sidecars were “invented” every year, “technical creativity” at SMZ stopped. Everything that was created by the Chief Designer Department during this period, most likely, went “on the table”. And the reason for this was not the inertia of the factory engineers, but the policy of the ministry. Only in 1979 did the officials give the go-ahead for the creation of a new passenger car of a special small class. The Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant has entered the ten-year era of "torturing" the Oka car industry. During the Soviet era, the components and assemblies of motorized carriages, due to their availability, cheapness and reliability, were widely used for the "garage" manufacture of microcars, tricycles, walk-behind tractors, mini-tractors, all-terrain vehicles on pneumatics and other equipment.

By the way, why are so few of these strollers survived? Because they were issued to disabled people for five years. After two and a half years of operation, they were repaired free of charge, and after another 2.5 years, new ones were issued (without fail), and the old ones were disposed of. Therefore, it is a great success to find S-1L in any condition!

sources
http://smotra.ru/users/m5sergey/blog/124114/
http://auction.retrobazar.com/
http://scalehobby.org/
http://aebox.biz/

And I will remind you of the past posts from the series "Soviet auto industry": and The original article is on the site InfoGlaz.rf The link to the article this copy was made from is

Among cars there are examples that embody the history of society. One of these machines is the SZD motorized carriage as an intermediate link between a motorcycle and a full-fledged car.

Today, the SZD motorcycle stroller can only be displayed at the show of retro cars. This vehicle was produced from 1970 to 1997. - almost 30 years. For disabled people of the Soviet era, this motorized carriage was an irreplaceable means of transportation, moreover, it was issued by the state for free. A person could use it for 2.5 years, then major repairs were carried out, and also free of charge. The repaired SZD motorized carriage was returned to the disabled person, and he could ride it for another 2.5 years. It was believed that after 5 years the motor resource was completely consumed, the vehicle had to be returned to the social security authorities. After that, the disabled person was given a new SZD motorized carriage. Thanks to this transport, people with injuries of the lower extremities could lead a full life, move wherever they please and feel quite comfortable not only in city traffic, but also on dirt roads. It was essentially an ATV with an attached body. The designers have achieved that the legs of a person in a motorized carriage could be fully straightened, and the movement could be controlled by hands. For those people whose legs did not bend, transport has become a real boon.

After World War II, yesterday's legless fighters, who had orders and medals, moved on homemade carts, looking up at people. Being on the same level with healthy people was the best means of social rehabilitation.

Why a motorized stroller?

The designers of the Soviet period wanted to create a simple and trouble-free little car for rural residents, but the state allocated funds to support the disabled. The transport was supposed to be produced at GAZ, but the plant was overloaded with the production of trucks, and the order was transferred to Serpukhov. The plant there had a much more modest technical base, as a result of which the SZD motorized carriage was significantly simplified and adapted to local capabilities. The result was a compromise between a real passenger car and a good prosthesis: the advantages and disadvantages were present in equal measure.

For the sake of fairness, it must be said that the parts of the motorized carriage were in great demand, from which other equipment was made in the garages of the "kulibins": all-terrain vehicles, tiny tractors, snowmobiles, motor cars of their own design and other models. In the Soviet magazine "Modelist-Constructor" people shared their technical solutions on this topic. Boys in the Houses of Pioneers and circles of young technicians eagerly made various moving homemade products, the parts for which were the same decommissioned motorized carriages.

On a string to the world

They did not invent anything especially for motorized carriages, but took the finished one and modified it. So, the engine of the SZD motorcycle stroller is motorcycle, from IZH-Planet, the drive is rear. The steering is rack and pinion, the suspension of all wheels is independent torsion bar, the body is load-bearing, the brakes of all four wheels are hydraulic. The front suspension was "written off" from the "Beetle", it was invented by Ferdinand Porsche himself.

The motorcycle engine has become derated. It was equipped with forced air cooling, an additional electric starter was added, and a Muscovite generator was installed nearby. The fuel tank was placed lower than on the motorcycle, and an additional fuel pump was installed, which was used on boats. All this led to the fact that the engine was not afraid of any frost, the start took place in one touch.

