"Russian car from the banks of the Daugava". Humpback "Zaporozhets": photos, characteristics, reviews Zaz 968 hunchback

ZAZ 965, better known to most motorists as "Humpbacked", became the most anecdotal car of the former USSR. Jokes about how a Zaporozhets crashes into a Mercedes were very popular in the 90s, when such cars were actually sold for a pittance. When, in 1961, this car was sold new, it was necessary to pay 1,800 rubles for it, and this is more than a year's salary of an ordinary Soviet person. Of course, most people like to go to the dacha in their own car more than to stand at a bus stop and wait for a bus and the appearance of such a car in the family was a great joy. Work on the development of a mass small car in the USSR began back in 1955, the Humpbacked Zaporozhets went into series in November 1960 and to a new one, 1961- In the last year, 1,500 machines were built. Despite the fact that specialists from AZLK were engaged in the development of the small car, the assembly of the new car was established in Zaporozhye, at the Kommunar plant, which previously produced combines and tractors. In just 9 years of production, 322,000,965 were created. When developing the Soviet small car, the basis was taken FIAT 600. The great advantage of the Italian car was its simplicity, so in Italy, in just a year, 500,000 of these cars were produced. From these numbers, you can understand how strong the Fiat industry was in those years. Initially, it was planned to equip a domestic car with a two-cylinder engine from a Ural motorcycle, but it was difficult for a motorcycle engine to pull out a loaded car, because even an empty car was twice as heavy as the Urals. More details will discuss the engine topic below - in the 965 specs paragraph.

External review of ZAZ 965

The humpbacked Zaporozhets is notable for its compact dimensions, so the length of this car is 3350mm, width - 1395mm, height - 1450mm. It is worth saying that Humpback is well adapted for off-road driving, with a wheelbase of 2023mm, the ground clearance (clearance) of a Soviet small car is 175mm, from these data we can conclude that it will be very difficult to put ZAZik on the "Puzo". The entrance angle at Gorbaty is 35 degrees, the exit angle is 29 degrees. The curb weight of the Zaporozhets is only 660kg. In terms of geometric cross-country ability, the Soviet car is better than many crossovers and even SUVs. In addition, thanks to the narrow track, ZAZik can pass between the truck tracks, which also contributes to good cross-country ability. In 1962, two years after the start of production, Humpback was modified, the updated car can be recognized by the size indicators that moved from the upper part of the wings, under the wings and by the presence of chrome molding on the side of the body. Restyled Humpback received the index 965A. When inspecting Zaporozhets, you can see that the rear wheels of an empty car seem to be skewered to the inside - this is caused by the features of the torsion bar suspension and negatively affects the stability of the car.

Overview of ZAZ 965 in the salon

Sitting down in ZAZik it is impossible not to notice that the doors do not open as in ordinary cars in the direction of travel, but in the opposite direction. According to the owners of 965, it happens that such doors open on the go. The front panel is metal, the plastic cover plate is only on the devices. It is interesting that the turn signals are turned on not by the steering column lever as on most modern cars, but by a special a toggle switch, which is certainly not convenient with heavy traffic, but in the 60s there were not many cars in the USSR. Unlike FIAT 500, glass in ZAZIK goes down in the door, and does not move to the side. The trunk, which is located in front of Gorbatom, houses a spare wheel and a fuel tank.

Specifications ZAZ 965

The Gorbaty Zaporozhets has a four-cylinder engine with V- shaped cylinder cooling and air cooling. Air cooling itself has a number of disadvantages over liquid cooling, but given the fact that in those days,all mass passenger cars in the USSR were cooled with water, not antifreeze, or antifreeze - it had to be drained before every winter parking, and started before starting the engine. Since Zaporozhets did not have liquid cooling, there was no need to drain the water - this simplified the operation of the machine. With a diameter of each of the four cylinders at 66mm and a piston stroke of 54.5mm, before the restyling of 1962, the MeMZ engine had a volume of 746 cubic centimeters and developed a power of 23 horsepower. After the modernization, the bore was increased to 72mm, which increased the engine displacement to 887 cc and gave an additional 4 horsepower. The fuel tank of Zaporozhets holds 24 liters of gasoline. Such engines, due to thin cylinder walls and high thermal loads, do not have a long resource, especially for old engines, the engine of which is stained with oil and dust, which prevent heat from evaporating from the engine.

Zaporozhets is equipped with a four-speed manual transmission, in which the second and fourth gears are synchronized. Drum brakes are installed on both axles.

