965 Pickup - modification without its own index, was used only inside the plant, and was made on the basis of defective serial ZAZ cars.

"Zaporozhets" in the industry of souvenir products and cinema

In the Soviet Union, several enterprises produced ZAZ toys on a scale of 1:43, for example, the AAA workshop in Poltava, the Kimmeria plant in Kherson or the AGD in Kaliningrad. By the way, quite recently, in 2009, the white souvenir "Zaporozhets" was published together with the scientific and educational magazine "Autolegends of the USSR" (published by "DeAgostini"). In 2010, a small enterprise "Our auto industry" put on sale white and blue export ZAZ-965E (scale 1:43). In the same year, Ukrposhta issued a unique stamp with the image of Zaporozhets, which was put on envelopes only on November 18, 2010.

Scale toy ZAZ-965 in 1:43 scale from the magazine Autolegends of the USSR No. 131

ZAZ-965 can be seen in such famous Soviet films as "The Queen of the Gas Station", "Three Plus Two", "Detective", "Three Rubles", "Acceleratka". In addition, the humpback "starred" in the cartoon "Winter in Prostokvashino" and "Just you wait!" By the way, those who watched the film "Be My Husband" could also recognize "Humpbacked", from which they made a convertible especially for this film.

• Odessans liked to call ZAZ-965 "Jewish tank".
• Besides. among the people were widespread and such nicknames as "Constipation", "Zazik", Fiat Volkswagen, Zhuzhik, Malysh.
• The Zaporozhets air intakes, resistant to hot air, which were invented by the designer Wasserman, were popularly called "Wasserman graters".
• Zaporozhets became the last car in the USSR, the doors of which were opened against the movement.
• Distinguished by good cross-country ability, the "hunchback" got a well-known folk joke-rhyme: "Where a foreign car slows down," constipation "on the belly will creep!".

Moskvich-400 (401) - passenger car, rear-wheel drive, manufactured by the plant MZMA (Moscow plant of small cars - this is how AZLK was called in 1945-1968) ...
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ZAZ-965

ZAZ-965 / ZAZ-965A... Photos of characteristics.
1960-1963

History of ZAZand goes back to 1863, when Abraham Coop (Dutchman) opened a plant for the production of agricultural machines in Aleksandrovsk (this is how the glorious Soviet city of Zaporozhye was called until 1922, also known as the location of the large-scale DneproGES). In 1908, the Melitopol Motor Plant (now a division of ZAZ) was opened for the production of internal combustion engines, from this date the actual history of the ZAZ company begins.

Since 1923 the plant Kommunar (the old name of ZAZ) produced combines and agricultural machinery. The production of passenger cars at the Kommunar plant began only in 1960 (ZAZ 965). In 1961 "Kommunar" was renamed into ZAZ, so sometimes the history of the ZAZ company is officially considered from that time.

photo of ZAZ-965

ZAZ 965 "Zaporozhets" (1960-1963)

"Soap dish", "Hunchback", "Fafik" - as soon as they do not call the little nimble "Zaporozhets" ZAZ-965... Many of us started our "auto" biography with him. Not everyone, however, knows how colorful the history of this first among the "Zaporozhtsev" was.

Interest in minicar, as they were then called, cars arose and grew like an avalanche in the mid-50s. Numerous samples appeared in different countries - from a primitive surrogate car to a smaller copy of a traditional small car. Work on such designs was launched in the USSR as well. The impetus was the fact that since 1956 MZMA stopped production of small-sized (length 3855 mm), light (840 kg), four-seater Moskvich-401 and switched to a more spacious, comfortable and expensive Moskvich-402. And the demand for a compact, lightweight and simple machine has not disappeared.

Our factories and research institutes in 1955-1960 designed, built and tested many prototypes of minicars and sidecars. Here are just a few of them: "Belka" IMZ-A50, NAMI-048, NAMI-031, GAZ-18, NAMI-059, MVTU. All these designs made it possible to more clearly define the requirements for ultra-small machines.

photo IMZ-NAMI-A50 "Squirrel"

photo NAMI-031

photo of GAZ-18

It was in those years that the decision was made to reconstruct the Kommunar combine plant in Zaporozhye and the light diesel plant in Melitopol, in order to launch the production of minicar cars since 1960. The design, construction and refinement of the prototypes of the new car was entrusted to the team of the Moscow Small Car Plant - MZMA (now AZLK). Their development began in the fall of 1956. They took as a sample FIAT-600, the most successful car in this class. An important circumstance that predetermined the choice was the fact that this machine was the newest (its production began in 1955) and that it best suited the conditions of mass production.

Moskvich-444 1957

photo Moskvich-444

The first prototype of the car - she was given index "444" - was ready just a year later, in October 1957. Its appearance and knot design were influenced by FIAT-600, but nevertheless, even at this stage, significant differences were outlined.