The fuel for the engine was a mixture of gasoline and oil in a ratio of 20: 1, and people managed to add working off to low-octane gasoline. The stroller was still driving, but the service life of the engine was reduced. A 10 horsepower motor consumed 5 liters of fuel per 100 km.

The transmission is mechanical 4-speed, there is no reverse gear. Instead of a reverse gear, a gearbox or reverse was installed, so the stroller could go back in any gear. There was also a petrol heater with a separate petrol tank.

Control levers

They are truly unique, a person could do with his hands what everyone else uses 4 limbs for. In addition to the levers we were used to, the SZD wheelchair for disabled also had the following:

• Brake lever.
• Reverse.
• Kick starter.
• Clutches.
• Accelerator (gas).

It was not very comfortable to ride a motorized carriage.

The little car "sneezed", crackled, was poorly heated, thundered and could reach a speed of no more than 55 km / h. There could be only one passenger, but still people were protected from snow, bad weather and off-road conditions. The length of the stroller is slightly more than 2.5 meters, and the weight is about half a ton. In the unforgettable "Operation Y" "actor Morgunov easily moves the car, the same thing could be repeated by any person. With the light hand of a wonderful actor, the little car got the popular name "Morgunovka".

Innovative technical solutions

The technical characteristics of the SZD motorized carriage were far ahead of their time. So, each wheel had an independent suspension. This design appeared on Soviet cars only 20 years later. This scheme is better known under the name "MacPherson pendant", it is also "swinging candle". Each wheel has a shock absorber, so the stroller was not afraid of loose soil, sand, stones, or shallow pits. The stroller was an ideal means of transportation on rough roads and off-road.

The rack and pinion type of steering was also first installed on a motorized carriage. This type gives high rigidity. Simply put, rack and pinion steering is easy to turn the wheels in a critical situation, it is safe and simple. After the end of the turn, the steering wheel automatically returns to its original position, and backlash never occurs.

Clutch cable drive is another technical simplification. No power steering or oil is required, just one cable - and the clutch discs are divorced, the transmission of torque from the engine to the wheels is stopped.

Electrical diagram

It included 42 elements that provided all the functions necessary for the car. The electrical circuit of the SZD motorized carriage had the following main components:

• Accumulator battery.
• Generator.
• Lights and stop lights.
• Relay switches.
• Control lamps.
• Headlights and sidelights.
• Wiper.
• Fuse box.

There was even such a luxury as an engine compartment lamp. There was a control lamp - a neutral position indicator, a plug socket, a fuse box, and a lamp in the passenger compartment. The dashboard is a minimalist's dream: speedometer, ammeter and fuel level indicator. The engine could be started with both a key and a kickstarter lever. At a time when half of the cars started up with a “crooked starter” in any weather, the ability to start the engine from the passenger compartment was incredibly comfortable.

Is it possible to buy a stroller today?

A real rarity - this is how the SZD motorized carriage is called today. Avito, for example, offers options both in Moscow and in other regions of Russia. In the capital "Morgunovka" costs about half a million rubles, however, it has undergone a complete restoration, and this is a collector's item. Ordinary motorized carriages in varying degrees of safety, with and without documents, are sold at prices ranging from 6,000 to 25,000 rubles.

They buy a motorized carriage today not so much for utilitarian purposes as as a materialized memory of a warm, but forever past time.

1992 S-3D motorcycle stroller - new, no run

S-3D (es-tri-de) - a two-seater four-wheeled motorized car of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant (at that time still SMZ). The car replaced the S3AM motorized carriage in 1970.

History of creation

Work on the creation of an alternative to the S3A motorcycle stroller was carried out in fact since its development in production in 1958 (NAMI-031, NAMI-048, NAMI-059, NAMI-060 and others), however, the technological backwardness of the Serpukhov plant has long prevented the introduction of more advanced designs ... Only by the beginning of 1964 there was a real prospect of updating the production equipment of the SMZ for the release of a new model. Its development was carried out with the participation of specialists from NAMI and the Special Artistic Design Bureau (SCHKB) under the Moscow Economic Council, and in accordance with the wishes of the customer, represented by the Serpukhov Plant, the future car was initially developed as a light all-purpose vehicle with all-terrain capability for rural areas, which left an imprint on it. appearance (designers - Eric Sabo and Eduard Molchanov). Subsequently, the project of a rural off-road vehicle was never implemented, however, design developments for it were in demand and formed the basis for the appearance of the motorized carriage.