Price ZAZ 965

Today you can buy ZAZ 965 for 500$. The price of 965 in excellent condition can reach 10,000$.

It is hard to imagine that today someone would buy such a car for their family. But such a car always enjoys attention on the road no less than , and today no one will look at ZAZik with disdain. A well-groomed Soviet car gives joy to people, and people who put their strength, and sometimes even their soul into the restoration of such cars, have a craving for beauty and are highly respected by their neighbors in the traffic stream.

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 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 on a scale of 1:43 from the magazine Autolegends of the USSR №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" were also able to recognize "Humpbacked", from which they made a convertible especially for this film.

• Odessans liked to call ZAZ-965 "Jewish tank".
• Moreover. among the people were widespread and such nicknames as "Constipation", "Zazik", Fiat Volkswagen, Zhuzhik, Malysh.
• 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!".

2008, Reykjavik, the annual Retro Car Auto Show. To the surprise of the automobile public, the Soviet car ZAZ-9B5 "Zaporozheio of Kiev resident Alexey Martynenko became the master of the auto show in the" ultra-retro-compact "class. Without taking the car off the podium, he immediately set another Allin record, selling it to a certain American millionaire for 365 thousand euros!
The history of ZAZ-965, the first domestic mini-car, or, as they say now, an especially small class car, dates back to the mid-1950s, when the Moscow Small Car Plant (MZMA) stopped production of the 401st, the cheapest at that time. "Moskvich" and switched to the production of 402 - more expensive, albeit more modern.
I must say that in the post-war years, the automotive industry of European countries, taking into account the extremely low paying capacity of the population, relied on compact and inexpensive minicar cars - in Germany, these were the Messerschmitt three-wheeled scooter, four-wheeled microcars BMW-lzetta, Zundapp-Janus and Heinkel-Kabine, in Italy - FIAT-500 and FIAT-600, in France - Citroen 2CV, Mochet and Coggomobil. Well, the task of mass motorization of the population was not set before the Soviet auto industry - the ideologists of that time proclaimed the preferential development of public transport for our country - tram, trolleybus, bus and, in extreme cases, taxi.
For the first time in our country, the initiative to create an inexpensive mass-produced car was shown by the leadership of the Irbit Motorcycle Plant (IMZ), which at that time was producing a heavy M-72 motorcycle with a sidecar. The plant workers suggested organizing the production of an especially small class car at the IMZ on the basis of the main components of the motorcycle. The development of his project was entrusted to the Scientific Automotive Institute (NAMI), while as a result it was supposed to obtain a promising design, quite comfortable, as well as unpretentious in operation and unpretentious to the quality of roads to the same extent as a motorcycle with a sidecar.
One of the main creators of the minicar was the famous auto constructor and designer, Candidate of Technical Sciences Yu.A. Dolmatovsky. I will add - for many years he was a permanent member of the editorial board of the "Modelist-Constructor" magazine and its regular author. In the early 1950s, Yu.A. Dolmatovsky, in collaboration with the designer V.I. Aryamov, worked on the concept of a rear-wheel drive car with a wagon layout, which provided compactness, increased capacity, comfort, and also a lower drag coefficient. It was this layout that was chosen for the future mini-car.
The creation of two prototypes of the car, dubbed "Belka", took less than a year. The accelerated work on this car was facilitated by the "Kremlin" show in the summer of 1955 of European minicars to the leaders of the state headed by NS Khrushchev - not long before this event, a batch of such cars was purchased by the Ministry of the Automotive Industry.
It was assumed that at an impromptu meeting, the First Secretary of the Central Committee would give valuable instructions to Soviet auto designers and tell which of the mini-foreign cars could become the prototype of the first Soviet compact car. During the conversation, Nikita Sergeevich was shown photographs of the "Squirrel" - he became interested in domestic development and ordered to urgently make prototypes of the unusual car.
Five prototypes of the car were built in a short time. Unfortunately, the matter did not come to their tests - by order from above, the engines were removed from them and installed on the prototypes of the future "Zaporozhets" developed in the design bureau of the MZMA, called "Moskvich-444". As a prototype for the car, the Minister of the Automotive Industry N.I. Strokin approved the Italian car of an especially small class FIAT-600. The design of the minicar was supervised by the chief designer of the MZMA A.F. Andronov.