For a small machine, the wheel diameter is always a decisive factor. Taking into account the road conditions of our country, the designers have increased the landing size for the tire from 12 to 13 inches. This step required significant changes in the kinematics of the wheel suspension, forced to increase the volume of the wheel arches and make adjustments to the overall layout. Another important difference - the car was not equipped with a four-cylinder water-cooled engine, as in FIAT, but a two-cylinder opposed MD-65 of the Irbit Motorcycle Plant, which had air cooling. Engine had a drawback, and very significant, from a layout point of view, was a very developed crankcase - its depth (the distance from the crankshaft axis to the bottom of the oil pan) was 184 mm. Therefore, in order to obtain an acceptable clearance value at the rear wheel hubs of the Moskvich-444, it was necessary to install wheel reduction gears similar to those used today on LuAZ-969M .

photo Moskvich-444

In addition, the first sample of 1957 - let's call it conditionally "444-57" - differed from the Italian car, in addition to the above, the shape of the rear part of the body, a different design of the front end, a reinforced gearbox. A triangular emblem at the front, a convex arrow-shaped stamping on the door, a decorative "comb" in front of the rear wheel opening (a motif borrowed from the Moskvich-402) and four round air intakes on the rear fender, reminiscent of miniature firefighter helmets - these were other distinctive body details. By the way, already at this stage the car had interchangeable windshield and rear windows - a valuable feature for a mass model. The following year, MZMA built new samples (let's call them "444-58") with changed design elements: a front wing with a higher upper part, a different form of cladding. One of them, painted in ivory, with a carrot-colored roof, was exhibited in the winter of 1958/59 at VDNKh USSR... This car, on the emblem of which instead of "444" was "650", still retained from the first sample the front suspension on a transverse spring and sliding (non-lifting) glass in the doors.

ZAZ-965 engine

photo Engine MD-65

Engine MD-65, created on the basis of a motorcycle, turned out, as revealed by tests, unsuitable for a car. On a motorcycle with a sidecar, which weighs 320 kg, this motor ran under more favorable conditions (in terms of load) than on a minicar, which was twice as heavy. In addition, MD-65 at the stand developed power only 17.5 liters. from. Hence the poor dynamics of the car: sluggish acceleration and shortage of maximum speed (80 km / h instead of the design 95 km / h). The motor was very noisy and did not cool well. But the main drawback was that the engine was short-lived: its service life before overhaul could hardly be 30 thousand km.

For these reasons, first at MZMA in 1957, and then at NAMI, the design of a new, special engine began. Two designs of a two-cylinder boxer engine of the "Citroen 2LS" type with air cooling developed at MZMA and working volume 748 cm 3 in the second half of 1958 were only still undergoing bench tests. As a temporary measure, the improved version, which received the designation "444-BKR" (that is, without a wheel reduction gear), was equipped with a BMW-600 engine - also from a minicar. This engine had a much smaller crankcase, like the MZMA and NAMI engines designed. The rejection of gearboxes allowed to reduce the unsprung masses by 6 kg. At the same time, the car received a front suspension on longitudinal balance arms and plate torsion bars and side air intakes in the form of an elongated grille.

In 1959, new prototypes of the future Zaporozhets were released. At the same time, the design bureau of MZMA, with the help of a team of ZAZ engineers that arrived at the end of 1958, began to issue drawings for preparation of production. In April 1959, all technical documentation for the 965 model was transferred to Zaporozhye. The prototypes of 1959, in contrast to the FIAT-600, no longer had sliding door windows, but lower ones, as on most cars. The swept-like protrusion on the wing and the “comb” have disappeared. The rear lights were equipped with reflectors not in the middle, but in the lower part. The sidelights were installed in separate housings on the wings. Later, samples were made with modified front fenders and stampings on the front panel. The sidelights of these cars remained on the front fenders, but the ZAZ emblem and the inscription “Zaporozhets” appeared on the front panel in rectangular letters.

In June 1959, the first two four-cylinder ZAZ engines were ready at NAMI. 965 ... One ( 965G) had a horizontal opposed arrangement of cylinders and a working volume of 752 cm 3, another ( 965V) - V-shaped and working volume 746 cm 3. In terms of power indicators, both designs were equivalent, but the 965V engine had a number of advantages over the 965G, it was original and modern in design. It was accepted for serial production. In 1960, ZAZ was preparing for the production of a new car. The first batch of the plant assembled on November 22 and by the end of the year produced about one and a half thousand Zaporozhtsev. This is how the first Soviet minicar ZAZ-965 began its life. It would be more correct to call it small (4 seats, length 3330 mm), if we take into account modern terminology. Along with the base model, the plant built a modification of the 965C for transporting mail (with a right-hand drive, metal panels instead of rear windows and a letter box in the back seat); as well as ZAZ 965B with manual control for disabled people.

photo of ZAZ-965

photo of ZAZ-965

photo of ZAZ-965

From October 1962 to May 1969, the modernized Zaporozhets ZAZ-965A with a more powerful 27-horsepower engine, the working volume of which was increased to 887 cm 3, rolled off the assembly line. It was also distinguished by a steering wheel with an insulated hub, sidelights mounted in the fenders (and not on them), decorative molding along the side of the body, a modified factory sign (instead of an asterisk - a rectangle), a decorative grille on the front panel.

