ZAZ Zaporozhets (1st gen) 965/965A 1960-1969

[GOLEO]

ZAZ 965 #1

[smxi]

Zaz 965 Zaporozhets

[bum]

Very cool car.

[smxi]

Very cool car.

Indeed.

[carweb]

I remember that car as "Jalta". That was the label they had here.

[smxi]

I remember that car as "Jalta". That was the label they had here.

Have you actually seen 'em?

[carweb]

Have you actually seen 'em?

Yup, but only a few. They weren't too common (here) even in their golden years. They stopped selling them at the same time as Sweden got compulsary motor vehicle testing, because they were to badly put together. Not too sure about the sedan version (968), but I belive multiple Zaporozhets came here a period.

[smxi]

they were to badly put together

No kidding. I've visited the factory in 1989 myself. The quality of assembly was horrible! I personaly saw the usage of hammer on the conveyor (production line).

[Maxx]

One more...

[hondamotor]

Sorry, small size
Original was loose.
it's my Photo.

[Man of Steel]

ZAZ Zaporozhets (Ukrainian: Запоро́жець) was a series of rear-wheel-drive superminis (city cars in their first generation) designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine. Different models of the Zaporozhets, all of which had an air-cooled engine in the rear, were produced until 1994. Since the late 1980s, the final series, ZAZ-968M, was replaced by the cardinally different ZAZ-1102 Tavria hatchback, which featured a front-wheel drive and a more powerful water-cooled engine.

The name Zaporozhets translates into a Cossack of the Zaporizhian Sich or а man from Zaporizhzhia or the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Zaporozhets is still well known in many former Soviet states. Like the Volkswagen Beetle or East Germany's Trabant, the Zaporozhets was destined to become a "people's car" of the Soviet Union, and as such it was the most affordable vehicle of its era. At the same time, it was rather sturdy and known for its excellent performance on poor roads. Another important advantage of the Zaporozhets was its ease of repair. The car's appearance gave birth to several nicknames that became well known across the Soviet Union: horbatyi ("hunchback", owing to ZAZ-965's insect-like form; although ZAZ factory workers never used this nickname), malysh (English: Kiddy), ushastyi ("big-eared", due to ZAZ-966 and ZAZ-968's round air intakes on each side of the car to cool the rear-mounted engine), zapor ("constipation"), mylnitsa ("soap-box", for ZAZ-968M, lacking "ears" and producing a more box-like appearance).

Numerous special versions of the Zaporozhets were produced, equipped with additional sets of controls that allowed operating the car with a limited set of limbs, and were given for free or with considerable discounts to disabled people, especially war veterans - similar to SMZ-series microcars. These mobility cars would at times take up to 25% of ZAZ factory output.

First generation (1960-1969)
ZAZ-965
The ZAZ-965 was a city car produced from 1960 to 1963. Design of a car accessible to the public, and one in part taking the place of the soon to be discontinued Moskvitch 401, began in 1956. Following the growing trend of city cars (then accounting for between 25% and 40% of all European car sales), the minister in charge of Minavtroprom (the Soviet automotive ministry) Nikolay Strokin selected the new Fiat 600 as the model to follow. However, despite being visually similar to the Fiat, the ZAZ was in fact a completely different car.

The first prototype, the Moskvich-444, was designed by MZMA in October 1957; it used the same glass for front and rear windows. Its ground clearance, on 13 in (330 mm) wheels, was 200 mm (7.9 in). The prototype was first powered by a flat twin-cylinder MD-65 engine provided by the Irbitskiy Motorcycle Plant, which was "totally unsuited": it produced only 17.5 hp (13.0 kW; 17.7 PS) and lasted only 30,000 km (19,000 mi) between major overhauls. As a result, a search for another engine was begun, and the success of the VW Type 1's boxer led to a preference for an air-cooled engine, which NAMI (the National Automobile Institute) had on the drawing board. Minavtroprom, however, preferred a 23 hp (17 kW; 23 PS) rear-mounted 746 cc (45.5 cu in) V4, the NAMI-G, which had the additional advantage of being developed for the LuAZ-967. As a result, it had characteristics not common for automobile engines, including a magnesium alloy engine block. (This engine, the MeMZ-965, would be built by the Melitopolski Motor Plant, MeMZ.) It had the drawback of needing to have the rear of the car redesigned to fit, as well as needing a new rear suspension. The influence of the LuAZ designers led to the introduction of independent suspension on all four wheels. Its front doors open in a manner like suicide doors, partly to make it more accessible to the disabled.

One of the primary differences was that the engine, which featured a V4 layout in place of the Fiat's inline-four, was air-cooled. The Zaporozhets also featured bigger wheels and front suspension on torsion bars. In 1958, the government ordered production of the car in the reformed ZAZ factory, under its final designation ZAZ-965. All further production of the car was carried out there.

The new car was approved for production at the MeMZ factory 28 November 1958, changing the name to ZAZ (Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant) to reflect the new profile. The Zaporizhzhia factory was supplemented with the Mikoyan Diesel-Building Factory in Melitopol, which was part of the Soyuzdiesel combinat.

The first car, dubbed the ZAZ-965 Zaporozhets, was delivered 12 June 1959, was approved 25 July 1960, and entered production 25 October. The Zaporozhets was priced at 1,800 redenominated roubles.

There was also a car-derived van model for the Soviet post office, the ZAZ-965S, with right-hand drive and blanked-off windows.

ZAZ-965A
The ZAZ-965A was an improvement on the ZAZ-965 and was produced from November 1962 to May 1969. In total, 322,106 units of the ZAZ-965 were produced. It was powered by a MeMZ-965 rear-mounted, air-cooled OHV 887 cc (54.1 cu in) V4 engine, partially of aluminium design, producing 27 PS (20 kW). From November 1966 some cars were fitted with the slightly more powerful 30 PS (22 kW) MeMZ-965A engine. The ZAZ-965's modest engine output has given ground to an urban joke that it was used as a starter motor in Soviet tanks.

As Soviet drivers were expected to do much of the servicing themselves, and auto workshops were in short supply anyway, the engine's 90° V4 layout proved more practical, especially in harsh winter conditions. The higher centre of gravity of the engine also provided superior traction on steep slopes, though this advantage, which was also continued in later models, came at the expense of the car's infamous lack of cornering stability.

The ZAZ-965A also had its versions for the disabled (ZAZ-965B, AB, AR), as well as a more luxurious export variant ZAZ-965AE Yalta.

Despite low prestige of those cars, they have shown an unbeaten accessibility and popularity among the Soviets, becoming the "car for pensioners and intellectuals". They were the cheapest Soviet-made cars. Quite a large number of them were produced in variants for disabled people, with modified steering.

Between November 1966 and May 1969 the ZAZ-965A and its successor, the ZAZ966, were produced concurrently.

When production of the ZAZ-965 ended, 322,116 had been built.

The ZAZ-965 also inspired the 1962 prototype NAMI 086, named Sputnik (Fellow Traveller), with a 15 PS (11 kW) 500 cc (31 cu in) vee-twin (half an MeMZ-965), electromagnetic clutch and four-speed transmission. Fitted with four-wheel independent suspension and weighing just 520 kg (1,150 lb), intended for use by the disabled, it was never built.

The ZAZ KD of 1969 was also based on the ZAZ-965, fitted with a glassfibre body, giving it a weight of only 500 kg and a top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h) on just 30 PS (22 kW). It was never produced in quantity, either.

Source: Wikipedia