Zaz, Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant Zaz 965 "Jalta" (diecast 1:43, Hongwell / Nash Avtoprom)

This is Zaz 965 "Yalta". The model is made by Hongwell for Nash Avtoprom. Nothing opens.
ZAZ-965 is a Soviet-made passenger car, which belonged to class A and was manufactured in the period from 1960 to 1963 (965A - from 1962 to 1969). For 9 years, a total of 322166 copies rolled off the assembly line, including its modifications.

A few words about the background of the car
Since 1955, a new Moskvich-402 has been released. Despite the fact that it belonged to a budget car, "for ordinary citizens", it was still beyond the means of many Soviet workers. This prompted the government to search for new solutions and develop modern sidecars and small cars. As a result, several exemplary versions were even released, for example: NAMI-031, NAMI-059, IMZ-A50 "Belka", GAZ-18, but none of them passed the "exam". The government did not want to wait several years of careful development and large investments in this. After all, it is much easier to take a ready-made imported car as a sample and remake it “in your own way”. So they did, and the "victim" was the subcompact Italian Fiat-600, which was distinguished by its light design and extraordinary popularity. The Moscow Small Car Plant even managed to produce a sample called "Moskvich-444". It had an engine from a Soviet Ural motorcycle, mechanical windows and 13-inch wheels. After some time, it was decided to transfer the technical documentation of this small car to the Zaporozhye plant "Kommunar", which had previously specialized in agricultural machines.
Especially for this car, the NAMI Institute has developed a V-shaped, 746-cc engine with 4 cylinders. It had an original design with cast shafts. In terms of its characteristics, the engine turned out to be very successful and, as a result, somewhat larger than the engine from the Fiat-600, which became the reason for its installation at the back and the formation of a kind of hump, for which the Zaporozhets received the nickname “humpback”. It is also interesting that the cars themselves were assembled at the Zaporozhye plant, and the engines were finalized at the Melitopol MeMZ. Before launching cars into production, in the winter of 1960, three prototypes with MeMZ-965V engines were presented. For almost three months, difficult internal tests took place, where two cars “hit about 5 thousand km, and one - as many as 14. Then they were sent to the interdepartmental commission, where the tests were still delayed until the end of June. The final verdict was positive, although the commission reproached the designers for the fact that the weight was still overstated by almost 54 kg, and the height of the cabin did not correspond to the drawings by almost 30 mm. ZAZ was allowed to go into production, but only after the elimination of these and several other shortcomings. In addition, "Zaporozhets" attended the bridegroom even with Khrushchev, who, despite his "fat belly", got behind the wheel without any problems and felt quite comfortable, and the professional Soviet automobile tester Skidanenko even expressed his respect and emphasized that that such a machine must go on sale as soon as possible with a price accessible to any "worker".

Serial production of the car officially began in 1960 with a starting price of 18 thousand pre-reform rubles. This was a good indicator, because the Moskvich-407 cost more than 25 thousand, and what can we say about the "Volga", the price of which was about 51 thousand.

At the end of 1962, the designers began to modernize the "heart" of the car, as a result of which the cylinders increased to 72 mm, the working volume - up to 887 cm³, and the power - up to 27 horsepower.

CAR DESIGN AND DESIGN SOLUTIONS
From the very first years, the car was very well received by buyers and did not receive serious complaints about it. Zaporozhets has proven itself quite well when driving in villages or on bad roads. A high cross-country ability is facilitated by a smooth bottom, independent suspension on all 4 wheels, as well as a large load (almost 60%) on the drive wheels. By the way, an interesting fact is that even getting stuck in a swamp or snow, Zaporozhets did not create any particular problems for its passengers, because even 2 people could easily "pull out" a car that weighed only 665 kg from captivity. By the way, Zaporozhets was also distinguished by the fact that it could drive between rough ruts left on the roads by trucks without any problems. This was not possible for any cars, even the GAZ-69, which had to enter the track with one side and move neatly along the hump with the other.