photo of the ZAZ-965 interior

"Zaporozhets-965" was well received by the consumer from the very beginning. In fairness, it should be noted that (especially on cars of the first release), the torsion bars of the front suspension often lost their elasticity, and in hot weather the engine overheated. But, despite these "childhood diseases", the minicar immediately showed its best side in rural areas, areas with bad roads. The good cross-country ability of the ZAZ-965 is due to the smooth bottom, independent suspension of all wheels, and sufficient loading (60% of the total weight) of the driving wheels. In especially severe cases, when the car was not able to get out of the mud on its own, its crew, with a certain effort, could always free the car weighing only 665 kg from captivity. The townspeople quickly appreciated in "Zaporozhets" its maneuverability, good efficiency, high strength of the body. The latter quality was facilitated by the presence of only two doors, the openings of which did not weaken the sidewall as much as on cars with four-door bodies. And of course, the engine with separate cylinders, which is relatively light and easy to dismantle, has always been possible to remove quickly and easily, to repair it on our own “in the kitchen” and put it back in place without much loss of time. This car was produced for nine years. And today it is still often found on the roads, and many of its owners consider their ZAZ-965 famous car.

ZAZ-965AB (1963-1969) and 965AR (1966-1972)

Governing bodies of ZAZ-965

ZAZ-965AB produced on the basis of the main model ZAZ-965, the production was started in 1962. This modification was intended for the management of disabled people who, as a result of injuries, have lost one or both of their legs. The manual control of the clutch and brakes in this modification was made in such a way that the usual brake and clutch pedals were retained in the car's drive mechanism. These foot-operated clutch and brake controls have been retained to enable drivers who do not have leg injuries to drive.
The hydraulic brake lever was located to the right of the steering wheel and was attached to an axle that passed through a tunnel on the floor of the body. The hydraulic brake is driven by moving the lever forward, which is pivotally connected to the pedal and the brake pusher, and the intensity of braking depends on the change in the force applied to the handle of this lever. The lever has no lock. But the control clutch takes place with the help of two levers, which are located on either side of the steering wheel. At the ends of the lever rods, plastic handles are installed. The clutch mechanism is driven by levers, which are pivotally connected through a pusher to the clutch pedal and the intermediate rod.

SMZ-motorized carriages

Production SMZ-SZD began in July 1970 and lasted for over a quarter of a century. The last motorized carriage left the assembly line of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant (SeAZ) ...

6,5 Supply system: Carburetor K-123 - single chamber with a falling flow and horizontal air supply Cooling: aerial Valve mechanism: OHV Cylinder block material: cast iron Cylinder head material (eng.)russian : aluminum Cycle (number of measures): 4 The order of the cylinders: 1-3-4-2 Recommended fuel: A-72

MeMZ-966
Manufacturer:	MeMZ
Brand:	MeMZ-966
A type:	Petrol
Volume:	887 cm 3
Maximum power:	27 h.p. , at 4000 rpm
Configuration:
Cylinders:	4
Valves:	8
Max. speed:	100 km / h
Combined fuel consumption:	5.5 l / 100 km
Compression ratio:	6,5
Supply system:	carburetor K-125 - single chamber with a falling flow and horizontal air supply
Cooling:	aerial
Valve mechanism:	OHV
Cylinder block material:	cast iron
Cylinder head material (eng.)russian :	aluminum
Cycle (number of measures):	4
The order of the cylinders:	1-3-4-2
Recommended fuel:	A-76

mechanical

Specifications

Mass-dimensional

Width:

1395 mm

Dynamic

ZAZ-965 - Soviet subcompact car, produced from 1963.

ZAZ-965A - modification with a 27 hp engine, produced from November to 1969.

The study of the experience of the global automotive industry already at that time made it possible to come to a completely unambiguous conclusion: a minicar cannot simply be a reduced copy of its “big brothers”. It should be recalled that at that time most cars had an engine in the front and a rear drive axle - the so-called "classic layout". However, for a car the size of a future Zaporozhets, it was clearly irrational, since it limited the useful space of the passenger compartment, increased the overall height, cost and weight of the car due to the presence of a propeller shaft passing under the floor of the body. All attempts to produce cars of the "classic" layout in the "especially small" class inevitably ended in the appearance of tall, heavy, small and rather awkward outwardly structures. It was possible to get rid of these shortcomings by interlocking the engine and transmission into a single unit and placing it directly at the driving wheels - front or rear.

Meanwhile, Soviet designers approached the design of the Italian prototype quite creatively. The body, while retaining a power structure similar to Fiat, in particular - a floor panel located low between widely spaced boxes, which increased the car's capacity while maintaining an acceptable height, received a more modern external shape, becoming a two-volume fastback with embossings on the sidewall, imitating separate fenders, a three-volume two-door sedan with a flat sidewall, a clearly defined trunk volume and a large rear window, unified with the windshield (see also external car comparison). At the same time, the doors remained hinged on the rear hinges, which provided a more comfortable fit into the cabin, but reduced safety. But the glass doors from the sliding became more convenient downward, there were "vents". In the chassis, a more advanced front suspension was used on two transverse torsion bars (the so-called Porsche system, the same was used on the first sports cars of the same name and the Volkswagen Beetle) - instead of the Fiat one on a transverse spring, as well as enlarged 13-inch wheels, which required larger wheel arches and a redesign of the car as a whole. The engine and transmission were entirely of domestic design.

