Soviet sports cars (25 photos). The USSR

car track kart rally

The technical progress in the automotive industry, as the history of the development of this industry shows, is largely due to sports. The construction of special cars for participation in competitions, primarily in races, constantly requires the search for original design solutions, new materials and scientific concepts. Therefore, the design of racing and sports cars, as a rule, anticipates technical innovations, which may appear in several decades. So, for example, about thirty years ago, disc brakes were a rarity, even on racing cars, and today almost all cars are equipped with them. Improvements in aerodynamics, engine power, tire design, handling characteristics quickly moved from racing designs to mainstream models.

Once the automotive industry reaches a certain level of development, it is faced with the need to start work on special cars for racing.

In the mid-thirties, our automobile industry has already created an experimental base, launched scientific research, began to develop new technical directions, and create samples of racing cars. The first cars capable of speeds up to 160 km / h were built at the Moscow and Gorky Automobile Plants: the sports ZIS-101A-Sport and GAZ-GL1. In those years, not a single production car domestic production did not go beyond the speed limit of 125 km / h. The phenomenon of "shimmy" of steerable wheels at high speeds has not yet been deeply studied, there was not even a small amount of experience in the practical application of aerodynamics to the design of car bodies.

The role of racing and sports cars for technical progress was most fully appreciated by the engineers of our automobile plants only in the post-war period. ZIS (now ZIL), GAZ, MZMA (now AZLK), the head research institute of the industry - NAMI built a large number of interesting sports models in the period 1949-1959. The experience gained in their manufacture, fine-tuning and testing, directly or indirectly found further application in the development of serial passenger cars. So, the creation of the overhead valve engine of the Moskvich-407 car, which replaced the lower valve engine of the Moskvich-402, was preceded by numerous experimental engines with the upper valve arrangement, tested on the sports Moskvich-404-Sport, racing Moskvich-G1 -405 "and" Moskvich-G2-405 ".

In the same years, the GAZ racing car with a jet engine, Zvezda-M-NAMI cars with independent suspension of all wheels, GAZ racing engines, Zvezda-M-NAMI, Salyut-M with superchargers, cars were built and tested. with a separate brake drive for the front and rear wheels (Moskvich-G1-405, ZIS-112/2), with honeycomb body panels (ZIS-112/2), with a rear-mounted power unit (Zvezda-M-NAMI "," Moskvich-G1-405 "," Salyut-M ").

Sports and racing models were not an end in itself for our factories. They were used to participate in the national car racing championships, to set all-Union and international speed records. Their rivals in these competitions were cars (they were built by individual enthusiasts and sports teams); "Kharkov-L2", "Kharkov-Z", HADI-5, "Avangard", "Pioneer-2", GM-20 and others. Some of them had many interesting technical solutions. Note, in particular, the Kharkov-L2 engine with two camshafts, the Pioneer-2 gas turbine engine, the original fuel injection system on the HADI-5, and the electron wheels cast from the alloy on the “Kharkov-L2”. Struggle of design thought to achieve more and more high speeds contributed to the creation of highly sophisticated designs.

Since 1960, in addition to races to set speed records and races on highways, in our country races on ring tracks began to be cultivated. This type of competition is one of the most common overseas, although it requires special racing cars. Therefore, in subsequent years, the plants ZIL, MZMA, the NAMI institute focused their research and experimental work in the field of high-speed automotive construction on machines of this type. This is how ZIL-112S, Moskvich-GZ, Moskvich-G4, NAMI-041M, NAMI-074, MAZ-1500 appeared.

But no matter how perfect they were in design, all these models remained prototypes, made in one, two or three copies. They could not become the basis for the widespread development of motor sports.

The first enterprise in the country where racing cars were produced for clubs and sports sections in industrial batches was the Tallinn Automobile Repair Plant (TARK). He made the first batch of 36 Estonia-Z vehicles in 1960. Since then, this plant has been constantly developing new designs, and as for the "circulation", now it has approached the jubilee, thousandth machine.

The TARK set a task: in terms of technical level, "Estonia" cars should not be inferior to the best racing designs of specialized car factories - otherwise the incentive for the development of motor sports would be lost. Therefore, from the very first models, they went to the introduction of a number of innovations that had not yet been encountered in experimental racing models other domestic enterprises. Among these new products, for example, a compact rack and pinion steering gear on the Estonian-Z (1960), high-performance disc brakes on the Estonian-15 (1968), a light and durable fiberglass body on the Estonian-9 (1966), wheels cast from an electron on "Estonia-16" (1970). The TARK designer pioneered the use of the so-called anti-wings and on-board radiators. They were the first to create a wedge-shaped body in our country. All this allowed Soviet racers to achieve high results in competitions for the Friendship Cup of athletes from socialist countries. They won first place in 1975 in Estonia-18, second in 1978 in Estonia-18M and in 1983 in Estonia-20.

The latest development of the TARK is the Estonia-21 model. For the 1984 sports season, three samples of this car were made with modern independent suspension of all wheels, a perfect aerodynamic body shape, which creates an additional vertical load, pressing the wheels to the road.

Along with racing, specially prepared serial cars take part in the circuit races. The work on the creation of such machines contributes to the acceleration of technical progress in the industry and helps to improve serial designs. In particular, the VAZ-21011 cars, prepared for the competition by the Volga Automobile Plant, are equipped with engines that almost double great powerthan serial copies, and at the same time are highly reliable. The participation of such cars in races is a kind of test of the reliability and endurance of both individual units and the entire car as a whole. Neither laboratory stands nor tests at the proving ground allow us to quickly and clearly identify the weak points of cars as the participation of the latter in sports races.

The example of the "Moskvich-412" model testifies to the rich possibilities inherent in serial designs that can be revealed in preparation for the races. In 1972, AZLK testers Y. Lesovsky and N. Shevchenko set on this car, albeit significantly modernized, the all-Union speed record at a distance of 1000 km. Their car with a serial body, steering, brakes, wheel suspension moved at an average speed of 174.23 km / h for almost 6 hours!

In the sixty years that have passed since the construction of the first Soviet cars, our industry has accumulated extensive experience in creating high-speed cars... Among them - special cars for setting speed records, racing single and sports two-seater. Since the manufacture of our first racing cars ZIS-101A-Sport and GAZ-GL1, the teams of automobile plants, other enterprises, as well as institutes and sports clubs have designed and built more than 90 models and modifications of racing and sports cars. These models have not only helped accelerate technological progress in the industry, but have also become the basis for the development of motor sports.

It is generally accepted that in the USSR, cars were very simple, utilitarian and slow-moving. But in reality this is far from the case. The review presents the first Russian and Soviet cars, created specifically for participation in races and speed records.
Most of them have a difficult history of creation and a difficult path to success.

Racing cars of the Russo-Balt plant

In the 1910s, there were very few cars in Russia, but the first races were already held. As in Europe, rallies became the main type of competition. In those years, autodromes were not yet built, and competitions were held on ordinary roads over long distances. Competition cars were also often based on production models. The first racing car in Russia can be called the Russo-Balt C24, which existed in several versions.

And if the first modifications looked like ordinary two-seater cars, then the C24 / 58 became the first special prototype. The large, streamlined green car was nicknamed "Russian Cucumber". Its 4.9-liter engine developed a record 58 hp for that time. The maximum speed of the car is 120 -130 km / h.
The car was prepared for a mile race. The acetylene lights, fenders, bumpers, footpegs, spare tanks, tarpaulin convertible top were removed from the car - and the weight was almost halved.
Russo-Balt cars performed well at competitions both in Russia and abroad. After particularly successful races, sales of new cars grew markedly.

For many years in the country there was a situation when there was no time for motorsport. And then the amateurs took up the cars. In the late 1930s, several enthusiasts assembled their versions of racing cars at once. In 1937, on the Zhitomir highway near Kiev, they staged a kilometer race, where GAZ-A Girelya, GAZ-TsAKS Tsypulin, GAZ-A Zharova and GAZ-A Kleschev met. These were all cars on outdated GAZ-A chassis, with old 4-cylinder engines. As a result, the all-Union speed records set by them did not even reach the record of tsarist Russia: 142.5 km / h.

ZIS-101A-Sport

In 1938, in the experimental shop of the Moscow Plant named after Stalin, three young workers began an initiative development of a sports car. They took the best Soviet limousine ZIS-101 as a basis. True, this is not the best base for a sports car - after all, it weighs 2.5 tons, but the Komsomol members cannot do that.
Inline 8- cylinder engine The ZIS-101 was forced. With an increase in displacement from 5.8 to 6.1 liters, the power increased by one and a half times - from 90 to 141 hp.
The car was shown to I.V. Stalin. He, like other members of the Politburo, liked the car. The ZIS-101A-Sport was tested on the track, its maximum speed is 168 km / h.

Pobeda-Sport (GAZ-SG1)

The design of his own, Soviet car for setting speed records was entrusted to the aviation engineer A.A. Smolin. Under his leadership, the new Soviet M20 Pobeda car underwent a series of transformations. The new body was made of duralumin, the roof was lowered, the tail was made pointed. "Nostrils" appeared on the hood lid for better air intake. The bottom of the car is completely flat. As a result, she came out very light - only 1200 kg.
The car was equipped with a 2.5-liter GAZ engine. In the most efficient version, with the Roots compressor, the maximum power increased to 105 hp, and the speed - to 190 km / h.
In total, five cars were built, which set new all-Union speed records when driving long distances.

Star

"Zvezda" is the first car in the USSR built specifically for sports. Machine with a motorcycle engine of 350 cc cm accelerated to 139.6 km / h. Reasons for success: lightweight aluminum body with very good aerodynamics and an unusual 30.6 hp Zoller engine. In the future, the machine was improved, prototypes Zvezda -2, 3, 3M, M-NAMI, 5, 6 were created, which repeatedly set all-Union and world records in different classes.

Falcon-650

In the 1940s, immediately after the war, a Formula 2 racing car was developed at a joint Soviet-German enterprise. It was worked on by the engineers who created the racing Auto-Union, which conquered European tracks before the war. The Sokol-650 model made its first trips in 1952. Vasily Stalin himself oversaw the development of the machine. Two fully finished cars were delivered to Moscow to participate in the race. But local mechanics were not able to service such a complex equipment, and the Sokol-650 did not show itself on the track. Although the 12-cylinder 2-liter engine was able to accelerate the 790 kg car to 260 km / h.