Direct preparation for production began in 1967. For the Serpukhov plant, this model was supposed to be a breakthrough - the transition from an open frame-panel body with a spatial frame made of chrome-steel pipes and cladding obtained on bending and bending machines, very expensive and low-tech in mass production, to an all-metal carrier welded from stamped parts not only to greatly improve comfort, but also to provide a significant increase in production scale.

C3D production began in July 1970, and the last 300 copies left SeAZ in the fall of 1997. A total of 223,051 copies of the stroller were produced.

Design features

The body of the sidecar had a length of less than 3 meters, but at the same time the car weighed quite a lot - a little less than 500 kilograms in equipped form, more than a 2 + 2-seater Fiat Nuova 500 (470 kg) and is quite comparable with a four-seater "Trabant" with a plastic body (620 kg), and even "Okoy" (620 kg) and "humpback" "Zaporozhets" ZAZ-965 (640 kg).

Motorcycle engine - motorcycle type, single-cylinder, carburetor two-stroke, model "Izh-Planet-2", later - "Izh-Planet-3". Compared to motorcycle versions of these engines, designed for installation on motorized carriages, they were derated in order to achieve a greater motor resource when working with overload - up to 12 and 14 liters, respectively. from. Another important difference was the presence of a forced air cooling system in the form of a "blower" with a centrifugal fan that drives air through the fins of the cylinder.

For a rather heavy design, both engine options were frankly weak, while, like all two-stroke engines, they had a relatively high fuel consumption and a high level of noise - the gluttony of the stroller, however, was fully compensated by the cheapness of fuel in those years. The two-stroke engine required the addition of lubricating oil to gasoline, which created certain inconveniences with refueling. Since in practice, the fuel mixture was often prepared not in a measuring container, as required by the instructions, but "by eye", adding oil directly to the gas tank, the required proportion was not maintained, which led to increased engine wear - in addition, the owners of sidecars often saved by using low-grade industrial oils or even working off. The use of high-grade oils for four-stroke engines also led to increased wear - the complex additives contained in them burned out when the fuel was ignited, quickly contaminating the combustion chamber with carbon deposits. The most suitable for use in the motorized sidecar engine was a special high-quality oil for two-stroke engines with a special set of additives, but it practically did not go to retail.

A multi-disc "wet" clutch and a four-speed gearbox were located in the same crankcase with the engine, and rotation to the input shaft of the gearbox was transmitted from the crankshaft by a short chain (the so-called motor transmission). Gear shifting was carried out by a lever that outwardly resembles a car, but the sequential gear shifting mechanism dictated the "motorcycle" switching algorithm: the gears were engaged sequentially, one after the other, and neutral was located between the first and second gears. To engage the first gear from neutral, the lever with the clutch disengaged, it was necessary to move from the middle position forward and release, after which the transition to higher gears (shifting "up") was carried out by moving it from the middle position back (also with the clutch disengaged), and to the lower ( switching "down") - from the middle position forward, and after each switch, the lever released by the driver automatically returned to the middle position. Neutral was switched on when shifting from second gear "down", which was signaled by a special indicator lamp on the instrument panel, and the next downshift included first gear.

There was no reverse gear in the motorcycle gearbox, as a result of which the stroller had a reverse gear combined with the main transmission - any of the four available gears could be used to move backward, with a decrease in the number of revolutions compared to the forward gear by 1.84 times - the reverse gear ratio reducer. The reverse gear was switched on with a separate lever. The main gear and differential had bevel spur gears, the gear ratio of the main gear was 2.08. Torque was transmitted from the gearbox to the main gear by a chain drive, and from the main gear to the drive wheels - by semi-axles with elastic rubber joints.

