February 23, the last day of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, also is a national holiday in Russia and other former Soviet states called Defender of the Fatherland Day, the equivalent of Veterans’ Day in the United States. It began in 1919 as Red Army Day, and it became a holiday honoring men and women currently or formerly serving in the armed forces. February 23 is therefore an appropriate day to take a look at a little-known series of vehicles that represented a noteworthy act of decency by the much maligned Soviet car industry: Zaporozhets subcompacts designed specifically for amputees. Why they came to exist, and their existence as distinct mass produced variants, make them unique in the history of automobiles.
The Zaporozhets already is world famous, even though almost no one outside of the former Soviet Union knows it by name or is aware of where they have seen it. It had a signature cinematic moment in the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye. A 1960s Zaporozhets was the car that James Bond’s inept CIA counterpart used to pick him up at the airport in Moscow, needing a blow from a sledgehammer to get started. This image probably defines Soviet cars for millions of people around the world.
Even in Russia, the Zaporozhets gets little respect. When Western cars flooded Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, ridicule rather than nostalgia became the lot of the Zaporozhets. The Zaporozhets made an appearance in the parade of Soviet cars at the Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony, but even that moment in the spotlight seemed to belittle it: while immaculately restored examples represented other Soviet cars, the two Zaporozhets turned out to be only empty shells on wheels that were tossed aside to reveal dancers hiding inside. The Zaporozhets appears to be consigned to a place in history as nothing more than a toy-like box.
Photo from http://www.denisovets.ru/
The Zaporozhets was no more a toy than many of its successful contemporaries in Western Europe, though. It had its origins in the mid-1950s, when the Soviet state decided to develop a small car that would be a people’s car akin to Germany’s Volkswagen or Italy’s Fiat 500. Design work began in 1956, and the final product had much in common with those cars. Like them, it had a rear-mounted air-cooled engine, in the case of the Zaporozhets a V-4 displacing 0.7 to 1.2 liters.
The first model was the ZAZ-965, produced from 1960 to 1963 at Zaporyvskiy Avtombilebuduvelniy Zavod (Zaporizhia Automobile Factory) in Zaporizhia, Ukraine. Resembling a Fiat 600 and similar in size, it had a 746cc engine producing 26 horsepower. An upgraded ZAZ-965A, produced from late 1962 to 1969, had an 887cc 30 horsepower engine.
1976 ZAZ-968B2 owned by Ed Hughes in the U.K. Under previous owner Julian Nowill, a leading collector of Eastern Bloc cars and organizer of the Banjul Challenge banger race to Gambia, this car appeared in the Top Gear feature on Eastern Bloc cars. It then became the inspiration for the Zaporozhets that appeared briefly in the Pixar movie Cars 2, which used the same two tone color scheme. Photo from Ed Hughes.
The misfortune of the Zaporozhets was to stay in production until 1994, although it was already obsolete by world standards at the end of the 1960s. Three more generations appeared, each slightly improved from its predecessor, but hopelessly behind small cars in the rest of the world. The ZAZ-966 of 1966 to 1972 introduced a completely restyled body whose square shape many see as inspired by the Chevrolet Corvair, and which would continue with minor changes to the end of production. It began with the engine of the ZAZ-965A, but soon introduced a 1.2 liter 41 horsepower engine that subsequent Zaporozhets models would use. They were the ZAZ-968 of 1971 to 1980 and the ZAZ-968A of 1973 to 1980, each slightly restyled without the fake grille of the ZAZ-966, and the final ZAZ-968M (“Modernized”) of 1979 to 1994, which deleted the distinctive side air intake scoops, making the car even more plain and boxy.
Soviet veterans with missing legs in a sports rehabilitation program in 1943. Photo from http://roxanaspicer.com/.
The Zaporozhets deserves a place of honor in the history of the automobile for one reason. When making a people’s car, Soviet planners decided to use it to give mobility to a large number of people who had made great sacrifices to save the country from Nazi Germany during the Second World War: veterans who had lost arms or legs. The death toll from the war is officially estimated to be 26.6 million, including 8.7 military combat deaths, with dissenting independent estimates putting the losses at over 40 million. There were at least 18 million military personnel wounded in action. These losses exceeded those of the entire world in the First World War, and U.S. losses were small in comparison: approximately 418,000 killed and 670,000 wounded. Of the at least 18 million wounded in action, a considerable number lost one or more limbs, possibly more than all U.S. wounded. It was almost certainly the largest population of amputees that has ever existed.