GAZ Torpedo (1951)

After experiments on the creation of a sports car Pobeda-Sport, the next project of GAZovsky engineer A. Smolin was "Torpedo" (SG2) - a car of a completely original design. The drop-shaped body with a length of 6.3 meters was made of aviation materials: duralumin and aluminum. Thanks to this, the weight turned out to be small - only 1100 kg. The Torpedo was distinguished from other sports cars of the 1950s by its ease of control and maneuverability.
The engine was taken from the "Pobeda" M20: 4-cylinder, bore to 2.5 liters of working volume. It was also fitted with a Roots compressor. At a speed of 4000 rpm, the motor produced 105 hp. Thanks to good aerodynamics, the GAZ Torpedo car showed a maximum speed of 191 km / h.

GAZ-TR

The SG3 car, also known as TR ("turbojet") was built at the Gorky Automobile Plant in 1954. The development of the engineer Smolin was aimed at setting a new world record for the maximum speed among cars. With an engine from a MiG-17 fighter with a capacity of 1000 hp, GAZ TR, according to the project, could reach 700 km / h. The tests of the car ended in an accident due to the lack of tires with the necessary qualities in the USSR.

ZIS-112

Looking at the success of the sports cars of the Gorky Automobile Plant, in Moscow at the ZIS plant they also decided to make their own version. The resulting car amazed everyone. Made in the spirit of American dream cars, the six-meter car was dubbed "Cyclops" for its characteristic appearance - a round radiator grille and a round headlight in its center. As in the case of the ZIS-101A-Sport, the car turned out to be very heavy, weighing as much as 2.5 tons.
Instead of the base 140-horsepower engine, the engineers installed an experimental 8-cylinder inline engine... Gradually modifying it, by 1954 the power was brought to 192 hp. With this engine, the top speed of the car increased to a phenomenal 210 km / h. The car that took part in the races turned out to be a complete failure: axle weight distribution and handling were considered unsatisfactory. The Soviet Union needed more maneuverable vehicles.

In 1957, the Moscow plant presented new versions of its racing cars - ZIL-112/4 and 112/5. They had a body glued from fiberglass, with a suspension from a ZIS-110 limousine. Engine from ZIS-111 up to 220 hp. accelerated the car to 240 km / h. In 1957-1961. Zilov's riders have won many awards, including the championship and vice-championship of the country.

In the early 1960s, the ZIL-112S was manufactured. Its sleek fiberglass body followed the lines of the most modern European racing cars at the time. 6 liter carburetor engine The V8 developed 240 hp, while the improved 7.0-liter version was boosted to 300 hp. The car was equipped with modern disc brakes, which quickly decelerated a car weighing 1330 kg from a top speed of 260-270 km / h. In 1965, racer Gennady Zharkov at the wheel of a ZIL-112C became the champion of the USSR.
One of the ZIL-112S cars has survived to this day and is now on display at the Automobile Museum in Riga.

Moskvich-404 Sport

Looking at the successes of the sports GAZ and ZIS, the management of the Moscow plant of small cars could not stand aside. Their production vehicles, the Muscovites, were low-powered and rather heavy. But even sports prototypes were built on their basis. In 1954, Moskvich-404 Sport was created. The 1.1-liter engine with four carburettors produced a modest 58 hp, which accelerated the car to 150 km / h.

CD

The car called KD Sport 900 is not the work of Italian designers, but just a homemade product. In 1963, a team of enthusiasts began work on a series of five cars of their own design. The fiberglass body hid the units of the "humped Zaporozhets" ZAZ-965. The 30-horsepower air-cooled motor accelerated the car to 120 km / h. This is a modest result by today's standards, but considerable speed for a car of those years.

Cars of the Kharkov Automobile and Road Institute

In 1951-1952, a small group of HADI students started designing a sports car. The task was to build a car with the maximum use of existing technology components. The car was made according to the model of "formulas" - open wheels, a body made of welded pipes, a 30-horsepower M-72 motorcycle engine. The first car of the famous Kharkov University developed a speed of 146 km / m.

In 1962 at the Laboratory high-speed cars HADI designed the world's smallest racing car. In a car weighing only 180 kilograms, the pilot was placed lying down, which provided very good streamlining. It was planned that a 500 cc engine with small dimensions and weight would allow it to accelerate to 220 km / h. Unfortunately, when testing a prototype on the plain of the Baskunchak salt lake (the Soviet analogue of Bonneville), the "maximum speed" was only 100 km / h. It turned out to be vicious new technology tireless wheels.
Year after year, the HADI Sports Car Laboratory developed new experimental equipment. Some of the samples turned out to be successful and set republican and all-Union speed records, while testing others turned out to reveal deficiencies or accidents. The work of students and teachers of Kharkov University on new machines continues to this day.

Racing cars "Estonia"

The history of Soviet formula cars began with the 1952 Sokol-650 model. But these were piece samples, moreover, built to order in Germany. But already in 1958, at the Tallinn Experimental Car Repair Plant, they began to build their racing cars with open wheels from domestic components. Each subsequent model became better than the previous one, increased reliability, improved aerodynamics, increased power and maximum speed of Estonian cars. The most successful cars were built in series of tens, and even hundreds of copies.

Rally Moskvich-412

The Moskvich-412, produced since the 1960s, has become one of the most famous Soviet sports cars in the world. The car had a phenomenal vitality and unpretentiousness. 1968 to 1973 compact sedan participated in many international rallies. High places in the races London-Sydney (16 thousand kilometers) and London-Mexico City (26 thousand kilometers) created a good reputation for the Soviet "Moskvich", confirming its high reliability.

These cars were kind of analogs of the European “Alfa Romeo”, “Aston Martin”, “Porsche” and others. And so let's get down to the fun part.

1911 "Russo-Balt S24-55"

Initially, Russo-Balt was engaged in the production of railway equipment. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the company's management decided to start car production. It was at the Russo-Balta that the first Russian sports car was made. The basis for it was the serial passenger model "S24-35". It was equipped with up to 55 hp. engine with a working volume of 4.5 liters. It was the world's first engine with aluminum pistons. The innovation was kept in the strictest confidence.

By the standards of that time, the car was a high-speed 116 km / h. And in 1912 Andrei Nagel, who participated in it in the Monte Carlo rally, showed a very good result in a prestigious competition, 9th place in the general classification. From St. Petersburg to Monte Carlo, he had to go with his partner Mikhailov, but he broke his arm right at the start with the starting handle - the engine gave a back flash. Such incidents often happened before the introduction of electric starters. Be that as it may, Nagel single-handedly drove the car to the Cote d'Azur and became one of the main heroes of the Monte Carlo Rally. In 1913, the only copy of the Russo-Balt S24-55 was converted into a purely racing car with a streamlined body. The car successfully performed in various competitions, but then disappeared in the confusion of the revolution and the Civil War.

1913 "La Byuir-Ilyin"

A small sports car made its debut at the IV International Automobile Exhibition in 1913 in St. Petersburg. Her two-seater body resembled a cigar, for which she immediately received the nickname "Havana". The car had "dual citizenship". The chassis and the engine are from the French company La Byuir, and the body was made by the P. Ilyin's Moscow Carriage and Automobile Factory on a private order. a small company was a Russian dealer for La Buire and often built exclusive bodies for these cars. Havana had nothing to do with auto racing. It was a car for high-speed country walks and defiling along city streets.

1932 "NATI-2"

The Scientific Automobile and Tractor Institute (NATI) was the forerunner of the current NAMI. He was involved in technical development in the automotive field. In 1932, its specialists sharpened six prototypes of the NATI-2 runabout. all cars had different bodies. One sported a sporty two-seater roadster. For its time, NATI-2 was a fairly advanced car. The backbone frame served as the basis. An economical four-cylinder engine (1.2 liters) developed 22 hp. The rear wheel suspension is independent, which was then a rarity on small cars. Alas, in a workers 'and peasants' country, sports cars were considered a bourgeois whim. And the NATI-2 roadster went to scrap metal

1937 "GAZ-A Sport"

This car was made by the enthusiast Anton Girel. He was a rather elderly man and remembered the short heyday of Russian motorsport in pre-revolutionary times. It was they who pushed him to create a sports car. Girel took the GAZ-A as a basis, which was then the most massive passenger car in the USSR. All work was carried out at one of the motor depots in Leningrad. The design of the GAZ-A Sport was somewhat naive. So a small aerodynamic keel stuck out in the undercarriage - a completely useless thing, since the car was slow-moving. Despite the boosted to 55 hp. engine, the car could only reach 129 km / h. By European standards, this is a ridiculous indicator for a sports car. However, by the standards of the USSR, it is the all-Union speed record, which was officially registered for Anton Girel.

1937 "GAZ-TsAKS"

Made in Leningrad GAZ-A Sport was the reason for another "duel" between the serena capital and Moscow. In the official capital, they also decided to create their own sports car in accordance with the resolution of the Council of the Central Automobile Sports Club (CAKS). The project was headed by engineer V. Tsipulin. He also took the massive GAZ-A as a basis, but its design was seriously redesigned. The suspension is stiffer and much lower. A boosted engine was hidden under the panels of a specially designed streamlined body. This car has been exhibited by TsAKS for races more than once. When it drove to the starting point, the headlights and fenders were reinforced on it, and they were removed immediately before the race. A well-known tank tester A. Kulchitsky was driving the car. He was known as a brave man, but he could not develop speeds of more than 130 km / h - the engine for some reason worked intermittently. It's surprising that GAZ-TsAKS survived the war. In the 40-50s, the car could sometimes be seen on the streets of Moscow. Further, his traces are lost. In any case, the car has outlived its creator a lot - Tsipulin was shot in the same 1937 year.

1939 "ZIS-Sport"

1950 "Victory-Sport"

The two-seater sports car was designed by A. Smolin, a former designer of an aircraft plant. Hence the "passion" for duralumin, from which the body is made. The official (according to the drawings) name of the model was GAZ-SG1. three such cars were made. At the heart of each is the serial "Victory". Under the hood was a Pobedov engine, whose working volume was increased to 2.5 liters, and the power - up to 70 hp. In 1951, the engine was equipped with a supercharger, and it began to produce 105 hp. The speed of the Pobeda-Sport compressor room reached 190 km / h. It was on such a car that Mikhail Metelev became the first USSR champion in auto racing in 1950.

1951 "GAZ-Torpedo"

This sports car has been featured in many publications under this name. His real name is GAZ-SG2. The index shows that the model became the successor to Pobeda-Sport and was designed by the same aviation engineer Smolin. The supercharged engine developed 105 hp. The GAZ-Torpedo speed ceiling exceeded 191 km / h. When designing his second generation sports car, Smolin no longer relied on the supporting frame of the Victory. He designed a completely new and beautiful cigar-shaped monocoque body. The car weighed 1,100 kg. Fortunately, this car has almost survived to this day, and now the GAZ Museum will be occupied by the restoration of the GAZ-Torpedo.