Suspension - front and rear torsion bar, double trailing arms in front and single - at the rear. Wheels - dimension 10 ", with collapsible disks, tires 5.0-10".

Brakes - drum drum on all wheels, hydraulic drive from a hand lever.

The steering is a rack and pinion type.

Exploitation

Such cars were popularly referred to as "disabled women" and were distributed (sometimes with partial or full payment) through social security agencies among people with disabilities of various categories. Motorized carriages were issued with social security for 5 years. After two years and six months of operation, the disabled person received free repair of the “disabled woman,” then used this vehicle for another two and a half years. As a result, he was obliged to pass the motorized carriage to the social security and get a new one.

Driving a motorized sidecar required a category “A” driver's license (motorcycles and scooters) with a special mark. Training for people with disabilities was organized by the social security authorities.

During the Soviet era, the components and assemblies of motorized carriages (power unit assembly, differential with reverse gear, steering elements, brakes, suspensions, body parts and others), due to their availability, ease of maintenance and sufficient reliability, were widely used for the "garage" production of microcars, tricycles, snowmobiles, mini-tractors, all-terrain vehicles on pneumatics and other equipment - descriptions of such homemade products were published in abundance in the magazine "Modelist-Constructor". Also, decommissioned motorized carriages were in some places transferred by social security agencies to the Houses of Pioneers and the Station of Young Technicians, where their units were used for the same purposes.

Assessment

In general, the S3D motorized carriage remained the same unsuccessful compromise between a full-fledged two-seater microcar and a "motorized prosthesis", as the previous model, and this contradiction was not only not resolved, but also significantly aggravated. Even the increased comfort of the closed body did not compensate for the very low dynamic characteristics, noise, high weight, high fuel consumption and, in general, the concept of a micro-car on motorcycle units that was outdated by the standards of the seventies.

Throughout the production of the stroller, there has been a gradual drift from this concept to the use of an ordinary passenger car of an especially small class adapted for driving a disabled person. At first, the disabled modifications of the Zaporozhtsev became widespread, and later the S3D was replaced by the disabled modification of the Oka, which was issued to disabled people before the monetization of benefits, in recent years - along with the "classic" VAZ models adapted for manual control.

Despite the unprepossessing appearance and obvious prestige, the stroller had a number of constructive solutions that were unusual for the Soviet automobile industry and quite progressive at that time: it is enough to note the transverse arrangement of the engine, independent suspension of all wheels, rack and pinion steering, cable clutch drive - all this in those years has not yet become generally accepted in the practice of world automotive industry, and appeared on "real" Soviet cars only in the eighties. Due to the absence of an engine in the front, the replacement of foot pedals with special handles and levers, as well as the design of the front axle with transverse torsion bars extended far forward (like the Zaporozhets), there was enough room in the cabin for the driver's legs fully extended, which was especially important for those in whom they could not bend or were paralyzed.

The passability on sand and broken country roads for disabled women was excellent - this was affected by its low weight, short wheelbase, independent suspension and good loading of the driving axle due to the chosen layout. Only on loose snow was permeability low (some craftsmen used widened rims - the service life of tires on such rims was greatly reduced, but the contact patch with the road increased significantly, permeability improved, and the ride smoothness slightly increased).

In operation and maintenance, motorized carriages were generally unpretentious. Thus, a two-stroke air-cooled engine easily started up in any frost, warmed up quickly and did not cause any problems during operation in winter, unlike water-cooled engines (in those years, personal cars were operated mainly “on water” due to the shortage and low operating qualities of existing antifreezes). A weak point in operation in the winter was a membrane fuel pump - condensate sometimes froze in it in the cold, which caused the engine to stall while driving, as well as a gasoline interior heater, which was quite capricious - a description of its possible malfunctions took about a quarter of operation of S3D ”, although it provided all-weather operation of the stroller. Many components of the motorized carriage have earned a high appraisal from the operators and the amateur car manufacturers who used them in their designs due to the combination of simplicity and structural reliability.

In the 1990s, the Arctictrans association, together with the Serpukhov Automobile Plant, produced the Nara snow and swamp-going vehicle on the basis of S3D.