The first Zaporozhets intended for use by amputees appeared in 1962. The ZAZ-965B had hand controls for the throttle, clutch and brakes, to enable people missing one or both legs to drive. It was a simple arrangement that used a large paddle behind the steering wheel to control the throttle and hand levers attached to the standard brake and clutch pedals, with the knob for the brake lever near the floor-mounted shift lever and two knobs on either side of the steering column for the clutch. This layout continued in the ZAZ-965A of 1962-69, as the ZAZ-965AB.
In 1966, another variant specifically for individuals missing one arm and one leg appeared, the ZAZ-965AR. It had an electrically operated automatic clutch that eliminated the need for a clutch pedal, comparable to the Saxomat vacuum-powered automatic clutch developed in Germany–another country with a large population of amputees from the Second World War.
ZAZ-968R control layout. Photo from http://www.denisovets.ru/
The range of control arrangements for different driver abilities, and the complexity of the controls, each increased as the years passed.
By the ZAZ-968 of 1971, there were three control arrangement variations: the ZAZ-968B for drivers lacking legs, now with the automatic clutch introduced in the ZAZ-965AR; the ZAZ-968B2 for drivers missing one leg, with a hand throttle, hand control for the brakes, and a clutch pedal; and the ZAZ-968R for drivers missing one leg and one foot, with a throttle pedal that could be mounted on the driver’s right or left side, a brake pedal, a gearshift with an automatic clutch controlled by the driver’s single leg through a lever with a stirrup-like handle straddling the driver’s thigh, and a steering wheel handle similar to a “necker knob” which must have greatly assisted one-armed drivers. Controls for the lights and heater moved to the center of the steering wheel to facilitate operation with one arm.
ZAZ-968MB control layout. From http://demertim.ru
The final ZAZ-968M of 1979-94 continued the same control arrangements generally, with some changes. The ZAZ-968MB retained the control layout of the ZAZ-968B.
ZAZ-968MG control layout. From http://demertim.ru
The B2 variant for drivers missing one leg became two variants, the ZAZ-968MG with wheelchair accommodations and the ZAZ-968MD without them.
ZAZ-968MR control layout. From http://demertim.ru
The ZAZ-968MR for drivers missing one arm and one leg moved the light switch and other controls to the handle on the steering wheel, to further ease operation with one hand.
A Russian source states that the ZAZ-968 and ZAZ-968M amputee variants used the smaller displacement 887cc engine from the early ZAZ-966 instead of the 1.2 liter engine of other Zaporozhets produced at the same time. It also states that the ZAZ-968R omitted fourth gear from the normally four speed gearbox. The reasons for these variations are unstated, but they may have had the intention of keeping drivers with missing limbs driving at slower speeds.
Photo from http://motorussians.com/
The Soviet state distributed these cars to the disabled, free of charge, through the social welfare system. Individuals with missing limbs received them for a specific period of years, after which each would return the car and receive a new one as a replacement. They were not private property and could not be re-sold. Whether there were supply problems and long waiting lists, as there were for Soviet cars in general, could not be determined.
This arrangement came to an end in post-Soviet Russia. Russia continued it into the 1990s, past the discontinuation of the Zaporozhets in 1994, substituting the more modern ZAZ-1102 “Tavria” front wheel drive hatchback and the VAZ-1111 “Oka” microcar, both 1980s designs. The privatization of the state-owned automobile industry ended the ability of the state to allocate resources for this purpose, however, and the passing of the wartime generation, whose youngest surviving veterans are well into their 80s, has made the mass production of specialized vehicles for amputees far less necessary.
Great Patriotic War veterans at a Victory Day celebration in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, sponsored by truck manufacturer KamAZ. From http://www.kamaz.net/
For many years one of the most ridiculed Soviet cars, making it among the lowest of the low of the products of the world’s automobile industries, the Zaporozhets should be remembered for the unique role that it filled for veterans of the costliest war in history. It was not the only such effort worldwide; the U.S. automobile industry stepped up to address the needs of American veterans with modifications that it provided at no cost to veterans who had lost limbs. The Zaporozhets was unique, however, insofar as I have been able to determine, in providing a mass produced car specifically for wounded veterans. Filling this role for over 30 years was even more remarkable, even though it remained in production for too long.
Today, it appears that few examples of the amputee variants have survived into preservation, and information about them is difficult to find. The regular Zaporozhets models have a considerable amount of information and photographs on the internet on Russian-language websites, but the amputee variants are almost nonexistent, in both the English and Russian languages. Twenty years after the last one rolled off the assembly line, they have already almost disappeared, unless there are undiscovered cars or sources of information waiting to be found. Before they fade away completely, these cars of humble origins deserve to be remembered for the noble purpose that they served.
