ZAZ or Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant is the main automobile manufacturer of Ukraine, based in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia. It also produces buses and trucks and is known for its former parent company's name, AvtoZAZ. The date of foundation of the plant is considered to be 1863. In 1908, the company was founded, which later became the Melitopol Motor Plant (MeMZ). In 1923, the former Abram Koop plant was renamed the Communar. In 1960, the Melitopol Motor Plant began to supply its engines to the Zaporizhia Automobile Plant. Since 1975, MeMZ has become a part of the production association "AvtoZAZ". Today it is one of the structural elements of PJSC "ZAZ". In 1961 the plant was renamed "Zaporizhia Automobile Plant". The plant was engaged in the production of a single car - ZAZ-965, which went down in history as a "humpbacked Zaporozhets".

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, 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 Zaporizhzhia or the 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. Another important advantage of the Zaporozhets was its ease of repair. The car's appearance gave birth to several nicknames that became well known across the Soviet Union: horbatyi ("hunchback", owing to ZAZ-965's insect-like form; although ZAZ factory workers never used this nickname), malysh (English: Kiddy),^[2] ushastyi ("big-eared", due to 966 and 968's round air intakes on each side of the car to cool the rear-mounted engine), zapor ("constipation"), mylnitsa ("soap-box", for ZAZ-968M, lacking "ears" and producing a more box-like appearance).

Numerous special versions of the Zaporozhets were produced, equipped with additional sets of controls that allowed operating the car with a limited set of limbs, and were given for free or with considerable discounts to disabled people, especially war veterans - similar to SMZ-series microcars. These mobility cars would at times take up to 25% of ZAZ factory output.

965/965a

The ZAZ 965 was a city car produced from 1960 to 1963. Design of a car accessible to the public, and one in part taking the place of the soon to be discontinued Moskvitch 401, began in 1956. 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. However, despite being visually similar to the Fiat, the ZAZ was in fact a completely different car.

The prototype was first powered by a flat twin-cylinder engine provided by the Irbitskiy Motorcycle Plant, which was "totally unsuited": it produced only 17.5 hp  and lasted only 30,000 km  between major overhauls. As a result Minavtroprom preferred a 23 hp rear-mounted 746 cc  V4, the NAMI-G, which had the additional advantage of being developed for the LuAZ-967.  It had the drawback of needing to have the rear of the car redesigned to fit, as well as needing a new rear suspension. The influence of the LuAZ designers led to the introduction of independent suspension on all four wheels. Its front doors open in a manner like suicide doors, partly to make it more accessible to the disabled.

One of the primary differences was that the engine, which featured a V4 layout in place of the Fiat's inline-four, was air-cooled. The Zaporozhets also featured bigger wheels and front suspension on torsion bars. In 1958, the government ordered production of the car in the reformed ZAZ factory, under its final designation ZAZ-965. All further production of the car was carried out there.

The 965A was an improvement on the 965 and was produced from November 1962 to May 1969. In total, 322,106 units of the 965 were produced. It was powered by a MeMZ 965 rear-mounted, air-cooled OHV 887 cc (54.1 cu in) V4 engine, partially of aluminium design, producing 27 PS.

966/968/968m

The second generation of the Zaporozhets was a series of subcompact cars, production starting of the 966 in November 1966, although the prototype was working on as 1961. It had a completely restyled bodywork (done entirely by ZAZ), no longer resembling the Fiat 600 and arguably similar to the Chevrolet Corvair, Hillman Imp or the NSU Prinz. This was an effort to cure some of the 965's issues, such as torsion bars that lost tension, suicide doors, and engine overheating and noise. The engine was the 30 hp  887 cc  MeMZ 966A. A radio was standard equipment. The price had inched up, too, from 1,800 rubles at the 965's debut to 2,200 by 1969.

While featuring a larger two-door notchback saloon body, it still featured an air-cooled V4 engine and featured more prominent air intakes – the so-called "ears", although a decorative chrome grille was also present. The car's rear suspension was also replaced. The 966 started out as the simpler ZAZ-966V (ЗАЗ-966В in Cyrillic) with the 30 hp  engine from the 965A, which was also featured on all later models. Much like the 965A, the 966V was also produced in several special variants for the disabled (VR, VB, VB2 - until January 1973). It was produced in tandem with the 965 from November 1966 to May 1969.

The 966 was discontinued in 1972, with the introduction of the ZAZ 968. The ZAZ-968 and its modifications were produced from 1971 to 1980. It featured the same 40 hp  1,197 cc  MeMZ 968 V4 as the ZAZ 966, but the exterior design was slightly modernized. The most obvious alteration was replacing the fake chrome grille in the car's front with a horizontal chrome decoration.

In 1979, the 968 series was replaced by the modernized 968M. Prototyped in 1977, it had the "ears" removed and replaced much of the chrome exterior with black plastic. Its interior design was also upgraded, featuring a closed-space glove compartment and a slightly more modern dashboard. It was offered with either the MeMZ 968E  40 hp, carbureted engine or the MeMZ 968BE  50 hp. Instead of the side-mounted "ears", the hood lid and rear quarter panels were louvered.