Serpukhovsky in 1970, to replace the S-ZAM motorized carriage, released the four-wheeled two-seater SMZ-SZD. Such cars were called "disabled" by the people because of their distribution through social security agencies among disabled people of different categories with full or partial payment.

Social security certificates were issued for motorized carriages for a period of five years. Free repair "invalid" was carried out after two and a half years of operation. The owner used the stroller for another two and a half years, after which he handed it back to the social security and received a new one. Not all disabled people who received such vehicles used them in the future.

Social welfare authorities organized training for people with disabilities to drive a motorized sidecar, which required a Category A driver's license.

History of creation

From 1952 to 1958, he produced the S-1L three-wheeled motorized car, which at the time of development was marked as SZL. It was replaced by the famous "Morgunovka" - an SZA model with a canvas top and an open body, featuring a four-wheel design.

SZA in many respects did not meet the requirements for cars of this type. This was the reason for the development of a new generation of cars, which began in the sixties, together with specialists from MZMA, NAMI and ZIL. The created prototype "Sputnik", which received the index SMZ-NAMI-086, was never put into mass production, and the automobile plant in Serpukhov continued the production of the four-wheeled "Morgunovka".

The design department of SMZ began developing a new generation of motorized carriages only in the early seventies and launched the created car into mass production under the index SMZ-SZD.

The main units, assemblies and components of motorized carriages during the Soviet era were widely used for the hand-made manufacture of vehicles due to their ease of maintenance, availability and sufficient reliability. Descriptions and design features of such homemade products were published everywhere in the magazines "Technology of Youth" and "Modelist-Constructor". The Sobes authorities often transferred the decommissioned models to the Young Technician Stations and the Houses of Pioneers, where they were used for similar purposes and made it possible for the younger generation to study the automotive industry.

Specifications

The "disabled woman" car from the USSR was equipped with a rear-wheel drive, a two-seater saloon, a two-door coupe body, a three-spoke steering wheel with paddle shifters, and a rear engine. Despite the criteria typical for sports cars, the brainchild of a conscientious car industry looks very different. A photo of a "disabled woman" can drive you into a stupor, but such a miracle of design thought has been produced for 27 years. In the period from 1970 to 1997, over 223 thousand vehicles left the conveyors of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant.

The body of the sidecar was assembled from stamped components. With a length of 2825 millimeters, the "invalid" car had an impressive weight - 498 kilograms, which, for example, was quite a lot in comparison with the "Oka": a four-seater car weighed 620 kilograms.

Range of engines

For the first few years of serial production, the stroller was equipped with a single-cylinder 350-cc engine with 12 horsepower, borrowed from the IZH-Planet 2 motorcycle. A little later, the "invalid" car from the USSR began to be equipped with a 14-horsepower engine from IZH-Planet 3. Considering the increased operational loads, the engineers decided to de-force the engines in order to increase their working life and elasticity. The power plant was supplemented by a forced air cooling system that drives air through the cylinders. The consumption of the combustible mixture in the compact "invalid" SZD was rather big: 7 liters of oil-gasoline mixture were consumed per 100 kilometers of run. The volume of the fuel tank was 18 liters, and such appetites did not anger the owners only due to the low cost of fuel in those years.

Chassis

Paired with the engine from the "invalid" was a four-speed manual transmission with a gear shifting algorithm characteristic of motorcycles: neutral was located between the first and second stages, and the gears were engaged sequentially. The car's reverse motion was carried out thanks to a reverse gear activated by a separate lever.

The suspension of the car "disabled woman" is independent, torsion-type, in front with a double-wishbone structure, at the rear with one lever. The 10-inch wheels are fitted with steel disks. The braking system is represented by drum mechanisms and a hydraulic drive connected to a hand lever.

The manufacturer indicated a maximum speed of 60 km / h, but in practice the motorized carriage could only be accelerated to 30-40 km / h. The motor from the motorcycle installed on the disabled person was mercilessly smoking and was too loud, thanks to which the motorized carriage could be heard a few minutes before it appeared in the field of view. It is difficult to call a comfortable trip in such a car, but it can still be found on the roads in villages and provincial cities.