It should be noted that the compact FIAT-600 was not chosen as a model by chance - this car, launched in series in 1955, was the last word of the Italian automotive industry, which had vast experience in creating such cars. This gave hope that a car made in his image and likeness could be produced for a long time.
The first sample of the Soviet compact car "based on" FIAT-600 was built in October 1957. The car did not become an absolute copy of the "six hundred" - with the external similarity, the landing diameter of its tires increased from 12 to 13 inches to increase ground clearance and, as a result, cross-country ability. In turn, the large wheels required changes in the suspension kinematics, an increase in wheel arches and, accordingly, an adjustment to the interior layout.
Another important difference from the "six hundred" was the engine - the Italian car was equipped with a 4-cylinder "four" liquid-cooled, and the future "Zaporozhets" was equipped at first with a motorcycle 2-cylinder op-posite air-cooled engine MD-65 produced by IMZ. True, due to the developed crankcase, the prototype had to be equipped with wheel gears - this was the only way to provide the car with an acceptable ground clearance.
Tests of the car showed that a motorcycle engine was completely unsuitable for it. The motor developed 17.5 hp at the stand, which did not provide the car with the necessary dynamics. And the maximum speed of 80 km / h was significantly lower than the design one - 95 km / h. Fie stood up to criticism and the reliability of the engine - the mileage of the car before its overhaul was only 30 thousand kilometers.
The designers of MZMA and FIAMH had to take on the design of a new motor. Power units from Citroen 2CV, BMV-600 and VW Kafer ("Zhuk") cars were used as samples. The most acceptable from the point of view of the designers of the 444th turned out to be the NAMI-V boxer engine, modeled on the VW engine. With such a power unit, it was quite possible to launch the car in a series.
In accordance with the decision of the State Planning Committee, it was decided to place the production of a new minicar not at the MZMA (it was fully occupied with the production of Muscovites), but to create a new car plant for the new car on the basis of the former Kommunar combine plant in the city of Zaporozhye. For reference, this enterprise was founded in the city of Aleksandrov (as the city of Zaporozhye was called until 1921) in 1863 for the manufacture of agricultural implements. During the Soviet years, the plant was reconstructed and expanded, after which an enterprise called Kommunar began to produce harvesters.
The production of engines for minicars was planned to be deployed at the former plant of light marine diesel engines in the city of Melitopol. At the same time, however, it was proposed to use for the car not the boxer engine NAMI-V, but NAMI-G, which, according to experts from the State Planning Commission, was designed at a higher technical level. He, however, had a drawback - the designers designed the motor in such a way that it could be installed only in front of the car! But the State Planning Commission had a weighty argument - NAMI-G, created by the military-industrial complex as a power unit for a light amphibious landing, was almost ready for serial production.
Contrary to the strong objections of the car developers, the 23-horsepower engine, which received the name MeMZ-965 in the series, was approved for installation on a minicar. True, its dimensions differed in a larger direction from the dimensions of those engines that were installed on the 444th earlier, so the rear of the car had to be urgently redone - to change the rear fenders, and make the smooth hood convex. At the same time, it was necessary to adjust the layout of the engine - in particular, its block, which consisted of a gearbox, a clutch housing, a differential and a transfer case.
The finished minicar was named ZAZ-965 "Zaporozhets". On July 18, 1960, the car was taken to the Kremlin for approval.
Test driver A.V. Skidaenko drove N.S. Khrushchev along the building of the Council of Ministers of the USSR to Ivanovskaya Square and back. Nikita Sergeevich approved the car, advising the financiers to set a not too high price for it, which was done - the cost of "Zaporozhets" was 12,000 rubles (after the 1961 denomination - 1200 rubles).
Serial production of the minicar began on October 25, 1960; by the end of the year, the plant assembled about one and a half thousand cars.
In 1966, the car was modernized - it was equipped with a more powerful 27-horsepower engine with a working volume of 0.887 liters, a steering wheel with a recessed hub, sidelights under the headlights (and not on the fenders, like in cars of the first releases), moldings along the sidewalls of the body and a decorative grille on the front panel.
The 965th turned out to be the long-awaited and therefore the beloved brainchild of the Soviet people. This was facilitated by its relative affordability, and excellent maintainability (they say that almost any more or less literate driver could disassemble and reassemble a miniature passenger car), and fantastic cross-country ability due to the smooth bottom and competent weight distribution along the axes (even 650 -kilogram "Zaporozhets" easily pulled out the minicar crew), and excellent economy (the car consumed only 6.5 liters of 76th gasoline per hundred kilometers) and, in the end, the high strength and rigidity of the two-door body.
The serial production of the "hunchback" continued for nine years, during this time the Zaporozhye automobile plant produced 302,166 cars, after which what happened, which often happens to many of our automobile factories, sometimes forget that the consumer sympathies created and cultivated for many years manufactured goods, which are now called the capacious term "brand", are just as invaluable as the design and engineering solutions incorporated into the product. The car, which was loved by Soviet motorists, was discontinued and instead, the production of a completely inexpressive ZAZ-966 began, which differed slightly from the “Muscovites” and “Zhiguli” in terms of size and price, and very radically in terms of consumer properties.