1951 "ZIS-112"

The appearance of the car made a real sensation. Outwardly, it was not inferior to the best American "dream-car" ("dream-car" - in translation means "dream car" - as it used to be called conceptual developments). The design of the car belongs to the artist Rostkov, the author of the above-described ZIS-Sport. And the general design of the car is also the work of his hands and mind. The chassis of the serial ZIS-110 limousine was taken as a basis. they also borrowed from him a huge engine - eight cylinders, six liters of working volume. Various tricks managed to raise the power to 182 hp. The maximum speed of the ZIS-112 struck everyone - 205 km / h! However, attempts to use the car in circuit races were unsuccessful. The car, as the engineers say, turned out to be a "tadpole": the nose is too heavy and the tail is too light. Therefore, the coupe easily fell into a skid. To improve handling, the wheelbase was soon shortened by a full meter. The removable hard top was also subsequently abandoned - during the races on the 300-kilometer distance in the cockpit there was nothing to breathe. The only copy of the ZIS-112 has not survived to this day.

1951 "Moskvich-403E-424E Coupe"

The capital car manufacturer, known to most of us under the name AZLK, was originally called MZMA - Moscow Small Car Plant. In 1951, six samples of the promising Moskvich model were prepared on it. One of them was a two-seater sports coupe. For the car was intended new motor working volume of 1.1 liters. and 33 hp. The structure of the monocoque body was preserved from the previous model "400", but all the outer panels were new. This car did not go into mass production. Factory workers, remembering that their first model "400" was a copy of the "Opel Cadet", sarcastically christened the experimental novelty "Sergeant". The sports modification of the "Sergeant" has started in races more than once. The maximum speed of the car reached 123 km / h. Three years later, it was converted into an open car with a very low body.

1954 "Moskvich-Sport-404"

The sports car made its racing debut in the spring of 54th. During its construction, the lower part of the body from the "Sergeant" 1951 was used. The car was equipped with an experimental engine of the "404" model (1.1 l, 58 hp). In 1959, it was replaced by a more advanced 407G engine (1.4 liters, 70 hp). The first version weighed 902 kg and developed a speed of 147 km / h. After installing a new engine behind the wheel of the sports "Moskvich" it was possible to reach 156 km / h. On this car in 1957, 1958 and 1959, the national championship in automobile racing was won.

1957 "GAZ-SG4"

The next generation of gas sports cars created by A. Smolin. Four copies of SG4 saw the light at once. The car had advanced design... Note the supporting body made of aluminum (as on modern serial "Audi" and "Jaguars"!), An aluminum crankcase of the final drive and boosted to 90 hp. GAZ-21 engine. one of the engines was equipped with an electronically controlled injection system! The car developed a speed of up to 190 km / h. In 1963, the USSR championship was won on it. In 1958 GAZ sold three СГ4 and two earlier СГ1 / 56 to the Moscow taxi fleet No. 6. All five cars until 1965 were regularly seen at circuit races where the taxi fleet's sports team participated.

1961 "KVN-2500S"

Six such cars were manufactured according to the project of V. Kosenkov. One of the models - KVN-3500S - was equipped with a forced engine from the representative GAZ-12 (3.5 liters 95-100 hp). The rest of the cars were absolutely the same, bore the designation KVN-2500S and had engines from the GAZ-21 "Volga" with a capacity of 90-95 hp. KVNs weighed 900 kg each. The maximum speed reached from 185 to 190 km / h. Not a single car has survived.

1961 "Kiev"

This beautiful coupe was designed and built at the Antonov Aviation Design Bureau. The project was carried out by engineer V. Zemtsov. The car was boosted to 90 hp. engine from "Volga". The maximum speed of "Kiev" was 190 km / h.

1961 "KVN-1300G"

The next generation of the KVN model, also designed by engineer V. Kosenkov. The light sports car was built on the basis of the mechanisms of the serial Moskvich-407. The boosted engine developed about 65 hp, allowing the car to pick up speed up to 155 km / h. The USSR championship in auto racing was won on KVN-1300G. In 1963, instead of the Muscovite engine, a 90 hp Volga engine was installed. In the rear suspension, an independent mechanism replaced the rigid axle. Improved handling.

1962 "ZIL-112S"

This magnificent supercar was made in two copies by the ZIL plant in the capital. Designer V. Rodionov used rare solutions. For example, the rear axle gearbox was made so that the gears in it could be changed “on the knee”, quickly adapting the transmission parameters to the characteristics of a particular race track. And the wheels changed quickly, too, thanks to the mounting on a single central wing nut. The source of the movement was the V8 from the representative ZIL. One with a volume of six liters and a capacity of 230 hp. The other is respectively seven liters and 270 hp. Depending on the type of engine, a light supercar (weight - 1,300 kg) developed either 260 or 270 km / h. At the wheel of the ZIL-112C, the racer G. Zharkov in 1956 became the champion of the country. Both cars have survived and are exhibited in the Riga Automobile Museum.

1962 "Moskvich-407 Coupe"

An experimental sports car designed by Lev Shugurov, based on the serial Moskvich. There were only two such cars. The forced engine of the 403 model (1.4 liters, 81 hp) was hidden under the hood. On this engine, for the first time in the history of the Russian automotive industry, two horizontal twin Weber carburetors were installed. The speed of the sports "Moskvich" reached 150 km / h. Alas, none of the copies survived.

Strange as it may seem, sports cars have been and are being made in Russia, yes, but of course very few people have seen them, and even more so and drove them. Back in Soviet times, they were made by both large auto giants and small sports clubs and other single enthusiasts. These cars were kind of analogs of the European “Alfa Romeo”, “Aston Martin”, “Porsche” and others. And so let's get down to the fun part.