Initially, it was envisaged to equip the car with a motorcycle-type engine MD-65. But it turned out to be unsuitable for a car, and in conditions of work with overload had a scanty resource - no more than 30 thousand km before overhaul. Later, NAMI created two prototypes of power units, they were supposed to be boxer engines according to the Citroën 2CV scheme. As a temporary solution, the 444-BKR prototype (1958) was fitted with an engine from a BMW 600 - also boxer, but two-cylinder.

The designers of the army amphibious transporter TPK, who just needed an engine of this type and had previously experimented just as unsuccessfully (NAMI 049, 1958) with the Irbit MD-65, also became interested in these developments. Further work was carried out taking into account their proposals.

In the end, we came to a compromise option - ZAZ and the military amphibian were unified in terms of the power unit, which had a working volume of 746 initially, later 877 cubic meters (with the possibility of further expansion) and differed in the military (MeMZ-967) and civil (MeMZ-965) versions only in isolated details.

At the same time, on the TPK, the engine had to be located in the front with the flywheel backwards, and in the ZAZ - behind with the flywheel forward. Since the considerations of the army customer turned out to be more weighty, the engine was generally designed specifically for the front location in the sealed volume of the amphibious motor compartment, without cooling by the oncoming air flow, therefore it was equipped with an exhaust fan. The blower fan was installed later, which, according to the developers, should have improved the cooling of the engine located at the rear. But problems with overheating of the power unit were to some extent common to all Zaporozhets up to the ZAZ-968M, whose cooling system was completely redesigned (however, the car owners themselves were largely to blame - the Zaporozhets were often operated from overload, and regular cleaning of the cooling fins of the cylinders, which was the key to good heat exchange with the cooling air, was neglected). The noise of the engine was also not standardized by the military and, compared with other Soviet cars with water-cooled engines, was unsatisfactory.

Later, a modification of the same amphibious engine and transmission was also used on civilian versions of the TPK, LuAZ-969, which are often mistakenly described as "made on the basis of Zaporozhets."

Price

At the time of its appearance in 1960, "Zaporozhets" cost 18,000 pre-reform rubles (1,800 rubles after the reform). According to legend, the price was determined as the total cost of 1,000 bottles of vodka (1.80 rubles each). With the average wage in the USSR in the early 1960s, this value correlated approximately as 20: 1, that is, "Zaporozhets" could be bought for about 20 average wages in the country.

The current cost of ZAZ-965 in the secondary market varies greatly depending on the safety of the car and the seller, ranging from several thousand rubles to several thousand dollars.

Modifications

Design

Salon ZAZ-965

The machine was driven by an air-cooled engine of a rare configuration with a working volume of 746 cm³ (model MeMZ-965) air-cooled with a camshaft in the collapse of the block between the cylinder heads. Location - behind the rear axle. Partly aluminum alloy was used, the crankcase was made of magnesium alloy. Power - 23 HP

An original feature of the car was the cantilever hanging of the power unit at three points on the transmission housing - the engine itself had no supports or attachment points to the body.

On the ZAZ-965A model in 1962-1965, the MeMZ-966 engine was installed, with an increased working volume of up to 887 cm³, developing 27 hp, and in 1966-1969 - MeMZ-966A with the same displacement, but already in 30 h.p.

The basic model was manufactured in the period from 1964, and the modernized ZAZ-965A - from 1962 to 1969. At the beginning of sales, the price for the population was 18,000 rubles in the old price scale (up to the 1:10 denomination, held in 1961).

Since it was assumed that Soviet car owners would have to service the car themselves, air cooling was assessed positively and seemed very practical in harsh winter conditions (at low temperatures there is no risk of freezing of the coolant in the parking lot). In addition, the low weight of the power unit, its simplicity and collapsible design (removable cylinders) made it possible to repair the car practically "in an open field".

Nevertheless, in general and in general, the engine turned out to be one of the main drawbacks of the car: its resource was relatively small due to the intense temperature regime, the thin walls of the block, air cooling and a short muffler led to a significantly increased noise level, and due to the lack of liquid cooling systems, a separate gasoline heater was distinguished by low reliability, with irregular maintenance - even fire hazard (disadvantages typical for many other cars with similar technical solutions).

It is surprising that in the worst times for private motoring in the USSR, a car appeared, aimed at selling to private traders. As it turns out, I.V. Stalin, had nothing against private cars. Thanks to the Stalinist order, a CMM was specially designed for private owners. War intervened in his fate, but as soon as it ended, in May 1947, the People's Commissar of the Automotive Industry of the USSR S.A. Akopov issued a decree allowing the sale of new "Muscovites" and "Victory" to private individuals.

And under Khrushchev, prejudices raised their heads that a private car was an "alien phenomenon." The chief designer of the MZMA AF Andronov was forced to hide behind statements that "the plant makes cars for export." In 1962, at the Italian exhibition in Moscow, FIAT showed a model of an automobile plant proposed for construction in the USSR and similar to the future VAZ. But only when Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev came to power, such a project became a reality, like the other two - the reconstruction of the MZMA and the duplication of the production of "Muscovites" in Izhevsk.