Oh. You know, by a coincidence, I opened my family photo album today, and… look at this photo – that’s my Dad, his first car, and – guess who else ? The year is 1989. The Zaz was baby blue, about 15 years old already. I never knew the whole story, but I’m almost certain it was a former Invalid’s car, converted back to normal controls – they were pretty common back then. Soon enough it was substituted by a brand new fiery orange 968M.
Now, I absolutely don’t recall the blue one, but still have a fair share of memories of the orange one. To tell the truth, according to what Dad usually tells it was kind of shitboxy and unreliable – but still did the job, I guess. Dad drove it from Tbilisi, Georgia to Gorky, Russia – that’s almost 2 500 kms / 1 500 miles – without a breakdown. The handling was quirky, and, Dad not being used to driving on icy roads (no snow or ice on the roads in Georgia !), the Zaz rolled over during it’s first or second winter in Russia, but both the car – and Dad – were almost unscathed; the 2-door body was quite stiff and also lasted for a long time, thanks to it’s relatively thick metal and flat underbody without pockets to collect dirt and snow.
And – the early models look rather cute (unlike the 968M, which surely was not nick-named “the soapbox” for good looks). Very few are still around, and they usually attract everyone’s attention by just passing by (quite literally, that is, as the sound of the air-cooled engine is, you know, quite difficult to ignore).
Stanislav,
Thank you for the personal memory and the photo! It is exactly what I wanted to see. I have had only one brief personal experience with the Zaporozhets, a “taxi” ride (an ordinary person giving me a ride across Moscow for 2 dollars, quite common in the early 1990s) in a ZAZ-968 or 968M whose discomfort taught me to avoid offers of rides from ZAZ drivers and wait for a Volga or Lada to come along.
Conversion back to normal controls does seem normal for surviving examples. The 1976 ZAZ-968B2 in the photo was converted to normal controls, and only the mounting points for the hand controls remain. The few other car profiles of disabled models that I found on the internet were the same. My guess is that the automatic clutch and some other specialized control systems were unreliable, so that conversion to simpler systems from the standard model was the best way to keep the cars on the road.
I have seen many videos demonstrating and praising the car’s muddy road and off-road mobility, and the flat underbelly that you mentioned was no doubt a factor in it, along with ground clearance, light weight and the weight of the engine over the drive wheels.
Does the ZAZ-965 have some sort of tubular frame ? It has the same stance as a Tatra truck when empty.
Swing arm rear suspension like a Triumph Herald Chev Corvair, Tatra, and others it has nothing to do with the frame.
Very cool possibly the extra long production was actually for veterans cars, I saw on the web yesterday pic of the former Ukranian pres car collection and Zaporozhets were in there in large numbers so some survive.
I also noticed several examples of the ZAZ-965 in the collection of Yanukovich, along with many ZILs, Volgas and all sorts of other cars, including even a 1964 Chevrolet. Maybe the ZAZ cars being from a factory in Ukraine was a factor in his collecting them.
I thought that they were joking about this when they mention this in the Top Gear communist car segment, I didn’t really know that such a thing existed, and in so many different variants.
The Top Gear guys must have received a good briefing from Julian Nowill, the owner of the Zaporozhets in the program. He started a car club for Soviet and other Eastern European cars at least a decade ago, and he must know as much about them as anyone.
Love it. Maybe it’s me, but every time I read Zaporozhets as a word, I sing ‘Suffragette City’ by Bowie in my head. I know, it’s me.
Thanks for this article Robert, I’ve only seen these cars as pics and it good to have a story around them.
The plural of Zaporozhets being Zaporozhetsy, it does fit quite well in place of Suffragette City! If ZAZ ever makes a comeback, maybe they can use Suffragette City in ads just like Cadillac used Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”
Nice article! thanks.. : ) ..does anyone remember the mid-sixties French Simca? This was a boxy little rear drive car too… I had one back in the early ’80’s ..although the body was of poor quality for lasting well (they rusted terribly here in NZ’s salty damp maritime climate and mine, a ’65 944cc water-cooled inline slant four mounted north/south in the rear, was already on it’s last legs bodywise.