Russo-Balt С24 / 55 is perhaps the first domestic production car professionally prepared for the rally. In general, in fact, this car, which existed in a single copy, was created for one single race - the 1912 Monte Carlo rally. The initiator of the construction of the sports car was Andrey Platonovich Nagel, editor-publisher of the Petersburg magazine "Automobile", and he also piloted it in the rally.
Since 1910, the editor-in-chief himself has owned a C24 / 30 Series III "engine", number 14. Driving this car in the summer of 1910, at the St. Petersburg-Kiev-Moscow-St. Petersburg rally (3000 km), Nagel won gold medal. In the autumn of the same year, he toured the countries of Europe, having visited Berlin, Rome, Naples, crossed the Alps and climbed Mount Vesuvius. Thus, Europe saw the Russian car for the first time. This was followed by 1911 - the rally St. Petersburg-Moscow-Sevastopol. Again A. Nagel was awarded a gold medal for his performance on the same RBVZ N14 machine. In a word, by the end of 1911, the publisher had the fame of one of the most eminent racers of the Russian Empire.
The typical design of the C24 / 30 model is a spar frame with dependent leaf spring suspension of the rear wheels, a worm-gear steering gear, a cone clutch, mechanical brakes, and magneto ignition. The power unit is 4501 cc, a low-valve distribution mechanism, a non-removable cylinder head. Brakes - drum in the back, in front - no!
But this Russo-Balt C24 / 55 (nee C24 / 30) of series III at number 9, of course, was "brought to mind". The engine displacement was increased to 4939 cc. back in 1910 to participate in the Kiev race, but then its creator, the chief designer of RBVZ Julien Potter, did not achieve significant success (although he took revenge on the same car in mile races in Riga on June 7, 1911, showing a maximum speed of 120 km / h when starting on the move, and average - 105 km / h). For that race, the compression ratio was raised from 4.0 to 5.5 units, which produced 55 hp. Specific power - about 35 HP per ton of weight! As many as 11 horse power from a liter of volume! This is now, when tuners pull out ten times more funny, and in 1911 - a huge achievement!
For "Rallye-Automobile-Monaco" the car was prepared even more thoroughly - the torque was transmitted to the axle through cardan shaft, not a chain, but pistons ... oh, those pistons! Pistons, for the first time in the history of the automotive industry, were made of aluminum! They were received from the Riga plant "Motor", where engineer Theodor Kalep in the middle of 1911 began experiments on the use of aluminum pistons in aircraft engines. In addition, the newest French Zenith carburetor was installed, gears with a reduced gear ratio, due to which it was planned to reach speeds of up to 105 km / h (for the serial C24 / 30 - 70 km / h), powerful acetylene headlights "Fraconia" with three-section acetylene generator, electric lighting from dynamo and batteries. The body was lightened to the maximum - even removed windshield! But they installed an additional 50-liter tank. The engine plugs were hermetically sealed with caps personally invented by A. Nagel.
"Shoe" matched the car - the best tires from the "Provodnik" factory - "Columbus"! Taking into account the peculiarities of weather conditions, chains were put on the rear wheels, special skis were provided for the front wheels (the creators believed that the skis would facilitate handling on a snowy road). Instead of water, pure alcohol was poured into the cooling system.
The radiator was decorated with brass letters Russo-Baltique in French. The emblem of the Imperial Russian Automobile Society was placed on the front of the body, and plates were installed in front and behind, where in red letters on a white background it was written: "Rallye-Automobile-Monaco". A white-blue-red Russian flag and a red-white flag of Monaco were placed in front.
The start was not entirely successful - the engine gave a back flash (such incidents often happened before the introduction of electric starters.), And Vadim Mikhailov broke his arm. Mikhailov flatly refused to stay in St. Petersburg, and set off with only one active hand - his left.
A. Nigel and V. Mikhailov in a Russo-Balt C24 / 55 III series. 1910 g.
The conditions of the race were inhuman - storms, snow drifts, sometimes, it was necessary to move literally by touch. The lanterns, even those powerful like the Fraconia, were failing. "Only a white spot was illuminated" - according to Nagel himself. Mikhailov more than once acted as a guide, wandering through the snow with a lantern in his hand. A car followed. At different sites, the journalist either trudged at the speed of a turtle, then drove to the maximum - all 105 km / h! In France, a car drove into a patch of fog as thick as cotton wool. But this obstacle was overcome with honor.
But the next one almost made you put an end to the races. The car with a small gear ratio in the rear axle did not take the icy ups and downs of Belfort. The chains were worn out and torn and were of no use. A sortie to the nearest village helped out. But no one was able to sell them the chains - there were none. Finally, someone advised you to contact a local winemaker. He, they say, carries wine for sale in barrels and ties them with chains when he is lucky on a cart. The winemaker was stubborn for a long time, but he sold the chains. They helped a lot on the icy climbs. (According to another legend, A. Nagel shod the wheels in leather belts with nails, inventing the first spike tires).
And now, finally, after 195 hours 23 minutes from the start, having passed 3257 kilometers at an average speed of 16.7 km / h, having consumed about 600 liters of gasoline (18 l / 100 km), having made all the way without a single breakdown and bringing with him in tires "Pererburgskiy" air, Russo-Balt finished in Monte Carlo. First! The second participant finished only 6 hours later. In total, 59 crews out of 83 started.
The counting of points has begun - the matter, as in any rally, is far from the easiest thing. A. Nagel received the 1st prize of routes (as he calculated!), 1st prize of endurance and 9th prize according to the general classification (since the commission took into account the number of comfortable seats on the car and convenience, the amount of luggage carried, elegance, cleanliness and etc. - nonsense!). The award according to the general classification can hardly be considered correctly awarded, since the rally organizing committee, when determining the norms and time of the run, did not take into account the difficulties of the winter route in Russia, the roads of which are noticeably inferior to those of Western Europe.
After the announcement of the results, awards, a banquet and the official closing of the rally in Monaco, A. Nagel and V. Mikhailov rode on the Russo-Balta for another 1000 miles across southern France and Italy. And in Lyons, they packed the car in a box and went by rail to St. Petersburg.
Racing Russo-Balt С24 / 55 III series. 1913 g.
The higher award was received by A. Nagel in Russia. According to the report of Tsar Nicholas II, Vice-President of the IRAO, Adjutant Wing V. Svechin, Andrei Platonovich was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the III degree from "the height of the throne". This was the first state award for sports achievements in motorsport! For its part, IRAO, wishing to celebrate the victory won by A. Nagel, presented him with an honorable gift and arranged a friendly dinner on February 23, 1912.
RBVZ also got its own - car sales soared! Two Russo-Balts (Landaulet models "С24-40" (N270, XIII series) and "K 12-20" (N 217, X series), were even acquired by the imperial garage! The principle voiced a little later by Henry Ford worked: on Sunday win, sell on Monday.
Andrey Nagel's victories do not end there! In 1912, the indefatigable journalist in his Russo-Balta took second place at the San Sebastian international rally and received a special prize for endurance. In August 1913, Nagel made a 7,000 km run on the roads of Central and Southern Russia in car No. 14 with a "grand tourism" body, and in December he set off on a trip to the countries of Southern Europe and North Africa. By the beginning of 1914, that is, in less than four years of ruthless exploitation, his Russo-Balt covered 80 thousand km without major repairs! Not every modern motorist manages to do an average of 20 thousand km a year.
The history of the unique specimen N 9 does not end all the more! On May 14, 1913, at about two o'clock in the afternoon in St. Petersburg on the Volkhovskoye highway, a car race took place at a distance of one verst on the move. The time taken to cover the distance was carried out using a device called a telechron, invented by the engineer and passionate motorist P.B. Postnikov. Recording at the finish line was conducted by Doctor Vsevolozhskaya, a member of the St. Petersburg Automobile Club. The winners were counted in seven categories.
Among the Benz, Mercedes, Opel and other participating cars, the green car with a streamlined body stood out. Yes! It was Russo-Balt-С24-55 Series III (copy N 9) - the very one that brought victory to A. Nagel in 1912 in the "Rallye-Automobile-Monaco"! This time it was piloted by the 24-year-old RBVZ brand racer, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov.
Not only the pilot has changed, but the car itself. Extras such as acetylene flashlights, extra batteries, generators and fuel tanks were simply not needed at mile races, and they got rid of them. Like many body parts - bumpers, fenders, tarpaulin convertible top. As a result, the weight of the car has been reduced by almost half! The body itself received a characteristic streamlined shape, for which (naturally, and for the color!) And received the nickname "Russian cucumber". Unfortunately, the designers at that time did not yet know about the vortex air disturbances arising from the spokes of the rotating wheels, otherwise, it is quite possible that the result of I.I. Ivanov would have been taller.
And so - the second place. The best result was shown by Mr. Herner on the Benz, setting the last speed record in the history of Tsarist Russia - 189.5 versts per hour (about 201 km / h), covering a mile on the move in 19 seconds (for comparison - Lambotghini Diablo SV overcomes first kilometer in 25 seconds). However, the jury, taking into account the exceptional qualities of his car, singled out Mr. Herner out of competition.
Thus, Mr. Donye was declared the winner in a Mercedes, having developed a speed of 134 versts per hour and covered a verst in 26.8 seconds. The prize, as won three times in a row, passed into the ownership of Donje. The second place was awarded to I.I. Ivanov at the "Russian Cucumber".
On May 26, 1913, the first ring races in Russia took place. However, that "ring" is very far from this concept today. The route passed through Volkhovskoe shosse, Aleksandrovna, Krasnoe Selo and Litovskoe shosse, forming a "circle" 37 versts long. According to the regulations, it was proposed to go through this ring 7 times, so the total distance was 230 versts or 276 kilometers.
Applications for participation were submitted by 21 crews, including such eminent racers of those years as Mr. Slupsky on the most powerful of the participating cars "Excelsior"; Mr. Suvorin on car BENZ; Mr Rene Notomb at beautiful car "Metallurgist", called the "Red Demon", and, of course, the factory pilot of RBVZ Mr. Ivanov on the "Ogurts".
Unfortunately, for the weather, unlike motor sports fans, this day meant absolutely nothing, and at the very beginning of the race there was a torrential rain and a strong wind that almost carried the car off the road. As a result, out of 19 crews that started, less than half reached the finish line - only 9. To the credit of RBVZ, copy N9 was among them, taking second place, and lagging behind the prize-winner - G.M. Suvorin on Benz - only 2 minutes and 6 seconds.
Yes, even though Russo-Balt did not take first places so often, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of this car both for the plant and for the domestic motorsport. RBVZ cars received wide recognition not only from civilian buyers - both military and government orders went, and the engineer and designer of the plant had such a high reputation that the development of the first domestic seaplane was entrusted to the Russo-Baltic Wagon.
In addition, the copy of the N9 became the first domestic sports car, professionally prepared for the competition by the manufacturer. The path of the former, as you know, is not easy, but others follow in their footsteps.
Unfortunately, in the dark years of the revolution and the Civil War, the car disappeared without a trace, and what is now in the Riga Museum is nothing more than a copy, and even then it is not entirely accurate.

Sports modification of the NATI-2 model assembled by designer K. Sharapov. Design features - air-cooled engine, independent rear wheel suspension. Cylinders - 4, engine displacement - 1211 cu. see, power - 22 liters. from. at 2800 rpm, the number of gears is 3, the curb weight is 730 kg, the speed is 75 kilometers per hour.
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The entire production of sports cars was reduced to single samples of amateur athletes, assembled in artisanal conditions, literally on their knees. All work on preparing cars for the competition was reduced to the manufacture of a streamlined body without wings based on the GAZ-A or GAZ-M1, moderate engine boost, sometimes the installation of short exhaust pipes and several carburetors.
The 57-year-old Leningrad driver of the Leningrad City Council Anton Girel went this way. As a donor, he chose the "people's" car of those years - GAZ-A, serially produced from 1932 to 1936. He lengthened the base of the car by 300 mm and made a streamlined body without protruding parts (fenders, headlights, etc.), reducing the weight of the car to 950 kg. On the tail of the car flaunted a keel, like the one that was on the record "blue birds" Malcolm Campbell, almost daily setting new speed records.
The GAZ-A engine, as hopelessly outdated and having practically no prospects for increasing power, A. Girel dismissed immediately, having installed a four-cylinder in-line power unit GAZ-M1 on his car, which, by the way, was a copy of the Ford-BB engine, also not the first freshness ... Leaving the engine displacement unchanged (3282 cc), the designer increased the compression ratio to 5.5 units, installed two carburetors and a straight-through exhaust system - four short exhaust pipes, increasing the engine power to 55 hp. at 2800 rpm The figure is ridiculous, considering that in Europe there have long existed devices with a capacity of more than 100 hp. But for a handicraft assembled motor - an excellent indicator! True, it becomes bitter if you remember that the Russo-Balt C24 / 55 engine, which won the Monaco Rally in 1912, had the same power.
On sea trials in July 1937, GAZ-A-Sport with a three-speed gearbox and a reduced gear ratio showed a speed of 127.6 km / h. Let me remind you that the last speed record in tsarist Russia was approximately 142.5 km / h.
And so, on September 30, 1937, four (!) Domestic supercars converged on the Zhitomir highway near Kiev: GAZ-A Girelya, GAZ-TsAKS Tsypulin, GAZ-A Zharova and GAZ-A Klescheva. The speeches of the hero pilots, "hurray" and so on, and so - the races began, as a result of which, by the way, the USSR's record races per kilometer were born on the move. GAZ-A-Sport Girelya showed a speed of 129 km / h, not reaching the record of more than 10 km / h 24 years ago. But old records were not counted in those days. Another country - another sport, and A.I. Girel officially registered the all-Union speed record.
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The choice of the donor was not original - the same GAZ-A, model 1932. But the chassis has undergone a major overhaul. The frame at the rear has been curved up noticeably to reduce overall body height. The rear suspension remained unchanged - on a transverse semi-elliptical spring, but the front - on four longitudinal quarter-elliptical springs. Plus - hydraulic shock absorbers GAZ-M1 on all four wheels. Due to the change in body height, the steering column received a greater inclination than on the serial GAZ-A. The open two-seater streamlined body, made of steel sheets on a wooden frame, was more ergonomic and aesthetic than the GAZ Girel body. Tsipulin was not by hearsay familiar with the work of A.O. Nikitin, and the bottom of the car received a streamlined pallet. The gas tank is located behind the driver's seat.
Inline four-cylinder power unit with a volume of 3285 cm3. was borrowed from the GAZ-M1, but with an experimental aluminum cylinder head and a compression ratio increased to 6.0. The pre-revolutionary records finally surrendered - the power of this engine was already 60 hp. at 3100 rpm With a rear axle gearbox with a gear ratio of 2.9, a three-speed gearbox, everything from the same GAZ-M1, the design speed of the GAZ-TsAKS was 135 km / h.
The dimensions of Tsipulin's car were somewhat different from the GAZ Girel: length - 4200 mm, width - 1670 mm, height - 1200 mm; base 2930 mm; tire size - 28X4.75 ", weight - 50 kg less - 900 kg. Removable headlights were provided for driving the car to the competition venues.
Since Vladimir Ivanovich built a car under the auspices of the Moscow Central Automobile Sports Club, the car was named GAZ-TsAKS (sometimes in print you can find GAZ-TsAMK or GAZ-TsAMKS). The car was driven by a well-known tank tester Viktor Kulchitsky in those years. He was reputed to be a brave man, but best result, which he managed to reach on GAZ-TsAKS - 131.1 km / h. Then the motor for some reason worked intermittently. On September 30, 1937, even the cars of Zharov and Kleshchev could pass ahead on the Zhytomyr highway of the TsAKS, and they were actually collected from discarded cans with a mileage of under three hundred thousand kilometers. Perhaps V. Tsipulin would have been able to bring his creation to mind, but in the same 1937 he was arrested, and in 1940 the outstanding designer died.
GAZ-TsAKS has outlived its creator a lot. Surprisingly, the car even survived the war, and in the 1940s-1950s it was repeatedly seen on the streets of Moscow. His further fate is unknown.