How did it happen that Zaporozhets saw the light in those years? Very simple. It is still unknown who came up with the idea of \u200b\u200breplenishing the type of Soviet cars with a small vehicle for the front line, whose task on the way "there" is to bring weapons and ammunition to the battlefield, and on the way back to take out the wounded. The problem is that this machine was required in small quantities, and its production would become unprofitable. But before my eyes was the experience of Volkswagen and DKW, which produced small military and civilian vehicles on the same base.

From the NAMI institute, which was entrusted with the project, a counter offer came - to execute several machines on the same units:

1. A public car suitable for export.
2. A car for disabled people, superior to the Serpukhov motorized carriage.
3. Small-scale pickup, van, and miniature bus in unified bodies.
4. Light all-terrain vehicle for the village.
5. A staff vehicle with a simple body for the army.
6. The front-end conveyor itself in wheeled and tracked versions.

Characters and performers

Boris Mikhailovich Fitterman, who headed the NAMI Passenger Car Laboratory in the 50s and 60s, in the late 80s "attributed" the development of the first Zaporozhets to himself, and now many sites thoughtlessly call him "the chief designer of ZAZ-965". But everything was different. Fitterman really headed research work on the study of European minicars and sidecars, supervised tests of purchased foreign cars, among which were products with 1-2-cylinder motorcycle engines, the simplest bodies for 2 people, barely suitable for public roads. But there were also full-fledged cars, albeit the cheapest: FIAT-600, DAF, Citroen 2CV and, of course, the famous Volkswagen Beetle. Fitterman developed a front edge conveyor NAMI-032 and a double invalid NAMI-031 unified with it. And the civilian car was not engaged in NAMI, but OGK MZMA.

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How it actually happened, Alexander Fedorovich Andronov described in his memoirs. He was summoned by the Minister of the Automotive Industry (in the recent past, the chief engineer of GAZ) Nikolai Ivanovich Strokin and instructed to develop a minicar. Andronov refused - OGK MZMA was engaged in modifications of Moskvich, jeeps of the 415/416 series, a promising model was already conceived. Andronov himself offered to pass this on to US. Strokin replied that for such work a team is needed, which is not in NAMI, therefore the institute will not cope with the task, and no one in the country knows small cars better than Andronov and his subordinates. Strokin also added that he liked the FIAT-600, which should be taken as a model.

The minister knew very well how Andronov hated copying foreign cars and had just completely independently developed the original Soviet Moskvich-402 family with modifications. Therefore, he made a reservation that there is no need to “rip off FIAT”, but the division of body units, which is most important for automobile production, will have to be repeated in Italy. The external form (i.e. design) Andronov can change as he wants.

We add that Fitterman described in detail the device of the FIAT-600 body assemblies, substantiating that this is a good modern car, convenient for mass production. But he was engaged in pure theory, and all the rough practical work fell on the shoulders of Andronov and the designers of the OGK MZMA. There was practically no experience in the design of rear-engined cars with independent suspension of all wheels in the USSR. Two "avant-garde" projects by Yuri Dolmatovsky showed how difficult it is to make such a machine.

The first development, NAMI-013, was taught to ride with difficulty. The second, "Squirrel", turned out to be uncomfortable for the driver (the owner of the car) and the passenger (a member of his family), who were seated directly on the front axle, and even under the cap of the end door leaking in the rain. On the move, the "Belka" showed handling dangerous for an inexperienced driver. NAMI-013 and "Belka" came out unrepairable and incompatible with the technology of mass production.

Andronov had to mobilize all WGCs, repair and technological workshops of the plant. Designers and production workers worked in two shifts, did not sleep at night. Andronov also wrote to Strokin in the Moscow Economic Council: we are "stitching up", provide additional people, allocate space, and finally write off money. They didn't answer him. But the platoon fulfilled the order perfectly - in three years, the designers of OGK MZMA developed the body and chassis. The gearbox of the design bureau of the MZMA chassis under the leadership of K.I. Faibisovich made not only for her car, but also for NAMI-031 and NAMI-032. The production of a minicar at MZMA was out of the question. The tight "old territory" of the plant excluded the simultaneous release of Moskvich and rear-engined novelties. The Moskvich-444 index was used temporarily for drawing up drawings and specifications, and in Zaporozhye, documentation and modernized prototypes were already transferred, as Moskvich-965.

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Meanwhile, at NAMI, Alexander Semyonovich Aizenberg, who had designed the 8-cylinder overhead valve "king-engine" for the ZIS-101 before the war, was conjuring over the engine. I rejected one option, the second, the third. As with FIAT, it is impossible - a customer in uniform needs air cooling for the TPK so that the radiator is not shot through in battle. The "air" motor had to be designed as many as 6 times. A system error was found by Andronov's team. Almost instantly they rejected the "opposed" from the "Ural" motorcycle, unsuitable for a 4-seater car. Tests have shown that the car is not capable of driving on two cylinders - it is necessary, without options, four. For comparison, Eisenberg's group presented boxer or V-shaped 4-cylinder options. The first barely fit in the small engine bay, guaranteeing cooling and maintenance problems. The second turned out to be so compact that on the left in the engine compartment there was room for an autonomous gasoline heater, and on the right there was free space.