The owners of the "humpback" loved it not only for its good maneuverability and solid body (due to only two doors), but also for its economy, as well as an easy-to-repair engine.

While working on the appearance of this car, the designers did not pay special attention to decorative details or a wide range of additional electrical appliances, because the main goal was to create a budget civilian "horse". The body itself was closed, load-bearing, made of solid metal and "plump" in appearance. Its front section was accentuated by two folds in an original symmetrical shape. Their curved transitions had rather small radii, and the wheel edges were slightly "bulging". The wheel cap had three bolt heads and the rear wheels had noticeable camber. Since the engine was located in the back, the trunk was in the front, the lid of which was closed from the inside. The front separate seats were movable and adjustable (depending on the height of the person), and the rear sofa was quite comfortable. Among the useful "gizmos" were sun visors, door pockets and 12-volt DC electrical equipment, which had a 1-wire system.
Minimalism reigned in the Zaporozhets cabin - there were several control devices behind the steering wheel, on the right - ignition, several control buttons, a heater and a radio receiver. The windshield provided a fairly good visibility, and the side windows had vents-corners in the front part. ZAZ-965 was a two-door, but full-fledged 4-seater car, only 3.33 m long. Passengers were seated on the rear sofa by bending the right front seat forward. The bottom did not have a propeller shaft and was perfectly flat, and the clearance length under the rear axle was only 20mm, which, as a result, gave the Zaporozhets excellent cross-country ability.

Among the disadvantages of ZAZ were the high engine noise and poor soundproofing of the cabin, opening the doors "in the opposite direction", as well as the location of the gas tank in the front, which was very dangerous in the event of a collision. Some car owners spoke negatively about the power, which was clearly not enough.

Technical characteristics of the "Humpbacked" ZAZ-965
The main part of the engine housing was the crankcase, in the inner partition of which there was a special cavity for the bearing support. A pair of bearings are one-piece, and the support itself is fixed with a bolt. On the walls of the crankcase there is a support for the camshaft, and on top of the crankcase there are 4 holes. They are designed to accommodate cylinders with aluminum alloy heads and cooling fins. There are four exhaust ports (for each cylinder) and only two intake ports. Holes are also provided for spark plugs, in which additional fittings are installed.
The four-speed gearbox had two shafts and three strokes. One gear was reverse, the 2nd and 3rd had helical gears, which were in constant engagement. The second, third and fourth gears had synchronizers needed for silent operation. Since a sharp and fast gear change could disable the system, the design of the lever allowed it to move very smoothly and without jerking. KP clutches were moved using three rods and forks. The cooling system is another weak point of the humpback, because the system always overheated in the warm season, especially during a long ride.

The designers borrowed the front suspension from the "Beetle" from the Volkswagen company. It consisted of two transverse torsion bars, to which 4 levers were attached. The fists of the driving wheels were additionally attached to the levers using a unit. The rear suspension consisted of two diagonal levers with semi-axles that swing. This low-cost and simple suspension made the car more economical, albeit not very fast. In the future, the designers nevertheless got rid of this design, replacing it with an "oblique lever" design, the axle shafts of which had their own hinges.

Modifications of the "Humpbacked" ZAZ-965
ZAZ-965AB is a model for disabled people with manual control levers.

ZAZ-965AR is a car for disabled people who have only one leg and / or one arm damaged.

ZAZ-965S is a right-hand drive van with rear metal panels and a modified cooling system, designed to collect mail.

ZAZ-965E "Yalta" is an export sedan, the import of which was organized by the company from Belgium Scaldia-Volga and the Finnish company Konela. this modification had good noise isolation, more expensive interior trim, and a rear-view mirror was located on the side of the hood.

ZAZ - 965 Pickup - a modification without its own index, was used only inside the plant, and was made on the basis of defective serial ZAZ cars.