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One of the most serious sports cars created in the USSR. By temperament, he rivaled the road Bentleys and Mercedes of those times. An elegant two-seater car was designed by a group of young ZIS designers headed by A. Pukhalin. The design was developed by the artist Rostkov. ZIS-Sport was made specifically for the anniversary of the Komsomol. In the House of Unions, where the celebration took place, the car was literally carried into the hall before the opening.
It didn't take long to choose a chassis - it was decided to use the latest modification of the modern car - ZIS-101, serially produced since 1936. Everything would be fine, but "one hundred and first" - a limousine! A huge limousine - almost 6 m long, almost 2 m wide, weighing 2.5 tons! Only a madman could make a roadster out of such a car. Or a member of the Komsomol.
Work began to boil. Pukhalin created a general layout, reworked the ZIS-101 suspension: both, in particular, received anti-roll bars, and a vacuum brake booster appeared. Rear axle with a hypoid gear (by the way, the first in the USSR) was designed by Kremenetsky, and Pulmanov took over the engine. He significantly boosted the engine of the 101st, increasing the number of revolutions, the compression ratio, changing the valve timing. Inline eight-cylinder (!) 5766 cc engine was increased to a volume of 6060 cc, received a block head, pistons, connecting rods made of aluminum alloy, other crankshafts and a camshaft, an intake manifold, two MKZ-L2 carburetors without an air filter. The power has increased one and a half times - from 90 to 141 hp. at 3300 rpm The redesigned gearbox includes bevel synchronizers and an overdrive gear. The gearbox is standard from the ZIS-101A.
The approach to car design was fundamentally different from anything that happened before. It did not even occur to enthusiasts to make a double streamlined body based on the ZIS-101 body. It was too easy! So the bodyworker Valentin Rostkov was involved in the work. Fortunately, he turned out to be a good designer, and, in addition, he was excellent at painting with watercolors. So the sketches of the car were laid down on the table of the "technical council", of which the best was selected.
Insofar as power point was very long and very heavy, in order to improve the balance along the axles and load the drive wheels, the two-seat cockpit was shifted far back. In addition, the ZIS-101A-Sport received a removable awning, an air intake on the bonnet and a head optics embedded in the front fenders. The base of the car was huge for a two-seater coupe - 3750 mm, length - 5750 mm.
But this is on paper, but in reality .... It was not possible to embody the idea in metal. Making foundry models, dies for fittings, tooling, a wooden block for the body - for single enthusiasts such a task was almost impossible. It is easier to "pull out" 51 more from a 90-horsepower engine.
The authorities reacted to the request for help, to say the least, cool. The quality of the ZIS-101, to which increased requirements were imposed, left much to be desired. The State Commission headed by E.A. Chudakov, who was at that time the head of the department wheeled vehicles VAMM RKKA, where the well-known Nikitin A.O. worked, revealed a number of shortcomings (in particular, the necessary weight reduction of the ZIS-101 car by 600-700 kg), gave the necessary recommendations. But giving recommendations is one thing, doing something else. All the more so when every morning in the shops there were not enough employees arrested at night. Puhalin's company was lucky that few knew about their work, otherwise one not at all beautiful morning could miss them.
ZIS-101A-Sport. 1939 g.
It helped, as often happened in Soviet times, another loud jubilee - the twentieth anniversary of the Komsomol. In the long list of gifts from the plant to Mother Motherland, along with super-planned cars, through the efforts of Kremenetsky, the ZIS-101A-Sport also entered. October 17, 1938 "Komsomolskaya Pravda" published an article "Sports Limousine" with one of Rostkov's sketches. The country learned about the gift, they started talking about the gift, it was too late to retreat. How, after all, fate is perverse! Yesterday, for work on sports cars, the guys would have been shot as pests, and today they would have been shot if the car were not ready on time. There was nowhere to retreat, and on December 11, 1938, Likhechev issued order No. 11, where it was detailed who, what and when should make for a sports limousine.
The development of the design of a sports car, for the first time in the history of the USSR, was controlled at almost the highest level. Indeed, a lot depended on the ZIS-101A-Sport, and everyone understood this perfectly. The car, still without a body, was driven around the territory of the plant, the imperfections, "childhood diseases" of the structure were eliminated. Finally, the first ride took place in a fully assembled, painted, polished car. Pulmanov was at the wheel, next to him was Pukhalin. Kremenetsky watched how their creation looks from the outside. Young Komsomol members did not yet know that this was not only their first, but also their last car ...
And so, the presentation of the car to the country's top leadership took place. A piece of the wall of the House of Unions, where the show was scheduled, was dismantled overnight, a two-ton car was brought into the lobby, and the facade was put in order before dawn. They knew how to work when necessary! The operation was personally supervised by the director of the ZIS, Ivan Alekseevich Likhachev. In the morning, not one of the delegates and guests of the Moscow Party conference walked past the car without paying attention to it. But the main thing: Stalin himself, and behind him and other members of the Politburo, not only examined, but also approved the unusual car.
But the young designers were primarily concerned with sea trials. So far, it was possible to develop only 168 km / h, but in the test mode, and not in official competitions, so the result was not counted. In 1940, the ZIS-101A-Sport on the 43rd kilometer of the Minsk highway was dispersed to 162.4 km / h, in the same 1940 the open ZIS-102 showed a result of 153 km / h. However, the design 180 km / h was quite real.
The prospects for the car were huge, but in Likhachev in 1939 he was appointed People's Commissar of Medium Machine Building (although in 1940 he was removed from this position by Stalin and again became director of the plant, but the Great Patriotic War began), and the new director of the ZIS-101A-Sport was not was needed. Designers-enthusiasts also got bored with life: Kremenetsky stayed at the plant, but was engaged in tooling for mechanical processing, Pulmanov went to full-time postgraduate studies at the auto-mechanical institute, and Pukhalin went to the rocket industry. Only Rostkov continued to work with cars: he worked for a long time at the ZIS (later ZIL), then at NAMI, participated in the creation of many already post-war ZIS and ZILs, including sports ones.
The experience gained during the creation of the most serious domestic pre-war sports car capable of competing with the road Bentleys and Mercedes of those times was hardly useful to the country. Only a part of the post-war ZIS-101A was equipped with aluminum block heads, increasing the power to 110 liters. from. V. Rostkov's design findings were also not useful - the ZIS-110 was ordered to be copied from American samples.
The fate of the ZIS-101A-Sport itself is unknown. According to some sources, it rotted in the backyard of the factory, but others ... others claim that a dark green roadster was seen somewhere in the 1960s. However, the first statement is more realistic - this was the fate of most domestic prototypes.
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Gorkovsky Automotive Factory also made attempts to create a high-speed car, but without E. Agitov it did not go until in 1950 the chief designer of the aircraft plant, a leading specialist in the hydrodynamics of floating car bodies, the design of water and air propellers, the aerodynamics of high-speed bodies, was transferred from the Gorky aircraft plant N21 cars, forty-three years old Alexey Andreevich Smolin. He already had such developments as: a two-seater snowmobile (1934), an aircraft KSM-1 with a GAZ-M engine (1935), a six-seater glider (1937), an aircraft with a six-cylinder car engine GAZ-Avia (1938), snowmobiles GAZ-98 and GAZ-98K (1939-1940), amphibious all-terrain vehicle with a GAZ-Avia engine (1943). The person, as we can see, is active and talented.
And he got down to business thoroughly. The standard M20 body has undergone significant changes: the roof has dropped by 160mm, fairings have appeared in front and behind, but not from steel, as on the pre-war GAZ-A-Aero and GAZ-GL1, but from lightweight duralumin. The wheels received shields, and the tail, in the best traditions of Nikitin, turned into a long elongated cone. In addition, there were additional "nostrils" on the hood lid - for engine cooling. The bottom was covered with a smooth pallet.
And there was something to cool. The volume of the serial low-valve Pobedovsky motor was increased to 2487 cm3, the compression ratio was increased to 7.0 units, and two K-22A carburetors appeared. As a result of these changes, the engine power increased to 75 hp. at 4100 rpm Transmission and chassis did not receive significant changes, except that the propeller shaft now consisted of two parts, with an intermediate support.
With its dimensions (length - 5680 mm, width - 1695 mm, height - 1480 mm, wheelbase - 2700 mm), the car weighed not so much - 1200 kg. Of course, such a mass of Pobeda-Sport (according to the drawings of the GAZ-SG1) was due to aviation material - duralumin. By the way, SG1 is the first Soviet sports car, not made in a single copy. A total of five such vehicles were built.
"Pobeda-Sport" (GAZ-SG1) with an open body. 1955 year.
In the 1950 sports season, one of the GAZ-SG1 (N11) played in the Gorky sports club Torpedo. Two other "race cars" of Torpedovites (N20 and N27) also stood out among the vehicles of other participants - the roofs were lowered to the bottom, the rear windows and doors were removed. But, nevertheless, they remained homemade, assembled in far from ideal conditions.
The best of forty-three crews turned out to be GAZ tester Mikhail Metelev (Torpedo-GAZ) at Pobeda-Sport No. 11. He set new all-Union speed records at distances of 50, 100 and 300 km, respectively 159.929 km / h, 161.211 km / h and 145.858 km / h.
But the work did not end there! Smolin brought all projects to the end, to a perfect, ideal, from his point of view, state.
In 1951, three cars were equipped with Rutz rotary blowers, two carburetors were replaced with one, but two-chamber - K-22. Thus, the maximum power has increased to 105 hp, and the speed - up to 190 km / h!
Another car, in the same 1951, was equipped with an experimental four-cylinder 2.5-liter NAMI engine with an aluminum cylinder head designed for a compression ratio of 9.5, upper inlet and lower exhaust valves, two serial carburetors mounted on the intake manifold ( designs by NAMI). The power of such an engine was already 94 hp. at 4000 rpm, but the maximum speed increased by only 2 km / m - up to 164 km / h.
In the same year A.A. Smolin began work on a more promising SG2 car, so it can be assumed that the installation of various engines is just one of the steps in working out the design of a new car, no longer tied to the serial chassis.
In 1952, the only Pobeda-Sport that remained with the "native" engine was equipped with an experimental block head with two candles per cylinder. The compression ratio was increased to 7.4, but there was no increase in power. And in 1955, an open version of the SG1 appeared with a GAZ-21 engine.
In total, three USSR championships were won on Pobeda-Sport cars (1950, 1955 and 1956). It was the first truly successful domestic sports car. However, it is not surprising - after all, it was designed by an aviation engineer. In addition, the experience gained during the creation of the GAZ-SG1 was not in vain, but was useful to Smolin when he created the GAZ-Torpedo (SG2) car already in 1951, and, later, the SG3 (with the MIG-17 jet engine) and SG4.
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The experience of creating sports cars gradually accumulated. Of course, this process did not go as smoothly as we would like - many designers of pre-war sports cars were either repressed (V. Tsipulin), or repurposed to design military equipment (A. Nikitin, A. Pukhalin). There was a catastrophic shortage of specialists. And, nevertheless, on the flagships of the domestic auto industry there were already people who participated in developments of this kind: V. Rostkov at the ZIS and A. Smolin at the GAZ.