The tiny car, the rumble of which could be heard in various parts of the country at the end of the last century, attracted a lot of attention and was nicknamed "the invalid". Despite the more than modest dimensions and unusual appearance, which is reflected in numerous photos, the "invalid" performed an important task, being a special vehicle designed for the movement of people with disabilities.

Perhaps it was this feature that became the reason that ordinary motorists did not have a proper understanding of the technical component of a motorized carriage. In this regard, ordinary citizens were greatly mistaken about the "disabled woman" car, which served as an excellent ground for the emergence of a large number of myths that run counter to existing facts.

Myth: SMZ-SZD is a modernized version of the "Morgunovka"

Most of the cars produced during the Soviet era had an evolutionary development: for example, the VAZ-2106 was transformed from the VAZ-2103, and the fortieth Moskvich was developed on the basis.

A significant difference between the third generation of the motorized carriage by the Serpukhov plant was that it was created, in fact, on the basis of a new engine from the Izhevsk machine-building plant, and received an all-metal closed-type body, despite the fact that at the first stages of the project, fiberglass was proposed as a material. In both the rear and front suspension, trailing arm torsion bars replace the classic springs.

Only the concept of a four-wheeled two-seater motorized carriage unites the "invalid" car with the previous model, but in all other respects the SMZ-SZD is a completely independent design.

Myth: for its time, the SMZ-SZD had a too primitive design.

For most car enthusiasts, the "invalid" was too poor and backward car. Both its technical component - a two-stroke single-cylinder engine, and its appearance with flat glass, a simple but functional exterior and a complete lack of interior as such (the latter, by the way, are reflected in numerous photos) - did not allow treating the motorized carriage as a modern vehicle. The car "disabled", however, in many constructive solutions and unique characteristics was quite progressive and, to some extent, an innovative vehicle.

By the standards of its time, the plane-parallel design used in the SMZ-SZD was very relevant. The car was equipped with independent suspension, a transverse engine, rack-and-pinion steering combined with independent front suspension, cable clutch, hydraulic braking system, automotive optics and 12-volt electrical equipment, which was quite good for a motorcycle.

Fact: Motorcycle engine power wasn't enough

Soviet motorists were very skeptical, and sometimes even completely negative about the motorized carriage, which significantly slows down the flow of cars.

The IZH-P2 engine, derated to 12 horsepower, was not enough for a car weighing almost 500 kilograms, which affected the dynamic performance of the car. For this reason, "invalids" for this reason, in the fall of 1971, began to be equipped with a more powerful version of the power unit, which received the IZH-P3 index. However, the installation of a 14-horsepower engine did not solve the problem: the updated stroller was too loud, while remaining extremely slow. The maximum speed of the car with a ten-kilogram load and two passengers was only 55 km / h, and the acceleration dynamics was frankly bad. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not consider the option of installing a more powerful engine on the disabled car.

Myth: a motorized carriage was issued to each disabled person for an unlimited period and free of charge.

The cost of SMZ-SZD at the end of the eighties was 1,100 rubles. Social security agencies distributed motorized carriages to people with disabilities, with both full and partial payment options offered. The car was issued free of charge only to disabled persons of the first group: veterans of the Great Patriotic War, people who received a disability while serving in the Armed Forces or at work. Disabled people of the third group were offered a motorized carriage at a price of approximately 220 rubles, but they had to stand in line for five to seven years.

The conditions for issuing the "disabled woman" car assumed a five-year use and a one-time major overhaul two and a half years after receiving the transport. A disabled person could get a new copy only after the previous model was handed over to the Social Security authorities. But this is in theory, in practice it turned out that some disabled people could operate several cars in a row. There were cases when the received "invalid" was not exploited for all five years due to the lack of need for her, but people did not refuse such gifts from the state.