Airframe ZAZ-965A

ZAZ-965A "Zaporozhets" is a frameless minicar four-seater two-door car of an especially small class with a monocoque body. The engine is a carburetor, 4-cylinder, V-shaped upper clan, its power is 27 hp, it is located together with the transmission units in the rear part of the body. Fuel - gasoline A-76, control fuel consumption - 5.9 l / 100 km; the highest speed is 90 km / h.
ZAZ-965A had a modernized power unit of the MeMZ-966 model produced by the Melitopol Motor Plant, which included the engine itself, a clutch and a gearbox with a main gear. All engine units are mounted on a common crankcase, cast from a magnesium alloy. On top of the crankcase, there are separate cast iron cylinders arranged in two rows at an angle of 90 degrees. Cooling ribs are cast on the outer surface of each cylinder. Above, on each pair of cylinders, a common ribbed head made of light alloy is fixed through a gasket.
The pistons were cast from an aluminum alloy. The crankshaft, which had four cranks located in pairs in mutually perpendicular planes, was mounted on three main bearings in the front and rear walls of the crankcase and in its middle bulkhead.
The latest ZAZ-965A cars were equipped with an upgraded 30-horsepower MeMZ-966A engine.
The drive mechanisms of the driving wheels of the car, including the main gear and the differential with semi-axles, are installed in a common crankcase with the gearbox, which is connected to the engine crankcase.
The car is equipped with a dry single-plate clutch with peripherally located springs and a mechanical pedal release drive. A stamped steel clutch cover, which houses a pressure plate with six pressure springs, is bolted to the engine flywheel. Between the flywheel and the pressure plate there is a clutch disc with friction linings.

The ZAZ-965A has a two-shaft four-speed gearbox with synchronizers for engaging the second, third and fourth gears. All gearbox mechanisms are mounted in a crankcase, cast from light alloy together with the final drive housing and attached to the clutch housing.

The rear drive wheels have independent suspension. The drive shaft bracket for each of the drive wheels is attached to a swinging two-arm angular suspension arm. The wheel suspension uses coil springs with telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers inside.

The wheels of the car are disc, lightweight, with a deep symmetrical rim; wheel tires - tubeless. A characteristic feature of the Zaporozhets is a rather large camber of the rear wheels, which, however, under normal load, became almost invisible.
The front wheels also have independent suspension. The elastic element of the front suspension is a pair of rectangular torsion bars assembled from steel plates and installed in tubular casings. The latter are rigidly fixed across the vehicle at the front of the base of the body.

Front suspension shock absorbers are hydraulic, telescopic type. The steering gear of the ZAZ-965A car is a pair of a globoid worm and a two-ridge roller. The latter is fixed on the shaft axis of the steering arm on ball bearings. The worm, mounted in the crankcase on two tapered roller bearings, is fixed to the lower end of the steering shaft. The steering box is secured to the body base bracket and the steering column is secured to the bracket on the body shield. The two-spoke steering wheel is mounted on the upper end of the steering shaft. The signal button is located in the center of the steering wheel.
The ZAZ-965 brake system includes shoe (drum) brakes with hydraulic drive from the foot pedal. The rear brakes also perform the function of parking brakes and have a cable drive from a lever located between the front seats of the machine.

The "humpback" still has a lot of fans, confirmed by numerous rallies and shows of vintage cars, as well as clubs and communities of fans of 965 "Cossacks". Many amateur autobuilding historians and amateur mechanics scrupulously restore retro cars to the last detail, many enthusiasts consider these minicars as an object for tuning, creating magnificent examples of automotive design on the basis of the 965s. Well, the smallest part continues to drive "humpbacks", causing a kind smile from the drivers of oncoming and passing cars.