When creating a new car, the aviation engineer no longer relied on the supporting frame of the M20 - he created a new body from scratch. Using all the same aviation materials: duralumin and aluminum, A. Smolin built a drop-shaped streamlined body 6300 mm long, 2070 mm wide, 1200 mm high, which turned out to be much lighter than the previous one - 1100 kg.

Working in parallel on the modernization of the GAZ-SG1, the designer had the opportunity to test various power units on the old chassis, before installing on the GAZ-Torpedo. After a series of tests, the choice fell on the "Pobedovsky" motor with an increased to 2487 cm. volume and supercharger "Roots" used in the second modification of SG1. Its characteristics remained unchanged - 105 hp. at 4000 rpm In addition to the engine, some other solutions worked out at Pobeda-Sport were applied on the SG2, in particular, a three-speed gearbox without synchronizers and a two-part propeller shaft with an intermediate support.

But in terms of its characteristics, the GAZ-Torpedo was inferior to the ZIS-112 created in the same year: the speed was 191 km / h. Although the handling of the SG2 was incomparably better. By the way, "GAZ-Torpedo" is one of the few sports cars of those years that have almost survived to this day. Now the GAZ Museum is busy with restoration.
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A centralized economy implies a lack of competition in general and among car manufacturers in particular. However, the theories of Marxism-Leninism are one thing, and practice is quite another. And even more so in sports. The plant named after I.V. Stalin simply could not help but respond to the appearance of GAZ-SG1 (Victory-Sport) with its sports car. So in 1951, the ZIS-112 appeared.
Fortunately, there was still a person at the plant with experience in creating sports cars on the chassis of limousines, one of those who built the ZIS-101-Sport in 1939 - Valentin Rostkov. It was he who developed the design and general layout of the new sports car on the ZIS-110 chassis.
The design of the car was really avant-garde - in the spirit of the best traditions of dream cars ("dream-car" - as concept cars were called in the middle of the twentieth century): a huge, almost six-meter triple with a round grille and a single headlight. At the factory, the car was called "cyclops" or "one-eyed". By the way, it was on the ZIS-112 that the combination of white and of blue color which later became traditional for the factory team.
Initially, a serial 140-horsepower ZIS-110 engine was installed on the car. But for a sports car weighing almost two and a half tons (2450 kg), it was, to put it mildly, rather weak, and in the same year an experimental engine developed by Vasily Fedorovich Rodionov was installed on the ZIS-112. New eight-cylinder engine with a volume of 6005 cc with upper intake and lower exhaust valves, which made it possible to preserve the old cylinder head, but with increased diameters of the intake valves, with two MKZ-LZ carburetors, it developed a power of 182 hp. at 3500 rpm In addition, there were provided: an oil cooler, two oil pumps, manual ignition timing control. The maximum speed was ... 204 km / h!
However, a number of unresolved problems remained. First of all, the engine. As in the ZIS-101-Sport, the ZIS-112 eight-cylinder unit was ... in-line! Therefore, it is monstrously long. The weight distribution of the car was far from ideal, the sports car turned out, as the designer says, a "tadpole" - that is, with a very heavy front end, which contributed to the breakdown into a skid.
The ZIS-112 went to the start of linear races on the Minsk highway, but very soon it became clear to the racers and designers: this car is not even suitable for such competitions.
In 1954, the base of the car was reduced by 600 mm (from 3760 to 3160 mm), and the total length decreased from 5920 to 5320 mm. The changes also affected the power unit: the compression ratio increased from 7.1 to 8.7 units, two more carburetors appeared, thanks to which it was already possible to remove 192 hp. at 3800 rpm The maximum speed has increased to 210 km / h - an unprecedented figure for a domestic sports car! The last problem was the streamlined hood - the thermal stress of the engine was such that there was nothing to breathe in the cockpit!
The 1955 season showed a complete failure of this version. USSR championships began to be held on the ring track in Minsk. The ring, however, was very peculiar: two highways were connected by transverse roads, creating a circle 42 km long - perhaps the longest "autodrome" in the world! Nevertheless, more maneuverable cars were required here than on the tracks of linear races, and the ZIS-112 still had problems with maneuverability. The time has come for other competitions and other cars, and the Soviet dream-car ended its life in the factory backyards.