However, it had one redeeming feature, a most delightful Porsche sliding hub gearbox arrangement. Although the changes were not lightening fast they were amazingly silky and smooth, and a it was a joy to operate that gearbox. The engine was willing enough too ..it wasn’t slow ..being so light it packed a decent punch around town and had acceleration roughly similar to a standard 998cc Mini Cooper of the time. The engine possessed very attractive and efficient well designed crossflow manifolding (pretty unique at a time when other vehicles all possessed ‘log-type’ manifolds stuck inefficiently right alongside the cylinder head. The early ’60’s Chrysler slant six must have had the same engine design team because it too possessed the same delightful to look at ‘long tube’ harmoniously tuned manifolding, at least on the inlet in particular).
The Simca’s handling was interesting and fast 90 degree turning was frightening until you got used to the technique required to stay alive.. on today’s steel radials that not be possible, but of course back then tyres were ‘thin’ crossplies that allowed you to slide around at comparatively low speeds.
It was a fun little car… : )
Yep the local Simca dealer lived over our back fence and there are some nearby me here the local Simca nutter lives a couple of streets away, he has one in blue/white.
In a similar vein, the Soviets also had an “Invalidka” vehicle (not quite a real car):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMZ_cycle-car
And apparently the Brits had something called the Invacar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersley_Invacar
Another good one, Mr. Kim.
Thanks for this Robert. I’m fond of the ads for this car too:
I find North Americans judge others by their standards a lot. The Zaz is the perfect car for the perfect time in the Soviet Union. When this thing was introduced, the country had just been through a revolution, famine, five year civil war (and mega-ugly), the slaughter of the (relatively more) wealthy peasant class along with forced collectivisation, which caused another famine, when Stalin took over and exported all the grain from Ukraine he could to pay for machine tools, which caused another famine (but since most were from Western Ukraine, the Russians didn’t care) the Great Purges, Hitler invading them and then fighting them off. I’ve probably missed a few, too.
That is a whole lot of stuff to happen to you in what was less than thirty years. Much of European Russia and Belarus was laid to waste by the Germans when they left. The Soviets were set back at least thirty years. In many ways, Russia has never recovered the lost sons and daughters.
Added to this is about the most ruthless police forces that ever existed. What I am getting at is this was a simple, robust little car for harsh conditions. The air-cooled engine was originally an APU for the T-34 and other tanks. It was used on many Soviet era military vehicles. It is common the be critical of Soviet era stuff but it is usually well made, the military stuff anyway, and very easy to repair. This whole little car was designed to be simple and cheap to run and cope with non-existent or pot-holed roads, the spring time when the roads turn to mud, that kind of thing.
I was in Russia circa 1996 and anywhere outside of the main city centres were just plain crappy. No government services, drunkenness everywhere, despair all over the place. Whatever social safety net the Soviet Union had (and it was never enough) had gone with it. I find it really cool that these cars were supplied to veterans with mobility issues and how they solved their problems in an elegant way. I would tend to wonder how many ever got out and how many went to well connected party people. The actual level of public service wasn’t high and almost nothing outside towns and cities. I would wager that not many got outside of Moscow.
It is terrible watching that Russia I saw 18 years ago, when people were going out of their way to welcome foreigners, become a tyranny. Even worse is the support I see here in Canada for it.
There were a few ZAZ cars with hand controls for amputees, but this car was not designed for them specifically. Most of them received S-3A and later S-3D invalid microcars under the same program, as outlined above. It was these microcars that were designed for invalids specifically, the ZAZ was just fitted with similar hand controls later and in much smaller numbers.
Robert, another fascinating and well-researched, super-informative article, thanks! The whole idea is not something that one would think would be provided, and I did not realize Germany did something similar. Growing up there, we somehow were friendly with a lady that had lost a leg in the war (I was little and never figured out the whole story), but she didn’t drive (I doubt she even knew how). However, from a North American viewpoint, what is not obvious is that most people there don’t (didn’t) really need a car, what with the plentiful and excellent public transportation. Russia may well be a completely different story with its comparatively vaster distances.
Good story, well written. Hope to see more.
Thanx for this excellent article .
The cars look neat to my elderly eyes and the whole idea of Invalid Cars strikes me as the right thing to do , my Friend Frank Parkhurst lost his left leg and arm in the war and never got anything for it , he was *very* grateful for the M.A.S.H. Unit that saved his life and patched him up , he was a Man who could have used one of these or anything with Invalid controls but instead he came home , picked up his hammer and went back to work until he died , raising his family (the kids came in the late 1950’s) along the way . he never complained , _ever_ .
Watching him pounding nails whilst hanging off the 1′ stub of his left arm 40′ in the air , made a big impression on this farm boy .