Moskvich-965 with boxer engine

The design service of ZAZ was recruited from the most experienced gas workers. Muscovites from MZMA and from NAMI did not want to go to Zaporozhye, losing their Moscow residence permit. The documentation from the MZMA was handed over to the Gorky designers Grigory Moiseevich Wasserman, Yuri Naumovich Sorochkin, Ivan Alekseevich Sandalov. They successfully brought Zaporozhets to the conveyor. The production of engines was mastered by the diesel plant in Melitopol, 112 km away. from Zaporozhye, included in one production association with ZAZ.

FIAT, Moskvich and Zaporozhets

The ZAZ-965 adopted for production differed from the Moskvich-444 not only in the engine. In Moscow, they held on to the "Fiat" front suspension with a transverse floating spring. The testers have proven that it is not suitable for off-road conditions. The chief designer of NAMI, the famous A.A. Lipgart ordered a copy of Volkswagen's torsion bar suspension. It is interesting that such a suspension has already been tested on NAMI-031, and not just anyone, but the designers of OGK MZMA, considered it "impossible" to install it on Moskvich-444. The rear suspension has practically remained from the FIAT-600 and the same Volkswagen with the same shape of the levers. Therefore, the ZAZ-965's rear wheels were at an angle to the vertical, and mockery sounded about its "clubfoot".

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Not quite ordinary wheels went from MZMA. Firstly, 13-inch tires were used for the first time in the USSR at Zaporozhets. But for FIAT they were generally 12-inch! Secondly, the Zaporozhets was distinguished by light “donut”-shaped discs with a large hole. This is the legacy of the first samples of the Moskvich-444, in which, in order to somehow insert a motorcycle engine into the car, it was necessary to equip the rear wheels with final drives that protruded outward. In the doors of the first samples there were "beggarly" sliding windows, but in the design bureau of the bodies of the MZMA, normal vents and power windows were introduced.

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Andronov just then attracted professional designers with art education to the body design bureau. They corrected the external shape as much as possible. Unlike the FIAT-600, the ZAZ-965 has a "stepped", not a "sloping" tail. At FIAT, the line of the front fenders "goes" into the stamping on the door and breaks off like a "path to nowhere". Below from the rear wheel arch there is also a rib, which also breaks off. There is nothing terrible in this, only the MZMA artists Boris Ivanov and Efim Mastbaum did much better. The sidewall of the Moskvich-444 gained integrity when a flat horizontal line appeared, running from nose to tail, and connecting the front fenders with the rear fenders.

The sidewall of the Zaporozhets resembles the Victory of the M-20, which is not surprising. The people who created it, every day saw the Victory coming in a continuous stream on the street. In preparation for production, unnecessary decorations were “gone”: a “comb” on the rear fender, a horizontal rib on the door, which made the look solid and laconic. Only the original front fenders did not take root - the Fiat fenders were easier to produce in large quantities.

The rearward-opening doors with external hinges seemed like an atavism of the pre-war bodies. But in OGK MZMA they were left from FIAT intentionally. Andronov offered a sound idea. A disabled car should not be made in the form of an original model that requires separate preparation of production, like NAMI-031, but as a modification unified with a public car. The experience of developing disabled versions of Muscovites at the plant was accumulated by designer B.V. Efremov, who walked on prostheses of his own design. The wide "Fiat" door opening against the move was perfect for disabled people. In terms of ease of use and driving performance, the Zaporozhets could not be compared with the Serpukhov motorized carriages.

Growth diseases

The rebuilt farm machinery factory had difficulty in mastering the car. According to the plan, ZAZ counted on 150 thousand cars a year. Documentation for model 965 MZMA transferred to ZAZ from December 1958 to March 1959. In the fourth quarter of 1960, the first 537 commodity Zaporozhets passed through the sales department, and in 1961, only 8297 cars went into the distribution network. Over the next two years, production gradually "revived", approaching 20 thousand cars a year. But one could only dream about the design capacity of the plant, so in 1966 about 45 thousand Zaporozhians were released. Several thousand were disabled cars, a little more than a thousand a year - a modification for medical assistance. Exotic postal ZAZ-965S with right-hand drive was built for two years: 200 cars in 1962 and 450 in 1963.

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The Cossacks dispersed across the country, but no one thought about pre-sale preparation or service maintenance. Private traders unofficially repaired the Volga in taxi companies, and Muscovites - in communication and medical service car depots. Nobody knew what to do with Zaporozhets, especially in the outback.

There were complaints about breakdowns, lack of spare parts and questions about where to repair such a car. Growing pains were inevitable. But who overcame the difficulties, he appreciated that Zaporozhets can turn around "on a patch" in a cramped city courtyard, in terms of cross-country ability it is not inferior to all-wheel drive vehicles (it is light and with heavily loaded driving wheels), that it is not difficult to start it in cold weather, having previously "fired up" heater. True, the flammable stove did not forgive mistakes and required a careful study of the instructions.