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In the late 1940s, the domestic industry developed by leaps and bounds. It is not surprising - the party did not doze. Not the last place was given to the automotive industry in general and motorsport in particular. GAZ took a strong position on the tracks of the country, Muscovites from the ZIS were advancing on the heels of the Gorky residents.
But ... the family has its black sheep, and at that time it was former factory KIM, recently renamed MZMA (Moscow Small Car Plant, later AZLK, now JSC Moskvich). At sports competitions MZMA did not achieve significant results by the end of the first half of the century. It was time to take revenge.
It is worth noting that MZMA in those years had a very weak technical base. The body of the KIM-10-50, for example, was stamped on molds produced in the USA, and the Moskvich-400, in fact, was not even a copy of the pre-war Opel-Cadet, it was! The body parts stamps were taken out of Germany as trophies! And it is not surprising that by the end of the 1940s, the appearance of the Moskvich-400 turned out to be hopelessly outdated. The situation had to be saved, and in 1949 an experimental batch of Moskvich-403E-424E cars appeared (it is believed that only six of them were built, but the figure needs to be clarified). The lack of design experience affected - the power frame and chassis remained unchanged, the main difference was in the new hinged body panels, a gearbox with a shift lever on the steering column and a horizontal arrangement of the spare wheel. Simply put, the candy wrapper has changed - the candy has remained the same. To introduce a new body (424), new stamps were required, which MZMA could not independently produce, the currency for their purchase abroad was also not allocated, and the new body did not go into the series.
However, as often happens, what was not used in the civilian automobile industry found a place in motorsport, and in 1950 Moskvich-403E-424E went to the first USSR championship in auto racing. Instead of the outdated Moskvich-401 engine, the car was equipped with an experimental in-line four-cylinder Moskvich-403E engine, with an aluminum cylinder head located at the top intake valves... Power unit with a volume of 1074 cc gave out 33 hp. at 3900 rpm Such indicators were enough to accelerate a car weighing 880 kg to 110 km / h. But no more. It is not surprising that the Moskvich-403E-424E did not achieve success in 1950. But the story doesn't end there.
Already in 1951, the Moskvich-403E-424E appeared in a new reincarnation - a two-seater coupe (two cars out of six were converted). The power unit also underwent changes - now it was a forced inline four-cylinder engine from the "400" model with an increased to 1190 cm cube. working volume and increased to 6.5 compression ratio. In addition, the engine was equipped with an aluminum cylinder head, aluminum intake manifold and camshafts with wider phases. Its power was 35 hp. at 4200 rpm The indicator is ridiculous for a sports car, but given that the mass of the coupe decreased by 30 kg (up to 850 kg), the maximum speed increased to 123 km / h, and this was enough for the championship of the country in 1951 A.V. Ipatenko on the Moskvich-403E- 424E-coupe took second place.
But the story does not end on this note either! The spirit of rivalry was already firmly entrenched in the hearts of MZMA designers, and in 1954, on the basis of one of the coupes, a low-body roadster was built, called the Moskvich-404-Sport, which favorably differed from its predecessors. First of all, due to the smaller area of \u200b\u200bthe frontal resistance, the aerodynamics of the car has significantly improved. In addition, the then experimental "404" overhead valve engine with a hemispherical combustion chamber was installed on the Moskvich-404-Sport. With a volume of 1074 cm3, a compression ratio of 9.2, the engine produced 58 hp. at 4750 rpm, and the maximum speed was 147 km / h. The indicators are not God knows what, but this was enough to win the USSR championship, and not once, but three times in a row - from 1957 to 1959!
For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that in the 1959 championship Moskchiv-404-Sport performed already with a new engine - the 407 model, with a volume of 1358 cm3, a compression ratio of 9.0, and a power of 70 hp. at 4600 rpm The speed increased to an already quite serious 156 km / h
The further fate of the car is unknown, and the only Moskvich-403E-424E that has survived to this day is exhibited in the Riga Museum.
But in terms of its characteristics, the GAZ-Torpedo was inferior to the ZIS-112 created in the same year: the speed was 191 km / h. Although the handling of the SG2 was incomparably better. By the way, "GAZ-Torpedo" is one of the few sports cars of those years that have almost survived to this day.
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A sports car based on an experimental passenger model. Designed in 1954 by I. Gladilin. Design Features: Overhead valve engine, four carburetors. Cylinders - 4, engine displacement - 1074 cm3, power - 58 hp at 4800 rpm, gears - 3, length - 4.13 m, in running order - 902 kg, speed - 150 km / h.
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GAZ-Sport (GAZ-SG4), built in 1959, was the last sports car designed by the well-known aircraft engineer A.A. Smolin. No, with the designer himself, thank God, everything was in order - the "installation" from above changed - Smolin now had to do the design automotive vehicles hovercraft. By the way, in fairness, it is worth noting that only the body of the car belonged to the pen of the aircraft engineer. The engine, transmission, suspension and other units are the work of masters from the N6 vehicle fleet in Moscow. But, again, first things first.
Already in 1956, it became finally clear that the GAZ-SG1, in which the factory team performed, were hopelessly outdated. Yes, at the 1956 championship, Pobeda-Sport took the gold medal, but not thanks to the perfection of its design, but rather to the design flaws of its competitors. The SG1, nevertheless, remained a production car, albeit thoroughly modified for participation in sports competitions. "Victory" was heavy, clumsy, with an outdated suspension and a high center of gravity. In 1956 A.A. Smolin, having gathered all the accumulated experience into a fist, once again sat down at the drawing board.
As a result of sleepless nights, the GAZ-SG4 appeared with a monocoque aluminum body, air suspension on all wheels, a GAZ-21 engine, and aluminum crankcases. Appeared, it should be noted, so far only on paper. In 1957, the implementation of the "in metal" project began - four car bodies were assembled in the experimental workshop of GAZ. A lightweight aluminum body with a small drag area promised to become the basis of a pretty good sports car, but ... the leading engineer A.A. Smolin was transferred to another direction, and three of the four "blanks" that have now become unnecessary were sold to taxi company N6 in Moscow, where a fairly strong sports organization was operating at that time.
Here the cars were equipped with GAZ-21 engines with a volume of 2445 cm3, thanks to electronic system injection, developed by specialists of the Leningrad Institute TsNITA, which developed 90 hp, coupled with a low weight, this made it possible to reach speeds of up to 190 km / h. And thanks to the low center of gravity, the GAZ-SG4 cars were famous for their excellent handling.
GAZ-Sport exhibited a taxi company N6 for races until 1965, and, it should be noted, not without success. In 1962, Yuri Andreev took third place at SG4 at the USSR Championship, and in 1963 he took his first "gold".
However, in 1967, when the class of sports cars in domestic motorsport ceased to exist, all GAZ-SG4 cars were scrapped. Blasphemy - yes, but, alas and ah, it is far from an isolated case in our history.
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Designer V. Kosenkov released this sports car for circuit racing in 1959. KVN-2500S was created on the basis of the GAZ-21 car. The design features include: an aluminum body, a spar frame made of large diameter pipes. Cylinders - 4, engine displacement - 2445 cm3, power - 90 hp at 4600 rpm, gears - 3, length - 4.5 m, curb weight - 800 kg, speed - 160 km / h. This car took the USSR championship in circuit races four times.
Six such cars were manufactured according to the project of V. Kosenkov.
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This sports car was designed by A. Zemtsov in 1959 on the basis of GAZ-21 units. Design features: doors that rise upward. Engine displacement - 2445 cm3, power - 80 hp at 4000 rpm, gears - 3, length - 4.4 m, curb weight - 1000 kg, speed - 160 km / h.
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Perhaps, there is hardly a race car driver who has never heard the name of Lev Shugurov. Even today, readers of the magazines "Za Rulem", "The Fifth Wheel" and many others know his name from his publications. It was the pen of L.M. Shugurov owns the majority of sports and racing Muscovites. One of them is the Moskvich-407-Coupe, built in 1962.
When building the car, the base of the Moskchich-407 was used, with a coupe body. It is worth noting that the base remained unchanged, like the front end, only the middle part of the car changed, which is why the trunk looked, to put it mildly, unprepossessing. In addition to the appearance, such a transformation had another significant disadvantage: since rear seats was not, as well as part of the superstructure, then the weight distribution along the axes changed, and far from for the better. To load the driving wheels, as well as to prevent skidding, we had to carry ballast weighing 100 kg in the trunk.
The suspension of the car remained practically unchanged, only a rear stabilizer appeared. The engine, borrowed from the "403" model, has undergone more careful tuning. He received pistons with a convex bottom, a cylinder head with a modified combustion chamber (compression ratio - 9.5), a special racing camshaft and four K-99 racing motorcycle carburetors. The engine power was 77 hp. at 5500 rpm.
Two years later - in 1964, the place of the "403" was taken by a new engine of the "408" model with a volume of 1358 cm3, for the first time in the history of the domestic automotive industry equipped with two twin racing carburetors "Weber-40DCO". This did not give a significant increase in power (81 hp at 5600 rpm), but it worked without failures on low revs... The maximum speed of the Moskvich-407-coupe was 145 km / h.
In general, the car was built for winter hippodrome races, but also took part in road circuit races. On it in 1962, E. Lifshits won the bronze medal of the USSR championship.
Unfortunately, both existing copies of the Moskvich-407-coupe did not survive to our days - they went to scrap metal, which, alas, was a common practice in those years.
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Specifications:
Cars KD 1969.
Engine: power 30 HP at 4000 rpm.
Working volume: 887 cc.
Weight: 500 kg.
Speed: 120 km / h.
By the mid-60s, a paradoxical situation had ripened in our country, when managers and production workers reported on the activities of giant factories from the high stands, and the population still only dreamed of their own car.
Under these conditions, such a phenomenon arose as an amateur automotive industry. One by one and in groups, enthusiastic designers created the cars of their dreams from available factory units. Most have failed at the level of welding a frame made of rusty pipes, some did manage to get behind the wheel, but these lucky exceptions are history. In memory of this passion of domestic motorists, one unusual exhibit remained in the "Museum of Crews and Cars".
In 1963, a small group of enthusiastic home-builders began to create their own series of five identical machines, called KD. The cars had a sporty 2 + 2 coupe style. The basis of the fiberglass body was a space frame made of pipes. It was equipped with components and assemblies from the serial Zaporozhets ZAZ-965. It also retained the rear-engined layout of the 30 hp air-cooled four-cylinder engine, which provided the car with a top speed of 120 km / h.
The machine builder group consisted of six people. The date of completion of the construction of the series is 1969. With their style, the swiftness of the lines, the KD machines were the exact opposite of serial industrial products. The uniqueness of this case is not only in the professional level of design and workmanship, but also in the fact that the homemade car was put on stream.
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The brothers Anatoly and Vladimir Shcherbinin, the artists, set out to build a sports car based on the Volga units. The car was equipped with a two-seater body of the "Gran Turismo" type (hence the name - GT Shcherbins). The GTSH was more powerful and faster than it was then required by law to homemade products. How the brothers registered their brainchild in the traffic police - a mysterious story ... The car weighed 1.250 kg. Thanks to a fairly strong Volgov engine (70 hp), it could reach speeds of up to 150 km / h. The history of the creation of the machine is curious. The Shchebinin brothers welded the frame that served as the basis right in their yard. Then she was taken to an apartment on the seventh floor, where a fiberglass body was glued. Then the entire structure was lowered from the balcony on ropes to the ground, where the GTSC acquired an engine, chassis, interior and everything else that you need to have a full-fledged car.
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In Soviet times, buses of the N666 route ran freely in Moscow, and citizens, standing at the bus stop, probably did not even ask themselves the question of where, apart from the Novye Cheryomushki metro station, they could call in such transport. Perhaps that is why self-made motorists with the speaking surname Algebraistov, seeing that their car turned out to be "damn beautiful", took and named it "Satan". That's right, in Russian. In order not to be confused with the Volkswagen Santana, which did not exist then, or with Carlos Santana, who recorded his first disc in that very 1969.
Today the "Satanist" Algebraist is over sixty, and most of this time he has been designing and building cars. “There are dozen of people like me for every kilometer,” says Yuri Ivanovich. It was once so. On the TV there was a computer broadcast, which decent people deciphered as "you can do that", and indecent ones as "eh, your mother!" this arduous matter, there were two. The first, in his words, wanted to know "I can - I can not." The second - the queue for cars in the USSR waited for decades, if anyone has forgotten.
As a child, Yuri and his brother Stanislav built model airplanes. And they got so carried away by this that they grew up imperceptibly, and at the same time won the USSR championship in aircraft modeling. From their models, of course, they were drawn to real planes. Stanislav learned to be a pilot, and Yuri, alas, for health reasons did not become a pilot. And then he chose the profession of a chauffeur. And the driver, according to Algebraistov, differs from the driver in that he is also engaged in car repairs, and is well versed in this.
As you know, it is customary to verify harmony with algebra. That is why the Algebraistov brothers simply could not help but get acquainted with the Shcherbinin brothers, authoritative graphic artists who were fond of auto design. The emerging creative team immediately began building a sports car. Let the GAZ-24 be chosen as the "donor", but the design promised to be advanced, and the body was planned to be made of fiberglass. The year was 1969.
The Algebraists worked on the technical content of the project, the Shcherbinins on the forms. The car rolled out of the garage a year later. The brothers christened their firstborn "Satan". The car really turned out to be devilishly beautiful - a chiseled sports coupe with streamlined lines, the hood and fenders formed a single whole and opened access to the "insides" when lifting. The headlights were covered with electrical panels, the only wiper had a swing over the entire glass area. During one of the runs, some foreigners were bustling around the car with movie cameras. Years later, Yuri Ivanovich saw a "janitor" of his design on the windshield of a "Mercedes" in the 124th body.
"Satan" has worked out his nickname in full. A refrigerated truck driving from behind hit him so that an exclusive sports car went under the truck in front, its hood ducked under the rear axle, and the cargo colossus lifted! It would be a fatal accident for a piece of iron off the assembly line, as well as for passengers. And the fiberglass body had only a couple of cracks and scratches to "heal". All this was pasted over, painted over, and the fear of passengers was cured in the traditional Russian way.
Actually, "Satan" was considered Stanislav's car, and Yuri always wanted his own. He built it, taking into account practical tests, as well as the mistakes that he and his brother made in the design. He decided to make the hood separately from the wings - so the body received even greater rigidity. And Yuri Ivanovich altered many more things. But on the other hand, three days before the All-Union motor rally in 1982, the Yuna car, named after himself, Yuri, and Natasha's wife, rolled out of the cramped garage.
The chauffeur didn't get a car, but a masterpiece: a fit body panelsAs the author says, Rolls-Royce will envy - the gaps are minimal. Again, the appearance is catchy! Hence the glory. In the 80s, "Yuna" was repeatedly invited to appear in domestic feature films. Both Boris Shcherbakov and Nikolai Karachentsov were at the wheel. Pilot-cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov rode the Yuna during one of the homemade auto rallies, so much so that he then persuaded Yuri Ivanovich to give the car "to show off in front of his own in Star City." It was his acquaintance with the "greats", as well as participation in television programs and films, that helped Algebraistov solve the issue of registering a car.
Today "Yuna" has already driven over half a million kilometers. At this age and mileage, it is difficult for a car to maintain its freshness. And Yuri Ivanovich decided on restyling. An inline six from the BMW 525i dived under the hood. The windows of doors and mirrors are electrically operated Exhaust system was tuned into a sporty growl. The headlights began to rise - one electric motor and a pair of drives are responsible for this. He also pretty much conjured the Algebraists with the body: he reduced the thickness of the rear struts, tilted the front ones a lot - he even had to cut the door frames. The trunk lid began to open from the bumper, also updated, and the hood became even smaller - why often look under it, if now everything is "serious". Although the rear axle remained from the GAZ-24, it received a "Tchaikovsky" gearbox - now it holds 200 km / h without problems and hum. Everything in the cabin has changed: leather, Alcantara ... The front seats - of course, Recaro. The dashboard is homemade, and the instruments themselves are a composite hodgepodge: something from Opel, something from Ford ... But the car looks like a single, integral, complete and perfect product. Fresh bright red paint was applied to the body. Passers-by look around: "Probably Ferrari, a handsome devil."
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In January 1982, in a small workshop on the outskirts of Leningrad, two young people decided to create a car of their own design. They were Dmitry Parfenov and Gennady Khainov.
The very fact of designing a home-made car would not be so significant and would not attract everyone's attention if the designers acted according to the usual scheme: they made the most of the factory components and assemblies. This time, a completely different task was set - to independently design and build cars that would not be inferior in technical characteristics to foreign models.
The task was difficult, and the designers had to overcome a lot of difficulties, which, nevertheless, did not affect the final result. For the first time, cars left the streets of Leningrad in 1985. Front-wheel drive, on-board electronics and a great design idea instantly distinguished these cars from other representatives of the "samavto" movement.
"Laura" - as one of the new cars was named - received recognition from MS Gorbachev, at that time the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and became the plenipotentiary of the Soviet automobile industry at various international exhibitions, where she won numerous awards.

