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In 1945, Hitler’s dream of a one thousand year empire ended. Troops pushed into Berlin from all sides, crushing the German resistance and forcing its way towards the Reichstag building. By working together, the Allies and the Russians had destroyed everything in their path and emerged victorious. However, once the threat from the Nazis had been removed, what was there to hold these two ideologically and culturally disparate nations together? In truth, the answer was ‘very little’. What followed led to the dissection of Berlin, the construction of the famous wall and the period of tension between the capitalist west and the Communist east which we know as the ‘Cold War’. So what, I hear you ask, does this have to do with cars?
As the Cold War continued it became apparent that the two sides of the ‘Iron Curtain’ were radically different in many ways. Their people wore different clothes, listened to different music, watched different films, lived in different houses, ate different food, and, most importantly for the purposes of this article, drove different cars. The stereotypical view of these Soviet vehicles is that they were shoddily built, woefully underpowered, desolately underequipped and lacking any of the refinements of western automobiles. What I’ve set out to discover is this: Were they really as bad as all that? If not, what were they really like? And how do they compare to the contemporary offerings of Britain and America?
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Turning my attention first of all to the small car market, I came across the ZAZ Zaporozhets (the ‘z’ key on my keyboard has never seen so much use!) These frugal little offerings were built in Zaporazhye in the Ukraine between 1958 and 1994, in the same factory which went on to produce Daewoos, now Chevrolets, for the Ukrainian market. They were built to be tough and rugged in order to handle the Soviet Union’s less than perfect road network, a network which would make our nation’s complaints about potholes pale in comparison. The earliest model of the Zaporozhets, designated as the 965, was based on the Fiat 600 although the engine was of a Russian design: a rear mounted and air cooled V4 producing 26bhp. It wasn’t particularly quick but it was resilient, reliable, cheap to repair when it did break down and was dubbed as the ‘people’s car’, a statement which draws obvious parallels to a certain wartime model from Germany…
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Moving on from the compact car to the average family saloon, next on my list of discoveries is the surprisingly stylish MZMA Moskvitch 402. Built between 1956 and 1965 and based on the Opel Kadett, the 402 was available in three different engine displacements: the 1220cc, the 1360cc and the 1500cc derived from the 1963 BMW 1500. The first two lumps produced approximately 45bhp and could reach a top speed of 54mph, while the latter could crack a respectable 70mph. The 402 also contained a radio as standard, a feature still considered to be a luxury in automobiles of this era. Aside from the obvious similarities with the Kadett one obviousadditional contemporary comparison with the 402 lies with the Mk2 Ford Consul. The Mk1 Consul finished production in 1956, the same year that the 402 began rolling out of the factories. It possessed a 47bhp engine and a top speed of 72mph, only marginally better than its Soviet counterpart. However, the Mk2, which was released at around the same time as the 402 appeared, had upped the ante with more power and a greater top speed. It didn’t have a radio as standard though, perhaps showing that although the Russian car companies weren’t big on engines they did have the upper hand in at least one desirable in-car accessory.
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If you lived in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and wanted a slightly larger and even more stylish car than the 402, you needed to look no further than the Sachsenring P240. Built in East Germany between 1955 and 1959, it boasted a 2.4 litre six cylinder with approximately 80bhp; almost double that of the lesser Moskvitch offering. It also boasted a very distinct flash of chrome down the sides, making it quite an aesthetically distinctive car. As a larger and more powerful barge the P240 can be compared to the luxurious cars of British origin including its obvious western stable mate – the Vauxhall Cresta PA. Built between 1957 and 1962, the Cresta shared several traits with the P240. Firstly, both have circular headlamps, sweeping rooflines, oddly shaped rear windows and distinctly ornate chrome work. Secondly, they shared similar engine set ups: the Cresta was fitted with a 2.4 six cylinder similar to the P240 but delivering only 72bhp, marking a rare occasion when a Soviet car developed more power. This was later remedied when Vauxhall replaced the 2.4 with a 2.6 litre unit with over 100bhp, as if to restore the balance!
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After seeing how the compacts, the family cars and the luxury saloons were all relatively good cars, especially compared to stereotypical conceptions of the Soviet industry, the next type of car I wanted to look at was the one used by the leaders of communism. As men controlling the government, you would expect their cars to be the epitome of communist pride and soviet engineering right? Not so. For example, anyone who was anyone in the 1960s Soviet Union appears to have driven (or been chauffeured about in) a GAZ – 13, also known as a ‘Chaika’.
GAZ was formed after an agreement with Ford, so it’s not surprising that its cars would have more than a few American traits, although the Chaika takes ‘imitation is the greatest form of flattery’ to a whole new level. Built between 1959 and 1981, it was available in both hardtop and convertible configurations, ferrying its passengers around in distinctly capitalist comfort and refinement, even down to the rumbling echoes of its 5.5 litre V8 motor producing 195bhp (a respectable figure compared to the other cars we’ve already seen). But it isn’t just the comfort, space and mechanicals which bear a striking resemblance to the cars of the United States. To see what I mean, look up a picture of the 1955 Packard Patrician. The Chaika is almost a clone of its American counterpart, differentiated only by the Packard’s superior build quality and 300bhp V8 (which easily made it the quicker of the two despite its boat-like size). In short, the Chaika ferried communist leaders around with all the style, presence and comfort of one of J.F.K’s limos: am I the only one to see the irony in all that?
Before finishing this article it would be sacrilege to omit those Soviet cars which made it to our roads and which, as a result, shaped the nation’s perceptions of all motor vehicles behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. These vehicles can be summed up in two words: ‘Lada’ and ‘Trabant’. The former were mildly popular during the 1980s, their dodgy aesthetics and poor road holding shamed by BMWs and Mercedes’ of a similar vintage. Nevertheless, the Niva and Riva, amongst others, have made an indelible mark on the automotive world, even if it was, perhaps for all the wrong reasons. Trabants were also reasonably popular cars, selling over 3,000,000 units in its thirty year lifespan. Thought to be advanced at the time due to their front wheel drive layout and roomy interior, they were also ridiculed in equal measure thanks to their 500c two stroke engine which excelled as neither use nor ornament. Still, they too have become firmly entrenched in an age of motoring now long forgotten and can be viewed within a kind of nostalgic haze by some.
So what have I learnt from my research? First of all, cars from the Soviet Union were not as bad as they are often painted. They were robust and possessed an aesthetic styling not dissimilar to our own breed of classics; styling which I for one find quite appealing. I don’t mind admitting that I would drive the Chaika with little hesitation (although I’d only drive it because it looks American, a sad irony in itself). The Soviet offerings were also easy to maintain and repair due to their simplistic mechanicals, making their only real downside a lack of power. Still, perhaps we should try and give these little cars another chance. After all, how bad can they be? Don’t forget to comment below as I’d love to get some more feedback on these seldom discussed cars, especially if you’ve driven one!
J D SIMPSON 