The predecessor of "Tavria" - ZAZ-1102, never became serial

ZAZ cars, better known among drivers as "Cossacks", often appeared as joke characters. Despite this, any car in the USSR was a luxury. Even on the ZAZ model there was a queue.


Although the Zaporozhye Automobile Plant never worked for a warehouse in Soviet times, the designers were well aware that it was necessary to somehow improve the lineup. The ZAZ-966 was superior to the "Humpbacked" with an index of 965 in many respects, but next to the foreign cars of its class, it looked frankly outdated.

It was necessary to change something, to develop a fundamentally new car, and not the ZAZ-968, which was essentially a restyling of the previous model.

Ideas and perspectives

The main initiator of the development of a new car was the designer of the Zaporozhye plant Vladimir Petrovich Steshenko. This talented engineer monitored the situation on the world stage and understood that the future belongs to the front-wheel drive platform.



It was the end of the 1960s in the yard, in the USSR they were just going to launch the VAZ-2101 with rear-wheel drive. This car was considered modern and promising.

Steshenko planned a whole range of models on a single platform:

✅ Passenger
✅ All-wheel drive
✅ Van
✅ Pickup

In 1970, the first prototype of the future Tavria appeared. The car was named "Perspective".

Even then, the engineers were going to make another model - all-wheel drive. To transmit torque to the rear axle, it was planned to install a gearbox in the rear axle drive.



For the prototype, two air-cooled engines were used. The first had a working volume of 0,9 liters with a capacity of 40 liters. With. The second - 1,0 per 44 liters. With. The weight of the ZAZ "Perspective" was 800 kg, and the maximum speed of the car reached 140 km / h.



In fact, no one was going to produce it. The model was trial and new design solutions were worked out on it. In 1971, the ZAZ-968 appeared, so all the forces of the enterprise were thrown into the speedy development and increase in the output of the new model.

Despite the fact that the ZAZ "Perspective" looked quite modern, the design engineers were unhappy with the design, considering it too heavy in the stern. For a fastback body, this appearance was considered normal. Therefore, the chief designer Steshenko decided to make the following prototypes in sedan-type bodies. Apparently, the all-Union enthusiasm for the Zhiguli played a role.

VAZ style

In 1973, prototypes appeared, more similar to the cars of the Volga plant of the first series. Although the design engineers called their offspring a sedan, it was a typical coupe body.



The cars turned out to be similar to the VAZ-2101 not only externally. Salons were also assembled in accordance with the style of the Zhiguli.

The prototypes were made 100 kg lighter than the Perspective. The engine was supposed to be only one - with a working volume of 1 liter. In 1974, the prototypes were slightly redesigned in appearance, adapting them to modern trends in automotive fashion. For example, they received twin headlights in the spirit of the VAZ-2103.

Interestingly, the development of the new model was carried out without much hope that it would be launched into a series. In the 1970s, the financial flow was directed to the development of the Volga Automobile Plant. Even Moskvich did not receive approval to launch a series of its prototypes, not to mention ZAZ.

Return to hatchback

In 1975, Zaporozhye designers seemed to be lucky - Polyakov, who at that time held the post of Minister of the Automotive Industry, visited the enterprise. Seeing prototypes of front-wheel drive models, he gave the order to involve the design department of the VAZ in the development.



But everything did not turn out quite the way the workers of the Zaporozhye plant expected. Model sculptors were sent to Tolyatti, and the new car was supposed to turn into a VAZ.

Galchinsky was the chief designer of the project, who oversaw the work of Zaporozhye specialists. He insisted on creating a hatchback car, which was just gaining popularity in Europe.



To the relief of the Zaporozhye designers, the VAZ specialists, having done their job, abandoned the project, handing over the prototype and all the technical documentation to their colleagues. It was Ladoga that became the progenitor of the future Tavria.

Hatchbacks

After the transfer of technical documentation to the Zaporozhye Automobile Plant, they began to develop a new model. This time, the prospect of launching a front-wheel drive car in a series was not as vague as before.



The seriousness of the developments of Tavria in 1977 is emphasized by the purchase of several small-class foreign-made models.

These were:

✅ Ford Fiesta
✅ Renault 5
✅ Honda Civic

After studying the samples, we decided to focus on the Ford Fiesta. Some of the design features were copied from the Renault 5.

They decided to develop a new engine - finally with liquid cooling. The classic "air vents" were finally left to motorcycles. For the modern car industry, even in the mid-70s, such engines were too archaic.



In 1977-1978, several prototypes of front-wheel drive vehicles were manufactured. Even then, no one expected to make a whole model range on their chassis - they wanted to implement at least one car in serial execution.



By 1979, ZAZ-1102 was almost ready. The model was not called "Tavria" then. The production car that debuted in 1987 with the same index is a different car. Although, if it were not for the experienced ZAZ-1102, there would be no Tavria.

Why the model did not become serial

Despite the fact that the new "Zaporozhets" could be put into production in 1979, this never happened. There were many reasons, but the main one was the shortage of cars in the Soviet Union.

Why spend money on a new model when you can produce a slightly modernized old one? This was the ZAZ-968M, the mass production of which began just in 1979. "Zaporozhets" and so sorted out, they also had to stand in line, although not as long as the "Moskvich" and "Zhiguli".

The second nuance is that the government was not interested in the ZAZ-1102 and no one planned to allocate money to launch the model in a series. Third, the war in Afghanistan also required huge financial influences.



The design engineers of the Zaporozhye plant still did not lose hope and continued to modernize and produce prototypes.
The cars were similar to the VAZ-2108. Most likely, it was this that played a decisive role in the fate of the car. After the launch of the Lada "Eight", ZAZ-1102 "Tavria" received the go-ahead for mass production.

Although, it was already a different model, with a modified design and significantly redesigned. Prototypes and experimental ZAZ-1102 took part in parades on Soviet holidays several times, then their trace was finally lost. It is believed that none of the experimental ZAZ-1102 has survived to this day.

As for the Tavria, whose serial production began in 1987, it was produced long after the collapse of the USSR. However, this is a completely different story, we will tell it in one of the following articles.