ZAZ-969

ZAZ-969/LuAZ-969

The ZAZ 969 was a Soviet four-wheel drive automobile built by the Zaporizhia Automobile Building Plant (Ukrainian: ЗАЗ, Запорізький автомобілебудівельний завод, Zaporiz'kyi avtomobilebudivnyi zavod or Zaporiz'kyi avtozavod, ZAZ).[1] The first Soviet vehicle with front wheel drive, it was based on the LuAZ-967.[2]

Developing ideas from the unbuilt Moskvitch 415 prototype, designers used the LuAZ-967 as a basis for a four-wheel drive vehicle .[3] They added a body to the LuAZ's bare form, and fitted a 30 hp (22 kW; 30 PS) 887 cc (54.1 cu in) MeMZ 966 air-cooled four-cylinder engine.[4] No other mechanical changes were made.[5]

A pre-production batch of fifty was created in 1965, dubbed ZAZ 969, and production was authorized in 1966 as the 969V.[6] It was built by ZAZ until 1971, when LuAZ took over.[7]

Its pioneering (for a Soviet car) front wheel drive was due to a lack of drivable rear axles from the supplier, which was giving priority to the LuAZ 967.[8] Nevertheless, the 969 performed well, with a weight of only 1,340 kg (2,950 lb) (thanks in part to a soft top) and an 1,800 mm (71 in) wheelbase.[9] The transmission was a four-speed.[10]

When LuAZ took over production (making it the LuAZ 969), four-wheel drive became standard .[11]

In 1975, the LuAZ 969A replaced the original 969, offering a new 40 hp (30 kW; 41 PS) 1,197 cc (73.0 cu in) MeMZ 969 four-cylinder engine.[12] It survived until 1979.[13]

This was followed by a hard-top panel van version in 1977, known as the 969F, with a 400 kg (880 lb) payload, which was only built in small quantities.[14]

LuAZ began developing a replacement for the 969A in 1974, the 969M; it entered production in 1979.[15] It was named Volin, for the region around Lutsk (where the factory was located).[16] It retained the 40 hp (30 kW; 41 PS) engine, but changed to disk brakes with servo assist.[17] Door locks were added.[18] Folding windshield was standard.[19]

Exports were limited, though it proved popular in Italy, where Matorelli also offered it with a Ford engine.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Thompson, Andy. Cars of the Soviet Union (Haynes Publishing, Somerset, UK, 2008), p.190.
  2. ↑ Thompson, p.190.
  3. ↑ Thompson, p.190.
  4. ↑ Thompson, p.190.
  5. ↑ Thompson, p.190.
  6. ↑ Thompson, p.190.
  7. ↑ Thompson, p.190.
  8. ↑ Thompson, pp.190-191.
  9. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  10. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  11. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  12. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  13. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  14. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  15. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  16. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  17. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  18. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  19. ↑ Thompson, p.191.
  20. ↑ Thompson, p.191.

Sources

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