In the driver's license of a person with disabilities who drove a car before being disabled, all categories were crossed out and the mark "motorized carriage" was put. For disabled people who did not previously have a driver's license, special courses were organized to teach how to operate a motorized wheelchair. Upon completion of training, they were issued a special certificate of a special category, which allowed only a disabled person to drive a car. It should be noted that such vehicles were not stopped by the traffic police to check documents.

Both fact and myth: in winter, the operation of a motorized carriage was impossible

The lack of a heating system familiar to all motorists in the SMZ-SZD was explained by the installed motorcycle engine. Despite this, the vehicle was equipped with an autonomous gasoline heater, which was typical for cars equipped with air-cooled engines. The heater was quite capricious and demanding to maintain, but it allowed the car to warm up to an acceptable temperature.

The lack of a standard heating system was more an advantage of the "disabled women" than a disadvantage, since it saved the owners from the daily need to change water, since in the seventies of the last century, rare owners of Zhiguli used antifreeze, while all other vehicles used ordinary water that froze at low temperatures.

In theory, the car "disabled woman" was suitable for operation in the winter season much better than the same "Volga" or "Muscovites", since its engine was easy to start, but in practice it turned out that instantly freezing condensate formed inside the diaphragm fuel pump, due to which the engine refused to start and stalled on the move. For this reason, during the cold season, most people with disabilities did not operate the SMZ-SZD.

Fact: the stroller was the most massive model of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant

The pace of production at the automobile plant in Serpukhov in the seventies began to actively increase in order to improve quantitative indicators and overfulfill the plan, which at that time was very typical for all Soviet factories. For this reason, the plant quickly reached a new level with an annual production of more than ten thousand sidecars. During the peak period, which fell in the mid-seventies, more than 20 thousand "disabled women" were produced per year. Over the entire production period - from 1970 to 1997 - more than 230 thousand SMZ-SZD and its modification SMZ-SZE, designed for people who drove a car with one hand and one foot, left the assembly line of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant.

In the territory of the CIS countries, neither before nor after has not a single car for people with disabilities been produced in such quantities. A compact, unusual and rather funny car from Serpukhov was able to give thousands of disabled people freedom of movement.

A vehicle such as a motorized carriage, as has been noted more than once, played a very important role in raising the war-worn economies of European countries. The Soviet Union, which was a proud winner, could not afford to exchange for such a "pot-bellied trifle" and released expensive and rather large Victories. Even the small car Moskvich 400 was removed from the drawings of the by no means the cheapest and most compact Opel Kadett. Everything, of course, looked good, but only war invalids, of whom there were more than two million, could at best count on a wheelchair as a means of transportation.

In September 1945, the Kiev Motorcycle Plant (KMZ) was created on the basis of the former Armored Repair Plant No. 8 in Kiev. It was here from the plant in Schönau near Chemnitz (Germany) that documentation and equipment for the production of a light motorcycle Wanderer ISp, which began to be produced in Ukraine under the brand name "K-1B" in 1946, were taken under reparations.

It was on its basis that they decided to create the first motorized carriage for disabled people, because it was KMZ that had the technical basis for their production. In order to adapt the K-1B motorcycle to the capabilities of people without one or both legs, the frame was changed, and two were installed instead of the rear wheel. Between the widely spaced wheels there is a conditionally two-seat "sofa".

Since the distance from the seat back to the front fork (in the form of a parallelogram) turned out to be quite large, instead of a motorcycle handlebar, one long lever was installed, prudently offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the crew (so that it did not rest against the driver's stomach). By moving the lever up and down, the clutch could be engaged and disengaged. This "piece of functionality" was crowned with a rotating motorcycle throttle.

It turned out to be quite obvious that motorized carriage K-1V, created from a motorcycle, turned out to be completely unsuitable for realities. Therefore, in the late 40s and early 50s, the task of creating a motorcycle for disabled people was set before the Central Motorcycle Design Bureau (later VNIImotoprom). The production of the S1L motorcycle stroller began in Serpukhov in 1952.

The S-1L became the first Soviet production model with an independent spring suspension on all wheels. As a power unit, an engine from an M-1A motorcycle was used, equipped with a fan, located at the back. There was no electric starter, a lever served for starting. The S-1L used miniature tires for those times.

