by Photos of the sporty ZAZ have appeared online. Not only have few people seen it, but few have even heard of it, even among the employees of the Zaporizhzhia Automobile Plant. This is about the ZAZ-1104, which in the 1980s could have radically changed the fate of the Ukrainian auto industry.
And although it is now believed that the Ukrainian automotive industry, as such, does not exist, this is not actually the case. Back in 1973, the forefather of Tesla, the Electric Zaporozhets, was made, and in the early 90s, ZAZ released an electric Tavria. As for the ZAZ-1104, back then there was neither the internet nor social networks, but their role was played by “Za Rulem” or “Technika Molodezhi.” It was in these print media (imagine, that existed) that information about the sports car from Zaporizhzhia could be found.
The sporty “Zaporozhets” in some ways resembles the Porsche 924, which is not surprising. Copying Western cars was considered normal at the time, but credit must be given to Soviet developers—they always adapted cars to the “realities of the USSR.” It’s just a shame that few of these fantasies were brought to life and allowed for serial production. Among them was the ZAZ-1104, which was intended to be equipped with a front-mounted 1.6-liter engine and a 5-speed manual transmission.
Unfortunately, the development did not proceed beyond drawings and a full-size model. But fortunately, archival photos of the unrealized sporty Zaporozhets remain… It’s like the unique Zaporozhets with a Renault engine that nobody knew about.
Have you seen the most impressive hunchbacked Zaporozhets with the acceleration of a Porsche?
