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thumbnail|ZAZ-968 and ZAZ-965 cars

ZAZ Zaporozhets ( ) 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 Zaporozhye (now Zaporizhzhia) or the Zaporozhye Oblast (now 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.), malysh (), mylnitsa ("soap-box", for ZAZ-968M, lacking "ears" and producing a more box-like appearance). 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.

left|thumb|ZAZ-965 dashboard

left|thumb|ZAZ-965 Zaporozhets engine

The first prototype, the Moskvitch-444, was designed by MZMA in October 1957; Its ground clearance, on wheels, was . rear-mounted V4, (This engine, the MeMZ-965, would be built by the Melitopolski Motor Plant, MeMZ. The Zaporozhets was priced at 1,800 redenominated roubles.

ZAZ-965A

left|thumb|ZAZ-965AE

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.

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

The ZAZ KD of 1969 was also based on the ZAZ-965, fitted with a glassfibre body, It was never produced in quantity, either. The engine was the MeMZ-966A. It featured the same MeMZ-968 V4 as the ZAZ-966, but the exterior design was slightly modernized.

The ZAZ-968M was the last Zaporozhets model and also spent the most time in production, with cars being made from 1979 to 1 June 1994. By that time, the Soviet Union had collapsed, Ukraine had become independent, and modern, front wheel drive economy cars from the West like the Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta had become available in quantity, vehicles which the 1950s and 60s designed Zaporozhets had no hope of competing with.

In the 1963 Soviet romantic comedy Three Plus Two, a ZAZ-965 with license plate number 18-15-лдг is featured in numerous scenes throughout the movie, and is even referred to directly in the script as "a tin can of the Zaporozhets system".

In the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, Bond's CIA contact Jack Wade drove a 1963 ZAZ-965A.

In the 2011 animated feature film Cars 2, the Trunkovs (Vladimir, Petrov, Lubewig, and Tolga) are based on the ZAZ-968 Zaporozhets.

In the video game MudRunner, a car based on the ZAZ-968 is found in several maps named A-968M.

In Half-Life 2 the car is shown in dilapidated condition as a prop that clutters some roads.

It also appears as a prop in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

See also

Similar air-cooled and rear-engined vehicles:

  • Chevrolet Corvair
  • NSU Prinz 4
  • Hillman Imp
  • Hino Contessa
  • Volkswagen Type 3

References