Much fun is usually made of Russian vehicles and as I own three and have worked on some older ” jeeps ” (? Gaz ?) I saw how crude and simple they were , easy and cheap to keep running anywhere in the worst conditions imaginable .
I love my old Russian Ural Motocycles for these qualities ~ they’re slow & noisy but uber reliable and the fun factor cannot be matched .
-Nate
I honestly cannot see why so many folks deride this car. Its no more crude then other popular small cars of the era such as the Fiat 500, Mini, VW Beetle, Subaru 360, Trabant etc. Plus it was very good in the snow as it sat high. Like the beetle was for Germany and developing countries , it was the right car for the time in the Soviet Union. In fact the second generation seemed to look like a mini Corvair.
Great posting Mr. Kim
I think it’s pretty handsome, but that’s because it was a blatant ripoff of the NSU Prinz, with a rear “hood” scoop tacked on.
Thank you, Robert. Your article brings back memories.
There is a couple of things I would like to add though:
-the ZAZ (factory) was established on the Kommunar factory that made agricaltural machinery in East Ukraine. Hence the name Zaporozhets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaporozhye
-the state issued car for the people with missing limbs was the SMZ (it should probably get its own CC) and not the Zaporozhets. the ZAZ could have been obained for an extra fee, as it was a proper car compared to the motorcycle engined SMZ.
http://ru.autowp.ru/seaz/car14000/pictures/
in the 80s the ZAZ became the “state issued” car for people with missing limbs replacing the very obsolete SMZ, and after the fall of the SU the VAZ-1111 “Oka” replaced the ZAZ in Russia, as the ZAZ was now assembled in a different country.
My Grandfather bought a lime green 985A with a black top in 69 as his first car. This car was never too popular back in the day and there was no waiting list for it. After a year he sold it and bought a brand new Lada. My dad used to say that there was nothing wrong with the ZAZ, but the car was too small for the family.
Goodwin,
Thank you for the corrections about the various “invalid” vehicles. I knew about the existence of the SMZ, but I did not know that it and not the ZAZ was initially the vehicle provided free to amputees, with the ZAZ later replacing it. I will correct this in the text.
I would have liked to provide more information about the Oka, but information about the invalid models is even harder to find than for the ZAZ invalid models. The same Russian sites that I found that provided the control diagrams and other information for the ZAZ overlooked the Oka invalid models entirely, in their profiles of the Oka. The Oka seems to be an even more forgotten model!
I dont have any books on the “Oka”, but after a little web surfing ive found this link http://aupam.narod.ru/pages/spezavtotransport/ru_seaz/oglavlenie.html
pictures are small, but this is all I could find.
The Oka is overlooked because it was in production untill 2007 (or so). It is just too young to call it a CC, however they were never too popular and i dont see too many Okas around today.
Thank you for a well written article, Robert!
I believe that blue ZAZ with scoops, also was called “Zaporozhets s yshami” by people “Zaporozhets with ears” (functional, since I
engine was air cooled) is 966, as 968 was a later model (w/o scoops).
My grandfather, who during WW2 was a Soviet scout because he spoke German, was wounded during the war and had a difficulty walking. In the early 80’s he was given ZAZ-968M (don’t remember exact modification), but it lacked gas pedal and had steering wheel mounted controls for accelerator and a hand control for the brake, along with pedals for brake and clutch. However, my grandfather being a handyman, also fabricated and installed a normal accelerator. Color of the car was Corrida Red (fiery orange). The car was suppose to be replaced by VAZ-1111 Oka, but, sadly, my grandpa passed away in 1987.
He taught me how to read when I was 4 years old and because if him, I become an automotive enthusiast.
P.S. After the war he was a steam engine engineer, on a steam engine FD.
Just joined CC and I am loving it !..Great stories about automobiles and people . Thank you !!
HD
Rather fascinated by the unknown origins behind the ZAZ’s air-cooled NAMI-G / MeMZ-965 V4 engine after the earlier BMW R71-rooted 650cc MD-65 Ural / Dnepr Motorcycle Twin was considered ill-suited for a car and dropped, the other alternatives by contrast were said to be copies of the Volkswagen Beetle Flat-Four, Citroen 2CV Twin and a stop-gap improved prototype designated 444-BKR that received a Twin purloined from the R67-rooted BMW 600.
Read claims the V4 engine in the ZAZ 965 was from some unbuilt BMW motorcycle design, which can be disproven from looking into Karlheinz Lange’s book on BMW engines since it shows only Flat-Twins or a number of small sub 1-litre inline-fours that would go growing to evolve into the BMW M10.