Driver's workplace:

1 - gas pedal; 2 - gear change lever; 3 - brake pedal; 4 - clutch pedal; 5 - handle of the trunk hood lock; 6 - beep button; 7 - windscreen washer pump switch; 8 - instrument panel; 9 steering wheel; 10- sun visor;
11 - rearview mirror; 12 warning light for emergency oil pressure; 13-toggle switch for turning on the wiper blades; 14 - central light switch; 15 - ignition lock key; 16 - toggle switch for turning on direction indicators; 17 - a control lamp of the generator; 18 - heater switch; 19-signal lamp for normal operation of the heater; 20-handle for heater flaps; 21 - button for controlling the air damper of the carburetor ("suction"); 22-lever hand (parking) brake
The instrument panel of the ZAZ-965 car had the required minimum of indicators: a speedometer with a distance meter, fuel level and oil temperature indicators, a repeater of turn signals and a warning lamp for headlights

"Humpbacked" ZAZ - Soviet passenger car of category "A". Years of production - 1960-1969. During this time, more than 322 thousand copies were produced. Trunk volume is one hundred liters, rear-wheel drive. A gasoline engine with a four-speed manual transmission is used as a power unit. Fuel consumption in the city is about 7 liters per 100 km. The maximum speed threshold of the car is 90 km / h. The people also call it "bug", "zhuzhik", "baby elephant". Consider its features, characteristics and tuning capabilities.

History of creation

For the humpbacked ZAZ, NAMI specialists have designed a 746-cc V-shaped engine with four cylinders. The engine had a unique design with cast-type shafts. The parameters of the new power plant for that time looked very decent. It was mounted at the back, assembled at the Zaporozhye plant, and then refined in Melitopol at MeMZ.

Difficult internal tests of the unit took place for several months. Two experimental cars drove them 5 and 14 thousand kilometers. Then the transport was received by a special interdepartmental commission. Comments were indicated that the estimated weight is 54 kilograms more, and the body height does not correspond to the drawings (it differs by almost 300 millimeters). After eliminating the defects, the "humpback" ZAZ went into mass production (1960). The price of the car was 18 thousand rubles, which is one and a half times cheaper than the 407th "Moskvich". At the end of 1962, engineers improved the engine, increasing the cylinders to 72 mm, and the volume to 887 cubic meters. cm, power - up to 27 horsepower.

Design

From the first years of production, the car in question fell in love with buyers and did not cause serious complaints. "The humpback proved to be excellent when driving on rural and problematic roads. Good maneuverability is ensured by the presence of a smooth bottom, independent suspension on all wheels, as well as a decent load on the driving elements. Even if you happen to get stuck in a swamp or snow, problems getting out, The weight of the car was only 665 kg, it could easily be pushed out by two people.

A distinctive feature of the "zhuzhik" was the ability to drive between rough tracks left by trucks. Other passenger cars could not do it. The owners of the "humped" ZAZ pleased not only with good maneuverability, but also with a durable body, efficiency and ease of maintenance of the power unit.

Exterior

While creating the design of the car, the designers did not attach much importance to decorative elements and wide additional functionality. This is not surprising, since the main task was to create a budget model for the general population. The closed one is made of solid metal, which made it somewhat bloated. The frontal part was distinguished by a pair of folds of the original symmetrical shape.

The curved transitions of these elements had a small radius, and the wheel edges were slightly protruded. The hubcaps had three bolt heads, and the rear wheels had noticeable camber. The power unit was located at the back, respectively, the trunk was moved forward. Its lid was closed from the inside.

Interior

ZAZ "hunchback", the photo of which is presented above, was equipped with adjustable movable separate seats. The back seat in the shape of a sofa was quite comfortable. Useful accessories include sun visors, door pockets, 12 volt single-wire electrical equipment.

In the interior of the car, the preference was given to minimalism. There are several control devices behind the steering column, on the right side - the ignition, control buttons, radio and heater. The windshield guaranteed acceptable visibility; there were vents in the form of corners on the side elements. Although the car in question had only two doors, it belonged to a full-fledged four-seat class.

Landing on the back seat was carried out by folding the front passenger seat forward. The disadvantages include high noise, poor soundproofing of the cabin, swinging the doors in the opposite direction and placing the fuel tank in front, which is dangerous in a collision.

ZAZ "humpback": technical characteristics

The main body part is the crankcase. Its inner baffle has a special cavity for supporting a one-piece bearing. On the walls of the crankcase there is a mount for the camshaft, on the top there are 4 holes for mounting cylinders with aluminum heads and cooling fins. There are four inlet channels, two outlet channels.