The 968M is the most contemporary Zaporozhets model and also spent the most time in production, spanning a career from 1979 to 1 June 1994. Some of its special variants include the ZAZ-968MB2, for drivers who have only one foot, the ZAZ-968MB for drivers who have no feet.

Planned 968s with 1,300 cc  or 1,400 cc  engines were never realized.

Among the export variants produced by ZAZ were ZAZ-965E, ZAZ-965AE, ZAZ-966E, ZAZ-968E, and ZAZ-968AE, which had improved consumer qualities. Depending on target markets, commercial names Jalta or Eliette were used for these models.

In total, 3,422,444 Zaporozhets vehicles were manufactured and powered by air-cooled engines from the Melitopol factory from 1960 to 1994.

1102

ZAZ Tavria (Ukrainian: ЗАЗ-Таврія) is a range of front-wheel-drive subcompact cars produced by the Soviet and then Ukrainian manufacturer ZAZ.

ZAZ-1102 Tavria and subsequent ZAZ-1102 Tavria Nova, ZAZ-1105 Dana, ZAZ-1103 Slavuta and ZAZ-11055 Tavria Pick-Up replaced the rear wheel drive Zaporozhets series in the product lineup.

In the 1970s, several experimental models of hatchback and two-door sedan were created in the USSR.

ZAZ-1102 Tavria, a 3-door hatchback released in 1987, was the first model of the range. It features independent MacPherson struts suspension at the front and a twist-beam rear suspension. The water-cooled MeMZ-245 I4 engine was a major shift forward from the air-cooled V4 used in former models.

The 1102 acquired the Tavria name in 1989. It was chosen in an internal factory contest and resembles Tauric, the ancient Greek name of Crimea.

ZAZ-1103 Slavuta was a 5-door B-class liftback released in 1995 and discontinued in 2011. It featured a fuel injection engine of 1,2-1,3 liters. ZAZ-1105 Dana, a 5-door wagon version was released in 1992 and discontinued in 1999. Since 1996, a commercial van has been made. ZAZ-11055 Tavria Pick-Up is a commercial vehicle designed for small cargo transportation. In contrast to the passenger models, the pickup has a fiberglass cargo compartment and plastic upper cover. The Tavria Pick-Up has a body 20 cm longer than the passenger model.

Producers positioned Tavria as an economy-class car. It was sold in Chile as the Lada Tavria in the early 1990s, and in Colombia between 1992 and 1995. The 3-door hatchbacks were sold in Argentina from 1992 to 1995.

In 1989 the USSR Ministry of Automobile industry released a promotional video targeting the Western market, which won the Cannes Bronze Lion for trade ads.

1999-2010  11055 tavria pick-up

prototype 1104

At the end of the 80s, Zaporizhzhya managed to produce a prototype that did not look like any cars of that time. If Tavria itself, even for the beginning of the 1990s, already had an exterior that was called relevant – the language did not turn, then the concept ZAZ-1104 could radically change history and get ahead of time.

The car turned out luxurious. Compared with the models existing to this day, the ZAZ-1104 very vaguely resembled a VAZ-2110 with two doors, but in reality the exterior of the ambitious prototype looked much more expensive: here there are fashionable “clouded” headlights, laconic windows in the doors, and design discs, and symmetrical air intakes in the hood, giving the car a sporty character.

Interestingly, there is no information on the power plants for ZAZ-1104 on the network, but it is clear that a Ukrainian two-door coupe with such an appearance would probably receive a turbo engine and an automatic transmission. Zaporizhzhya Automobile Plant had big plans for ZAZ-1104, but it seems that the model was simply “born” not where it was needed.

Korean partners and investors spoiled everything: they did not appreciate the efforts of Zaporizhzhya designers, criticizing the model to the smithereens, as a result of which the only ZAZ-1104 went to museum storage, and the Ukrainian factory focused on the production of exclusively budget cars, which ultimately led to further problems.

prototype 1106

ZAZ-1106  is a promising Soviet front - wheel drive passenger car of a small class . It was planned to become the prototype of the IV generation of passenger cars of the Zaporozhye Automobile Plant , replacing the ZAZ-1102 , 1103 and 1105 family of models 

The development of the next generation of passenger cars after the ZAZ-1102 generation began in the second half of the 1980s. In 1988, at the Autodesign-88 event held at VDNKh , full-size models of hatchback bodies were presented - in three- and five-door versions, as well as a sedan. The bodies are of the standard streamlined shape typical of the automotive design of the period. A distinctive feature of the hatchback from its peers from other car factories ( VAZ-2112 ) is the smooth transition of the roof into the rear door (without bending) and the glass of its window curved to the bottom. The history of this generation, according to the prevailing circumstances, was interrupted at the stage of creating layouts. According to the plan, the car was to be built on the platform ( chassis , engine ) ZAZ-1102 .

In fact, a few years later, a foreign car of this class assembled at AvtoZAZ was a foreign car - Daewoo Lanos , produced under an agreement and equipped with a MeMZ-245 generation engine developed by the Melitopol Motor Plant . It was also sold under the names Sens and Chance