Since the inception of the automotive industry, technical progress has steadily moved its development forward. As history shows, motorsport played a huge role in this process. The creation of racing cars for participation in competitions requires constant improvement of mechanisms and the search for constructive solutions. Therefore, it often happens that some car novelties first appear in racing models, and only then migrate to production models. For example, in 1953, disc brakes were first installed on the Jaguar C-Type race car, and by the late 1950s this type of brake mechanism was becoming more common in cars for public roads. Innovative developments in aerodynamics, increased engine power, handling characteristics and improved tires, after being tested in racing, are instantly applied to mass automotive production. At the same time, as soon as the automotive industry reaches a new level, it is faced with the need to create more advanced racing cars. In other words, motorsport and series production are interrelated processes that help each other.

The Soviet automobile industry already in the mid-1930s created an experimental base, backed up by scientific research. New technical directions developed, paving the way for the creation of impressive racing cars that could compete strongly at the global level.

At the Moscow and Gorky Automobile Plants, the first sports cars in the USSR were developed, developing speeds of up to 160 km / h, which at that time was a very significant result, because not a single serial domestic car of those years went beyond the speed limit of 125 km / h. The phenomenon of "shimmy" (oscillation) in control systems on high speeds was still under study, and experience with aerodynamics in body structure was also in its infancy.

The role of racing and sports cars for technical progress was fully appreciated by the engineers of Soviet car factories only in the post-war years. ZIS (now ZIL), GAZ, MZMA (AZLK, Moskvich), the NAMI research institute built many interesting sports models in the period from 1949 to 1959. The experience gained in their production was used to develop new passenger cars. For example, the overhead valve engine in "Moskvich-407", which replaced the lower-valve engine "Moskvich-402", appeared thanks to numerous modifications of the overhead valve engines tested on the "Moskvich-G1-405" and racing cars. At the same time, other domestic sports cars, as well as technologies, are being created and tested. The outstanding representatives of Soviet motorsport were: the GAZ racing car with a jet engine, Zvezda-M-NAMI cars with independent suspension of all wheels, GAZ racing engines, Zvezda-M-NAMI, Salyut-M with superchargers, cars with separate for front and rear wheels with brakes (Moskvich-G1-405, ZIS-112/2) and others.

Since 1960, circuit races have been gaining popularity in the Soviet Union. For these races, special vehicles are required, so the enterprises ZIL, MZMA and the NAMI Institute concentrated their research and production on machines of this type. As a result, racing cars ZIL-112S, Moskvich-G3, Moskvich-G4, NAMI-O41M, MAZ-1500 appeared. At the same time, no matter how much domestic sports cars improved and showed impressive performance, they remained only prototypes, produced in small quantities. And so it was until the country organized a regular production of sports cars supplied to racing clubs and sports sections. The Tallinn Automobile Repair Plant (TARK) has mastered what is called an industrial scale in this direction. The plant became the first enterprise in the USSR, where racing cars rolled off the assembly line in whole lots. So, back in 1960, 36 machines "Estonia-3" were manufactured there. Since then, the plant has constantly mastered new developments, reaching the anniversary (thousandth) machine in the 80s. From the very beginning, the TARK set a task: to constantly develop a technical level in which cars should not be inferior to any other cars of this class. Already from the first models, TARK engineers introduced various innovations. Among these developments, for example, a compact rack and pinion steering mechanism on "Estonia-3" (1960), high-performance disc brakes on "Estonia-15" (1968), light and durable fiberglass body from "Estonia-9" (1966), wheels cast from electron on "Estonia-16" (1970). In addition, the designers of the Tallinn Automobile Repair Plant became pioneers in the use of anti-fenders and side radiators, as well as the first in the USSR to build a wedge-shaped body. All these innovations contributed to the achievement of high results of Soviet race car drivers at the Friendship Cup of athletes from socialist countries. It is safe to say that with the steady development, Soviet sports cars would not be inferior to the best foreign models in the future, since all the makings at the initial stage really were. But since in the Soviet Union the motorsport industry did not receive proper state support, but was driven mainly by enthusiasts, over time, Soviet motorsport began to lag behind foreign ones.

But one has only to remember that it was often the sports model that opened new frontiers of technology in order to understand that this direction must certainly be developed at the highest level. For example, reinforced cars took part in circuit races. VAZ 21011, their engines gave out twice as much power as that of production models and at the same time were distinguished by increased reliability. Such competitions became a real test of the reliability and endurance of individual components and the entire car as a whole, testing not only existing innovations, but also contributing to new ideas. At the same time, the production models themselves can also harbor great potential. In 1972, AZLK testers Yu. Lesovsky and N. Shevchenko set a unique all-Union record on the upgraded Moskvich-412 vehicle. The car with a serial body, steering, brakes, wheel suspension moved at an average speed of 174.23 km / h for almost 6 hours!

Over the years of its existence, Soviet motorsport has accumulated significant experience in the creation of sports cars. The most famous models are:

GAZ-GL1(1939). A racing car based on the nodes of the serial models GAZ-A, GAZ-M1 and GAZ-11. Engine: number of cylinders - 6, working volume - 3485 cm³, power - 100 hp / 74 kW at 3600 rpm. Curb weight - 1.1 tons. Maximum speed - 161 km / h.

(1939). Sports car on the upgraded ZIS-101A chassis. Compared to the serial model, the engine power is increased by 21%. Engine: number of cylinders - 8, displacement - 5766 cm³, power - 141 hp / 104 kW at 3300 rpm. Machine length - 5.75 m. Curb weight - 2 tons. Maximum speed - 162 km / h.

(1951). Sports car based on the production model GAZ-20. The engine is equipped with a Roots type rotary supercharger. The front and rear parts of the body are made of duralumin. Engine: number of cylinders - 4, working volume - 2490 cm³, power - 105 HP / 77 kW at 4000 rpm. Machine length - 5.68 m. Curb weight - 1.2 tons. Maximum speed - 178 km / h.

(1952) Record car with independent all-wheel suspension and rear-mounted powertrain. The motor is a two-stroke water cooling with a blade supercharger. Engine: number of cylinders - 4, displacement - 342 cm³, power - 63 hp / 46 kW at 7000 rpm. Machine length - 4.4 m. Curb weight - 550 kg. The maximum speed is 215 km / h.

(1956). A record car with an aluminum body, a rear-mounted power unit, separate drive to the brakes of the front and rear wheels. Engine: number of cylinders - 4, displacement - 1091 cm³, power - 74 hp / 54 kW at 5600 rpm. Machine length - 4.3 m. Curb weight - 720 kg. The maximum speed is 223 km / h.

(1954). Sports car with aluminum cylinder block and four carburetors. Engine: number of cylinders - 4, working volume - 1074 cm³, power - 58 hp / 43 kW at 4750 rpm. Machine length - 4.13 m. Curb weight - 900 kg. The maximum speed is 147 km / h.

(1961 g). A racing car with a cardan shaft shifted to the right of the driver, separate drive to the front and rear brakes, a frame in the form of a space truss. Engine: number of cylinders - 4, working volume - 1358 cm³, power - 70 hp / 52 kW at 4800 rpm. Machine length - 3.54 m. Curb weight - 650 kg. The maximum speed is 170 km / h.

(1962). Sports car with rear suspension type "De Dion" and self-locking differential. Engine: number of cylinders - 8, working volume - 5980 cm³, power - 230 hp / 169 kW at 4000 rpm. Machine length - 4.15 m. Curb weight - 1.32 tons. Maximum speed - 260 km / h.

(1963). Race car with independent suspension of all wheels, rack and pinion steering, rear power unit. Engine: number of cylinders - 4, power - 76 hp / 56 kW at 5400 rpm. The mass of the vehicle in running order is 560 kg. The maximum speed is 177 km / h.

(1960). The first Soviet racing car produced by an industrial batch. The car is equipped with an uprated M-52 motorcycle engine installed at the rear. Engine: number of cylinders - 2, working volume - 496 cm³, power - 35 hp / 26 kW at 7500 rpm. Machine length - 3.2 m. Curb weight - 260 kg. The maximum speed is 150 km / h.

(1966). A racing car with a fiberglass body and a rear-mounted two-stroke engine. For eight years, about 150 models "9" and "9M" were manufactured. Engine: number of cylinders - 3, working volume - 991 cm³, power - 80 hp / 58 kW at 5800 rpm. Machine length - 4 m. Curb weight - 450 kg. The maximum speed is 190 km / h.