Lack of controls that need to be operated with feet, a space frame welded from pipes, a three-speed gearbox, frictional shock absorbers, motorcycle-type steering - these are the characteristic features of this motorcycle. The main gear was chain, and the turning radius was only 4 m. Until 1955, 19128 sidecars of this model were produced to this day, single copies have survived.

The operating experience of the S1L has shown that such a design is also far from ideal and limits the scope of application. She could not overcome steep climbs even in cities, and was completely useless off-road. Therefore, already in 1955, SMZ built and tested several three-wheeled sidecars with a more powerful (346 cm, 11 hp) motorcycle engine.

In general, the operation of the S-1L proved that a two-stroke engine is not very suitable for a micro-car, it is very uneconomical and short-lived, despite the simplicity of the design.

In 1958, they began to produce a modernized motorized carriage SMZ S-3A - the first with four wheels in our country. In fact, the concept of SMZ S-3A practically did not differ from its predecessor. The power unit was still a two-stroke motorcycle engine. It was borrowed from Izh-49 (346 cm3, 10 hp) along with a four-speed gearbox.

The engine was equipped with a fan and a cylinder cooling jacket, an electric starter. The curb weight of 425 kg, the tiny tires measuring 5.00-10 "and the ground clearance of 170 mm made overcoming any little off-road a real problem. On good roads, the car did not shine either: the maximum speed was only 60 km / h, and the fuel consumption - 4.5-5.0 l / 100 km.

Already in 1958, the first attempt at modernization was made. There was a modification motorized carriages S-ZAB with rack-and-pinion steering, and on the doors, instead of canvas sidewalls with transparent celluloid inserts, full-fledged glass appeared in the frames.

In 1962, the machine underwent further improvements: friction shock absorbers gave way to telescopic hydraulic; rubber bushings for axle shafts and a more advanced muffler appeared. Such a stroller received the SMZ S-ZAM index and was subsequently produced without changes.

The last modernization of the Serpukhov motorized carriage was the SMZ S-ZD model with a new closed body, but almost the same chassis. The people called her simply "Invalid". The car was 2.6 meters long and weighs just under 500 kg. The engine of the IZH-P3 model with forced air cooling was frankly weak for a rather heavy structure with an all-metal body and emitted an extremely unpleasant crackle during operation (however, generally characteristic of two-stroke engines).

Motorcycle car S-3D had a number of innovative solutions for Soviet cars, for example, independent suspension of all wheels (rear - type "swinging candle"), rack and pinion steering, cable clutch drive. All this appeared on other Soviet cars only in the 80s.

The maintenance of the motorized carriages was unpretentious. A weak point in operation in the winter was a membrane fuel pump - condensate froze in it in the cold, and the engine stopped while driving. On the other hand, a two-stroke air-cooled engine started up more easily in the cold and did not cause such problems during winter operation as water-cooled engines (in those years, personal cars were operated mainly on the water because of the lack of antifreeze).

Motorized carriages were issued with social security for 5 years. After two years and six months of operation, the disabled person received free repair of the “disabled woman,” then used this vehicle for another two and a half years. As a result, he was obliged to pass the motorized carriage to the social security and get a new one. The last 300 FDD models left SeAZ in the fall of 1997. The FDD was replaced by Oka.

But there were also very interesting projects of wheelchairs for disabled people. For example, SMZ-NAMI-086, created in the second half of the 50s. The air-cooled engine (representing the "half" of the ZAZ-965 motor) was located at the rear. The stroller received an independent torsion bar suspension of all wheels, an electromagnetic clutch, and an autonomous heater.

But its most significant feature was the architectural design of the body. The car was distinguished by forms fresh for their time, good proportions (designers V. Rostkov and E. Molchanov). Unfortunately, SMZ-NAMI-086 remained a prototype, since the organization of its serial production required significant costs.

Other experimental modifications:
* C-4A (1959) - an experimental version with a hardtop, did not go into production.
* C-4B (1960) - prototype with a coupe body, did not go into production.
* S-5A (1960) - a prototype with fiberglass body panels, did not go into the series.