The four-range transmission has two shafts and three strokes. One gear is reverse, the rest are equipped with synchronizers. Unit couplings move with forks and rods. The cooling system tends to overheat, especially on long journeys.

The front suspension is borrowed from the Volkswagen Beetle. It includes a pair of transverse torsion bars with four levers. The fists of the driving wheels are additionally connected to them. The rear knot consists of two diagonal levers with axle shafts. Later, the engineers changed the design to an oblique lever block with hinges on the axle shafts.

Main settings

Below are the main characteristics that the ZAZ "humpback" has, the photo of which is presented in the article:

• Length / width / height - 3.3 / 1.39 / 1.45 m.
• Body type - all-metal two-door sedan.
• Ventilation - local type.
• Weight - 665 kg.
• Wheel track (front / rear) - 1.15 / 1.16 m.
• Clearance - 17.5 cm.
• The minimum turning radius is 5 m.
• The maximum speed is 100 km / h.
• The power unit is an atmospheric-cooled gasoline engine with overhead valves.
• Compression - 6.5.
• The clutch is a dry single disc assembly.
• Carburetor type - vertical with a feed flow.
• Brakes - pads.

1. The assembly of the ZAZ "humpback" engine was carried out simultaneously by two manufacturers.
2. In Odessa, the car was often called the "Jewish tank".
3. Among the nicknames of the car were: "baby", "zazik", "constipation".
4. "Humpback" was the last Soviet car, the doors of which were opened against the movement.
5. The stable air intakes were called "Wasserman graters" after their inventor.

Modifications

Several developments of the machine in question are known. Among them:

• 965AB - manually operated.
• 965AR - a special vehicle for disabled people with one injured arm or leg.
• 965C is a right-hand drive mail van.
• 965E "Yalta" is an export model supplied to Finland and Belgium. It had the best equipment, noise insulation and interior trim.
• "Pickup" - produced for internal use at the plant.

ZAZ "humpback": tuning

To carry out the correct modernization of the vehicle in question, you will need to create sketches on paper or in 3D. This will allow you to see the big picture from the expected tuning. The project will provide an opportunity to determine the scope of work and further actions. As a rule, the hubs are changed, drum discs with ventilation are installed, and the standard springs on the rear suspension are changed to a more rigid version. In front, you can mount the suspension from the ZAZ-968. "Humpback" after that will become tougher and tougher.

Reducing fuel consumption will allow new connecting rods, boring of the intake and exhaust manifolds, installation of a pump from the "figure eight" and a carburetor zeroer. At the same time, the power of the power unit will increase. Disc wheels are often used to provide better cornering stability, making steering easier.

Reinforcement of the engine

Increasing the power indicators of the motor is a very justified operation. After all, the native installation has a capacity of only three dozen "horses" at a speed maximum of 100 km / h. Taking into account the fact that the motor is located at the rear, it is necessary to choose a suitable gearbox designed for the rear power units.

The transmission unit will fit from later versions of Zaporozhtsev, as well as from Volkswagen, Porsche and Tatra vans. If you install the MeMZ-968 engine, you get an increase in power up to 45 horsepower. True, it will be necessary to replace the native carburetor with a two-chamber analogue of the "VAZ" type. You can fix it directly in the trunk. It is also advisable to replace the stove with an improved heating system.

Body

The body of the ZAZ "humpbacked" car is also subject to restyling. Tuning, the photo of which is presented above, allows you to improve aerodynamics and appearance. Since on the machine in question, the doors open in the opposite direction, which is dangerous in the event of unforeseen traffic situations, it is better to outweigh these elements from the rear sheds to the front hinges. The outdated lock is also being replaced by a modern version.

The external modernization also includes the widening of the wheel arches for 195/60 / R14 tires. To enhance the vehicle's originality and purify the incoming air, the intakes are mounted on top. In addition, a kenguryatnik, anti-wings, side arches, an aerodynamic kit made of plastic are installed. In this design, the car will look great and very stylish.

Salon

This element of the Soviet car has become obsolete for a long time. Even before, it was not distinguished by high comfort for passengers and the driver. Improving the interior of the ZAZ-965 is not so difficult. Install new seats, a sports steering wheel, oil pressure indicators and other performance indicators, including a temperature and fuel level sensor.

On the ceiling, you can adapt the trim from natural black or red leather, and lay carpet with similar shades on the floor. You should also replace the door trim, pedals. If you do not want to throw away the standard seats, you should make them high-quality upholstery. If you are not confident in your own abilities, entrust the hauling of the salon to specialists.