The "cramped" salon turned out to be not so cramped, and many owners of the Zaporozhtsev traveled to Moskvich in the "420th body". And then a small 4-seater closed car on four wheels is a fundamentally different level of convenience compared to a motorcycle. Let me remind you that there were a lot of private motorcycles in the USSR even before the war, and by the 60s they became widespread.

New Zaporozhets, cargo Zaporozhets, military Zaporozhets

From 1961 to 1966, ZAZ OGK developed the Zaporozhets of the new generation ZAZ-966 with a more spacious interior and a more advanced suspension. All speculation that he was "copied from NSU Prinz" turned out to be untrue. Neither ZAZ nor NAMI had such cars purchased as analogues, the creators of ZAZ-966 did not know anything about this NSU model at all, and under the imaginary similarity of the external shape there is a completely different division and design of body units. In December 1966, ZAZ barely mastered two (!) Commercial copies of the "new Zaporozhets", and for the entire 1967 put into sale only 933 cars.

ZAZ-965 and ZAZ-966 could well coexist in the USSR - they belonged to different groups of an especially small class, differed in capacity, consumer qualities and price. The hasty withdrawal from production of the ZAZ-965 in May 1969 was unanimously condemned by car owners - the cheapest car left the market. Outraged voices sounded until the 80s when Oki's upcoming release was announced. Despite the technical solutions frankly borrowed from FIAT and Volkswagen, ZAZ-965 sold well in Europe, which cannot be said about ZAZ-966. Where it was possible to sell hundreds of "old" Zaporozhians, a few tens of "new" ones could hardly find buyers.

As for the family of cars for various purposes, the role of a public car was played by Zaporozhets himself, the role of a disabled person, as already mentioned above, is its modification. A car for agriculture with the same power unit was released in the late 60s, as LuAZ-969 in different versions.

ZAZ-970 wagon layout in the form of a van, a pickup truck and a mini-bus, was designed, tested and abandoned halfway. I also did not see the mass production of ZAZ-971D with the simplest open body and rear engine. And the conveyor of the front edge, for the sake of which the whole project was started, got to the Lutsk conveyor for a long time. The first commercial batch of LuAZ-967 was manufactured only in 1975.

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Why on this seemingly city typewriter do you want to go to the sea - warm Black or cool Baltic? The motor is modest, it rumbles at least cheerfully, but loudly, the trunk is also not at all giant. The answer, I think, is simple: for many, this particular car is a symbol of the first automobile joys, freedom, long-distance romantic travel!

POPULAR MECHANICS

Half an hour of shame, but at work! Anecdotes and jokes about the Zaporozhets appeared almost simultaneously with the prototype at VDNKh. Still: well, everything is not like normal cars! The engine is in the trunk, there is no radiator, the doors open like in old pre-war cars, and the rear wheels are indecently crooked! The most attentive found: even the inscription on the front end is somehow strange - "Zaporozhets". Not everyone guessed right away: this is Ukrainian.

But the competition in wits betrayed strong interest. After all, the car, which is about to start producing at the former Kommunar combine plant in Zaporozhye, is specially designed for private car enthusiasts - their slowly but steadily growing army. Moreover, they promise that it will be available to almost every worker.

By today's domestic standards, the ZAZ-965 was created quite quickly. It, of course, was not original: the body and the rear suspension were borrowed from the popular FIAT-600, the front - from the Volkswagen-Zhuk, the engine resembled the Tatra "air", only greatly reduced. But, given the fundamental novelty of the machine for the USSR, the need to organize a new production not only in Zaporozhye, but also in Melitopol (engine), it must be admitted: they met the deadlines very tightly. Designing began in the fall of 1956 (jointly by NAMI and MZMA), in 1957 the first prototype of the Moskvich-444 appeared - first with an imported engine, then with a domestic motorcycle, and on June 18, 1959, the first prototype was assembled in Zaporozhye. True, even more than a year passed before the start of mass production.

Of course, the round (a little rough "hunchback" will come later) little car was far from ideal in general and even for a Soviet person in particular. Everyone, of course, dreamed of the Volga. Well, or at least about "Moskvich". And then back in 1959 in Sokolniki they showed the full color of the American car industry. How different from these luxurious, huge, shining with chrome and stunning technical characteristics, the small "Zaporozhets", as if pursing his lips from offense! But newspapers and magazines insist that catching up with and surpassing the United States does not mean repeating all overseas excesses. Well, against the background of its European counterparts, the ZAZ-965, by the way, looked pretty decent: completely independent suspensions - torsion bar in front, spring in the rear (FIAT-600, by the way, has a spring in front), four-speed gearbox, engine - 23 hp. The same FIAT-600 has 22 hp, and the "five hundredth" has 13 hp. The engine of the famous "ugly duckling" - "Citroen-2CV" developed 12.5 hp. Only the German "Zhuk", BMW-700 and "DKV-Junior" were equipped with motors of 30 or more forces.

However, for the Soviet people it is much more important that the Zaporozhets costs 1,800 rubles new, while the Moskvich costs 2,500, and the Volga is a fabulous 5,100! That is why ZAZ-965 became the first car in life for most of its buyers. Remember? It's almost like first love with its joys and disappointments ...

