LuAZ-1301 - an experienced SUV on the chassis of a military vehicle

LuAZ cars are still found in rural areas. As a rule, these small SUVs are operated by hunters and fishermen.


Sometimes LuAZ becomes the base for creating a cross-country vehicle. To do this, under the hood of the model, the engine is changed to some old diesel engine, large wheels are installed. And that's it - the car is ready.

The main advantage of the LuAZ-969M is that the SUV was originally created for the military (model 967). Accordingly, in the civilian version, it has not changed much. The car does not differ in comfort, but its cross-country ability, even in the base, is amazing, despite the low-power engine.



Did you know that attempts were made at the Lutsk Automobile Plant to modernize the LuAZ-969? It started back in the 1980s and continued until the 2000s. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The first attempts

LuAZ-969 began to be mass-produced since 1966. The car turned out to be in demand and passable, but too military with an appropriate level of comfort like “Spartans prefer to sleep on stones”.

In 1982, the LuAZ-2735 was created at the Lutsk plant. This is a luxury SUV. The designers thoroughly worked on the car, showing the world as many as three prototypes. Alas, the idea turned out to be a failure - the model was too complicated for production, and they did not finance it.



Already in the mid-80s, the state decided that it was time to carry out a global modernization of the LuAZ-969M, or rather, create a model on its chassis.

The Ministry of the Automotive Industry has set a number of requirements:

✅ Reduce weight
✅ Comfort like a standard "passenger car"
✅ Make a "transformer" salon

Delighted design bureau started work.

The birth of the LuAZ-1301 model

The first model that was used to test new ideas was a car under the index 2151. The model looked like a regular LuAZ-969M, but had improved running gear and brakes.



The whole of 1987 was spent testing and refining the prototype. The main problem was the desire of the designers to make a modern and comfortable model. The Lutsk plant simply could not provide this level.



The first full-fledged prototype, and not a running model, was made at the end of 1988. The car was shown to the public and periodically taken to various exhibitions. Interestingly, the appearance of the SUV was different from the 1986 running model.

Design features

LuAZ-1301 received a frame-panel body. The spring suspension replaced the torsion bar, permanent all-wheel drive appeared.
To simplify production, the car was unified with the Tavria. Outwardly, the LuAZ-1301 looked like something in between the Niva and Oka.

The prototypes received a suspension with air springs, we recall that it was in 1988. The idea of ​​adjusting the ride height was a good one, but it had to be abandoned. The car would have been too expensive, and finding a manufacturer of quality parts turned out to be a difficult task. As a result, the work was cancelled.

In 1989, it was decided to resume the LuAZ-1301 project. This time, they tried to unify the design with the Tavria as much as possible. The Lutsk plant became part of AvtoZAZ for several years and this was the only chance to establish mass production.

The prototype of the new LuAZ-1301 had a plastic body. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage. On the one hand, the car was not subject to corrosion. On the other hand, the production of plastic elements still needed to be mastered. Realizing this, the designers noted that it is possible to replace the body panels with steel ones.



We also thought about the scourge of the late 1980s - draining gasoline. The filler hatch was locked simultaneously with the doors, respectively, it was possible for an outsider to open it from the outside only by breaking the element itself.

In 1990, several experimental cars were built, one was even with a pickup-type body. These SUVs were sent for testing to Uzbekistan on their own. Cars passed the rally with honor - all 8 cars, among which there were 5 LuAZ-1302, returned safely.

What happened after the collapse of the USSR

As soon as the Soviet Union broke up into a number of independent states, plans for the production of the promising LuAZ-1301 were postponed indefinitely. First of all, it was necessary to increase the volume of the 1302 model with engines from Tavria.



The last development before the privatization of the Lutsk plant was the LuAZ-1301 prototype, which received a one-piece rear sofa. Due to the difficult financial situation of the enterprise, the car that appeared in 1994 showed itself frankly "raw" and unfinished. This was repeatedly noted by journalists of publications of those years.



The revival of the enterprise began in 1999, when the plant was bought by investors. Then the assembly of VAZ and UAZ from car kits supplied from Russia was established.

In 2002, the LuAZ-1301 was once again revived. The director of the plant officially announced that he had decided to start production of a promising model.



Although serious work on the model was carried out, the lack of funding delayed them. Serial production of LuAZ-1301 was going to start no earlier than 2004.

SUVs planned to produce different types:

✅ Freight
✅ Convertible
✅ Five-door

Each version had three configurations, from standard to luxury.

After the development of a new design, it turned out that the lighting fixtures from Tavria were no longer suitable. The solution was found quickly - to use headlights and lanterns from the Spanish Seat and the French Peugeot.



Elements from the VAZ appeared in the chassis - after all, the plant produced their “screwdriver” assembly. In addition to MeMZ, they decided to put engines from Niva on the "luxury" LuAZ-1301.

Instead of the planned 50 SUVs, by the end of 2002 the manufacturer had assembled three cars. But work on expanding the lineup continued. In 2003, they made several prototype pickups and medical vehicles.

It would seem that before the launch of the SUV in mass production, there was nothing left, but this did not happen. For the conveyor, investments of 3 million dollars were needed - they were promised by the government of Ukraine. Then the decree was canceled, and a little more than a year later it was restored again.



Only LuAZ-1301 did not save it. Since then, the program has been abandoned, investors abandoned the model. The director of the Lutsk plant promised that the model would still be mass-produced in 2005, but then the enterprise was bought by the Bogdan corporation.

The new owners said that the release of their own SUV is an unprofitable business. Thus ended the story of the promising LuAZ-1301, in fact, without having had time to start.

On the one hand, even the updated car looked outdated against the background of foreign cars. But he could occupy the niche of budget SUVs, as the VAZ-2121 did in Russia. Unfortunately, the Bogdan corporation had its own plans and considerations in this regard ...