Electrical equipment

The electronics on the machine in question has a voltage of 12 V, is powered by a single-wire system. Headlights from IZH-12 are suitable as lighting elements. At the beginning of the improvement, you should remove the native optics. To do this, the movable socket is removed, the wires are unhooked, the tongue is sawn off on top of the "eye socket". Then a round headlight is taken from the "Moskvich", tried on to the installation site. Six holes are planned, two of which are made with a larger diameter for adjustable chips.

The location of the element will be vertical, so you need to grind off the tongue. The optical element and adjustment chips are removed. The wires are brought out to the standard sockets. The headlamp is fastened with bolts from the inside and external nuts. After that, the optics are mounted and pressed with control nuts. The protruding parts of the bolts are cut off. For the outer edging, a rim from the 968 model will do. With proper handling, it will be possible to install dimmable halogen lamps.

Additionally

To enhance the quality of the engine cooling unit, you can mount a pair of radiators from "Ford" or "Tavria". The new ZAZ "humpback" will become even more attractive and practical if you install a transmission, for example, from a VAZ-2108 with five ranges. External changes are mainly associated with the reshaping of the skeleton for a new engine, since the wheel arches expand, and the rear axle of the car is moved.

No matter how small it is - the Zaporozhets was even too big for its class. According to the then classification, ZAZ-965 with its 650 kg of weight and dimensions of 3 330 x 1395 x 1450 mm was attributed to microcars. At the same time, many analogue models were less solid - for example, Fiat 600 (3,215 x 1,380 x 1,405 mm), Morris Mini Minor (3,030 x 1,390 x 1,350 mm), NSU Prince (3,145 x 1,420 x 1,370 mm). But to the Soviet citizen, ZAZik seemed small against the background of the usual Muscovites, Victories, Volga and ZIMs. Today, to us, as people familiar with Oka, Smart, Daewoo Matiz, Hyundai i10 and other modern small things, the "humpback" would not seem so small.

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2. Close

Exaggeration! Yes, not the Volga, but for four adults, as stated in the manual, it is quite suitable. The width of the cabin (1,300 mm) is even larger than that of the larger Moskvich-408/412 (1,220 mm), and the headroom is also larger, by as much as 15 mm! In front, you can stretch your legs, and behind us, two men of average completeness were sitting, barely touching the backs of the front seats with their knees and with a gap "in the shoulders." Yes, taller people here would have propped up the front seats more, but this is the only claim to the spaciousness of the Zapik!

In any case, almost all four-seater competing cars have a shorter interior, and many have a difference of about 10 cm at once: Renault 4 CV, NSU Prince, Trabant, Lloyd LP 600. As for the comfort of Zaporozhets, it would be fair to reproach him for being tough. front suspension - but it was almost impenetrable. And what really seemed to me to be cramped was the pedal assembly, but for some reason no one criticizes ZAZIK for this. But the steering wheel is light and quite adequate in feedback.

3. Primitive

Far from it! Everything that is in the design of the ZAZ-965 is aimed at achieving compactness - but not at economy or simplification. In the USSR, with its non-market economy, producers did not seek to "make" more money for consumers. Therefore, perhaps, in Zaporozhets there is not a single frankly budgetary solution, not a single clearly "fufly", disposable part. All units are repairable and designed for long-term operation. For whatever you take with your hand - everything is solid, reliable, albeit not always elegant.

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Curb weight:

The layout of the car, the layout and arrangement of the engine, construction materials, equipment, interior decoration - everything was done at a modern level for that period or ahead of it. For example, most of Zapik's foreign classmates, like him, were rear-engined, but apart from him, only two or three models had a full-fledged four-cylinder power unit. Moreover, only in ZAZs it was rational for the rear placement of the V-shaped scheme. And yet not a single serial passenger car in the USSR had an independent suspension - except for Zaporozhets, of course!

4. Weak

Lies! Other cars were no more "charged" then! With the most common engines (27 and 30 hp) Zaporozhets had a power-to-weight ratio of 24-21 kg per 1 hp. s., and, for example, the modern Moskvich-407 - 22 kg per 1 liter. With. Naturally, with a full load, the layout changed, but this is the lot of any small-sized car, due, by the way, to a more rational ratio of the payload and its own weight.

Today you can still find "ZAZik", which was not touched by the hand of the restorer

In general, the dynamics of a serviceable "hunchback" was quite consistent with the spirit of the times - another thing is that not all owners could maintain a budget car in good working order. In today's city traffic, the car keeps quite confidently - but only within the first two or three gears. Then, of course, the fuse dries up - the current speeds are not the same.