SEA - FORWARD, MOTOR - BACK

It is not at all as uncomfortable as it seems at first glance. At least for the driver and front passenger. Worst of all, the wheel arch interferes with the left leg, but the floor pedals are quite acceptable, you can get used to the gear lever with rather long strokes - no worse than on foreign rear-engined counterparts. Brakes without booster? Nonsense! If the 21st "Volga" and even the GAZ-51 were driven ...

To patiently endure acceleration to at least 60 km / h, you need a sense of humor and good nature. At the same time, the 27-horsepower air vent (this is already a modernized ZAZ-965A of 1967) rattles heartily. Even fun at first! But imagine a path to the sea of \u200b\u200bfive hundred kilometers, or even a thousand! But small, cramped cars in the days of their youth, as a rule, served as summer cottages and vacation rentals!

The back is already getting tired of the flimsy puny "chair", the rattling presses on the ears more and more - despite the fact that even for an incompletely loaded car, the limit is 80 km / h, the maximum speed. Spoiled! For many families in the 1960s, a trip to the sea in their own Zaporozhets was a great happiness! Which even more families envied. Well, the scanty trunk was often supplemented with a roof structure, the dimensions rather suitable for the Volga.

In summer, at normal speeds for a "zazik", handling is tolerable - again, not worse than that of a foreign equal. But the machine does not like extremism. This was quickly understood by those who participated in the ZAZ-965 rally. Yes, rally! For example, the famous racer in the USSR, repeated champion of the Union and prize-winner of international competitions, Stasis Brundza, began his sports career on the "hunchback" - and, like some other athletes, tested the strength of its roof. By the way, the ZAZ-965 is at its best! However, maintainability is much more important to the vast majority of owners. The first car, in conditions of a shortage of workshops and spare parts, contributed to the development of the skills of a locksmith, minder, even a tinsmith and painter. Simple manipulations with the power unit (first lower it, then pull it back), and you can repair it - right in the garage or in the yard. Sometimes, with the help of a neighbor, the engine was even delivered home! There, under the disapproving buzz of his wife and the interested chirping of the heirs, the air-cooled engine (but there are no leaks!) Was repaired, disassembled by cylinders. And here is the common family joy - the car is on the move again!

The thing in itself was an autonomous stove. Heats up regardless of engine temperature ... when running. Glow plug, regulator ... Now sounds as exotic as "turn on the ignition" or "adjust the level in the carburetor". However, we rarely traveled in winter. Most of the "Cossacks" stood at a standstill - rarely in the garage, more often under a tarp in the yard, where impudent boys strove to make a snow slide out of a car ...

Pulling off the highway onto a scenic forest path. By the way, the cross-country ability of the Zaporozhets is quite decent: the minimum ground clearance, as now in other crossovers: 175 mm, and 200 mm under the engine. And the suspension is not particularly afraid of bumps. So we arrived. The back just seemed to hurt, the restless left leg and ears were getting tired. But now for some reason I want to go further!

LITTLE CAR OF BIG POWER

A seashore or at least a river, a tent, a bowler hat, a transistor receiver (the lucky ones have a Riga Spidola!) And, of course, their own car: a hymn to motor tourism in the 1960s. Or maybe the truth is here nearby - say, beyond that pine tree - a romantic adventure awaits, or even a future fate? The comedy "Three plus two", where in addition to the five animated heroes, important roles are played by "Volga" and "Zaporozhets", with all the naively sweet artificiality, the spirit of the era reflected quite correctly.

It does not matter that the minicar "Zaporozhets" is cramped and noisy, not too fast and not so very reliable. He's the first! And there is a big and bright life ahead - your personal and the country, which is building more and more housing, albeit small-sized, and a couple of months before the start of the serial 965, even launched living beings into space - the dogs Belka and Strelka!

Of course, the future will not turn out to be exactly as it was seen. "Cossacks" for a long, long time were not museum exhibits, but family transport. And when changing owners, as a rule, they got to those who also just started their automotive life. Now "zazik" taught them to drive, repair, paint. Many more years passed before the "Cossacks" began to be treated as funny toys, building convertibles, sports coupes, and stretches from them. Or - finally! - as rarities. Of course, many parted with the old “hunchbacks” who did not correspond to the rhythm of life without regret. But now they too are looking at this little blue car with a smile and light sadness. Probably, they remember their first love with its delights, joys, resentments and disappointments ...

On the early ZAZ-965 it was written "Zaporozhets" - in Ukrainian.

On the early ZAZ-965 it was written "Zaporozhets" - in Ukrainian.

SOVIET PEOPLE Serial production of ZAZ-965 "Zaporozhets" began in November 1960. The V4 engine developed 23 hp. at 4000 rpm. Since 1963, a modernized ZAZ-965A with a 27 hp engine has been produced. The last time the model was changed in 1966, installing, in particular, a 30-horsepower engine. The car was exported to some countries under the name "Yalta" (Jalta). On the basis of ZAZ-965, several prototypes were created, in particular the mail van 965C, as well as the ZAZ-970 family - a van, a pickup truck and a minivan of a wagon layout. In total, a little over 322 thousand cars were built before 1969. The editors would like to thank Natalia Golovanova and Pavel Zalazaev for their help in filming, as well as the “Wheels of History” workshop for the car provided.