AvtoVAZ – Driven To Write

Join the Wankel Party

A bogged down revolution.

Do you feel lucky, шпана*? Image: denisovetz.ru

Apart from its compactness, free-revving nature and modest number of parts, the Wankel engine is of course known for its smoothness. This is not the first trait that comes to mind when one thinks of Russia but, on the other hand, no Wankel engine has ever been averse to enjoying a drink.

Although Russia was a bit of a latecomer when it comes to the Wankel engine, it was, for a period of roughly twenty-five years, quite seriously involved with the concept, resulting in close to forty different rotary engines being developed within that timespan. Development of the rotary engine started in 1974 at VAZ, better known in the West as manufacturers of the Fiat 124-based Lada saloon and Niva 4WD off-roader. Unlike NSU, Citroën, General Motors and Mazda, the Russians’ reason for developing rotary engines was of a somewhat sinister nature: they were initially designed to Continue reading “Join the Wankel Party”

VAZ: Diplomacy, Politics, and Urban Legends (Part Three)

Debunking the persistent legend of Russo-Italian rust.

Fiat’s cooperation in the establishment of the VAZ factory, along with Alexei Kosygin’s new policies⁽¹⁾, helped mobilize the Soviet citizenry en masse. With the quite excellent Fiat 124 as a basis, the end-product was arguably a better car to own and drive than anything offered by ZAZ⁽²⁾, AZLK⁽³⁾ or GAZ⁽⁴⁾at the time.

The establishment of the VAZ factory was, as we now know, politically motivated⁽¹⁾. For the Soviet government at least, the project was a major success: they took a good initial design and successfully adapted it to their country’s conditions and needs. They even sold it successfully in export markets. For the Italians, though, things played out somewhat differently: Continue reading “VAZ: Diplomacy, Politics, and Urban Legends (Part Three)”

VAZ: Diplomacy, Politics, and Urban Legends (Part One)

Investigating the overlooked and unexplored history of VAZ.

VAZ (in Russian: ВАЗ)⁽¹⁾ is well known in the automotive world. It was established in 1966 as a joint-venture between the Soviet Union and Fiat to mass-produce affordable, reliable, and technologically relevant family cars for the Soviet people⁽²⁾. Its first product was the VAZ-2101 Zhiguli saloon⁽³⁾, a more rugged version of the Fiat 124, adapted to cope with the adverse conditions of the USSR. The Zhiguli was so successful that VAZ/AvtoVAZ would become the country’s largest car manufacturer.

Much has already been written about both the Zhiguli, which was exported under the Lada (Russian: Лада) brand, and its maker. Here on DTW you can enjoy features on both the Zhiguli⁽⁴⁾ and the factory in Tolyatti⁽⁵⁾ where it was built, written by my fellow contributors Sean Patrick and Andrew Miles respectively. There are, however, unexplored and unreported details of the history of VAZ. This is precisely what we will attempt to bring to light in this three-part series, primarily by examining the US State Department’s historical archives. Specifically, we will examine the politics and the diplomacy behind the establishment of the Soviet automaker.

Astonishingly, these behind-the-scenes details seem to Continue reading “VAZ: Diplomacy, Politics, and Urban Legends (Part One)”