5. The motor is unusable - it chronically overheats

Do you really think that in the USSR someone could have put on a conveyor an engine unsuitable for operation? A serviceable MeMZ-965 engine (Melitopol Motor Plant) maintained a regular thermal regime under any driving conditions: with full load, the car passed state tests in the North, the Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia - in fact, where it was subsequently successfully operated.

The real trouble for the Zaporozhtsev was that not all owners maintained their car in proper technical condition. Actually, this applied not only to ZAZs, and it does not matter what type of engine we are talking about: if unkempt "dropsy", for example, left puddles of water on the roads, then they warmed up. The elementary procedure for washing or cleaning the ZAZ engine prevented problems, but for many would-be motorists, under the covers of the cooling system, the engine was overgrown with an oil crust, reinforced with layers of dust and fluff, and a violation of the temperature regime was guaranteed.

And if, after repair or maintenance, "craftsmen" threw out at least part of the tin air ducts from under the hood (and they threw it out all over the place, almost through one!), The specific overheating did not take long. Unfortunately, the network of car services - neither for ZAZs, nor for other brands - did not exist in the country in the 1960s, and there was no one to instill a culture of competent service for the Zaporozhians.

Brief technical characteristics

Engine: four-cylinder, V-shaped, 887 cm³ Power: 30 hp. With. (4,000-4,200 rpm) Maximum torque: 5.3 kgm (2,800-3,000 rpm) Dimensions (L x W x H): 3,330 x 1,395 x 1,450 mm Ground clearance : 175 mm Max speed: 100 km / h

6. Afraid of the heat

Fiction! A fundamentally erroneous stereotype that applies to everything in the automotive environment. Meanwhile, based on the theory of internal combustion engines, heat has less effect on the operation of the "air vent" motor than the usual "dropsy". The reason is simple: the temperature difference between the engine cylinder (140–180 ° С) and the coolant - outboard air (say, 30 ° С) is much higher than between the same cylinder and the antifreeze that washes it (90 ° С). Do you get the point? Against the background of a difference of 110-150 degrees, the change in air temperature outside the Zaporozhets window by 15 degrees, as physicists say, can be neglected. Where did this persistent stereotype come from that the Cossacks especially often overheat in the heat?

Apparently, the fact is that in the USSR half of the "private traders" operated cars only in the warm season. And it was in the summer that the number of Zaporozhians on the roads increased significantly: summer cottages, vacation time, voyages to the sea, to the mountains, to the river ... overheat. So they stood on the side of the Zapika with the hood lid raised, cooling down and making themselves anti-advertising. In winter, the percentage of ZAZs on the roads is different, the driving modes are different, and there are an order of magnitude less noticeable silhouettes with a raised rear hood.

These days we drove perfectly restored, debugged and complete cars, and it is clear that the thermometer on the dashboard behaved in a disciplined manner. On the other hand, the personal experience of the author, who, as a student, traveled for three years on an ancient ZAZ-966 with the same "thirty" engine as the "humpback" one, confirms: a clean and properly adjusted "engine" does not heat up, no matter how torment it with overloads and steep climbs.

7. Unreliable

Reliable. There are few cases when one of the 322,166 copies of the "hunchback", produced in Zaporozhye from 1960 to 1969, stopped in the field and could not get home. Another thing is that it was not as durable as the "state cars" - created for work in state structures Pobeda, Volga, ZIM. And yet, the design of the ZAZ-965 corresponded to the operating conditions in any regions of the Union: a strong suspension, non-childish ground clearance (175 mm), a rigid and "rotting" body, a powerful heater (aka preheater).

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Weak points, of course, were - the engine served no more than 35-50 thousand kilometers before the average repair, the front suspension wore out faster than other components. But even here everything depended on care: the engine required good oil (and many refueled it with a low-quality autolot), and the pivots and bushings of the “front end” torsion bars had to be regularly lubricated.

Over the years of mass production of ZAZ-965, the number of launched copies on the streets became more and more, because a shabby "humpback" was worth mere pennies, and there was no reason to invest in serious repairs. Nevertheless, the "killed" copies continued to travel somehow to the region and, in addition to being useful to their owners, brought the model an unreliable image. Today we did not carry out resource tests, but we dare to assure: a serviceable, well-oiled ZAZ-965 behaves quite adequately on the move and makes an entirely pleasant impression on both the driver and passengers.