Minibus "Start" and others - futuristic cars of the times of the USSR

One of the problems of the automobile Transport in the USSR can be called rapid moral obsolescence. Most models on the conveyor stood for decades, and practically without changes. Individual attempts by specialists and enthusiasts to create new models of equipment practically did not solve anything, at best leading to the appearance of individual copies or small series cars. Some of them even now look quite modern or at least unusual. In this article we will tell about some of these attempts.

Minibus "Start" - a design that "did not go"

One of the most futuristic Soviet minibuses was the Start, created in the 60s of the last century in Lugansk. Almost everyone saw it - it is this car that takes away Nina from Shurik at the end of the “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, and almost the entire population of the former USSR and present-day Russia watched this film.


The history of the car began in 1963, when at the Severodonetsk car repair base, on behalf of the authorities, they began to manufacture a trailer with a fiberglass body. But the concept quickly changed and it was decided to create a "car of the future."

A design department was created at the base, and Y. Andros, an artist-designer by education, took up the design of the machine.

The appearance of the minibus turned out to be very unusual for the USSR, but if you look at American cars of the 60-70s. of the highest class, such as Cadillac, Pontiac, then the similarity will be undeniable. The hind wings are especially striking.


A layout was previously developed, after which the workers began to create the hull. They made it from fiberglass panels, special amplifiers were glued for the roof, windows, doorways.



The car presented at the State Committee for Automotive and Agricultural Engineering was highly appreciated. N.I. Stirokin, who was then the head of the committee, decided to produce a series of promising minibuses, ordering 50 sets of units from the Volga to be allocated. The first batch of cars was assembled in 1964.



Only a fiberglass hull was made on site. All the "stuffing" came from the "Volga", although the frame had to be significantly strengthened. The engine was moved back, so that part of it was in the cabin. But the designers skillfully beat the design feature, making a comfortable table. The standard cardan was too long and was shortened.

"Start" had rear-wheel drive. The dimensions of the car were 5500x1900x2000 mm, and the wheelbase was 2840 mm. In running order, the minibus weighed 1700 kg. The engine was installed on a ZMZ-21 with a power of 75 hp. and with a volume of 2445 cubic meters. cm.

The cost of the "Start" turned out to be very high according to Soviet realities - 9500 rubles, despite the fact that at the same time the price of the "Volga" was about 5000 rubles. It was a lot of manual labor - the car was assembled according to the "screwdriver" scheme. Nevertheless, organizations took it willingly, the minibus was not sold to private traders.

The allocated car kits quickly ran out, no one else allocated new ones. During 1964-1967. the car was assembled piece by piece by order of individual departments and organizations. Because of this, almost all released models had slight differences in design. Collected only about 100 units, the exact number is unknown.


Production was curtailed when, by decision of the Moscow authorities, "Start" was subjected to tests at the NAMI training ground in 1965. At the same time, several cars were tested in the capital of the USSR as fixed-route taxis.

It turned out that the only plus of the car is an unusual look. In all other respects, it lost to already existing models. The unusual case even worsened aerodynamics.

As a minibus "Start" was completely unusable. The increased load on the doors led to the fact that after a couple of months they began to literally fall off. Operation in the climatic conditions of Moscow showed that fiberglass does not withstand temperature extremes and begins to deform in 1-2 winters.

The serial production of minibuses was abandoned, from time to time the model was still occasionally assembled on separate orders, and after 1974 production completely ceased.

Taxi of the "future" VNIITE-PT

This car was developed in 1964 as a promising taxi. It was planned that he would replace the GAZ-21 in this capacity. Yuri Dolmatovsky was engaged in designing with a group of employees of the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics.


The car was assembled in a single copy, tested in Moscow. Passengers praised the novelty, especially young mothers liked it - it was easy to roll a stroller into the salon.

But VNIITE-PT did not go into the series, despite positive reviews. Most likely, there were no extra capacities at the existing plants, and the leadership of the USSR did not consider it possible to build new automobile plants for their own car. Indeed, all Soviet auto giants were created according to foreign models, with help from abroad and produced (at least initially) already models worked out in production.

And usually they were already rather outdated. But here, apparently, considerations of economy and running-in design played a role. Yes, and unspoiled Soviet buyers were often happy with any car that could be bought.

NAMI 0288 "Compact"

Agree - a number of foreign minivans are now offered in a very similar design. But this model was created in 1988. It was developed at the NAMI Institute and was called "Compact".


For the first time in the USSR, a car received a computer that monitored the operation and condition of the suspension. The developers took the engine from Tavria, but seriously upgraded it, so that fuel consumption became very economical - only 5,4 liters per 100 km. Moreover, it could work both on gasoline and on hydrogen, which, in the light of modern trends, looks literally prophetic.

Moskvich-2139 "Arbat"

Another minivan that still looks quite modern today, although it was created in the mid-1980s. That's what the Muscovites could be like.


The passenger car was planned as a replacement for the Moskvich-2140 model, which is already rather outdated and has lost a fair amount of attractiveness. "Arbat" was planned as the first minivan in the USSR.

He had a transformable interior, could serve as a family car, shuttle or cargo taxi. Among the features include plastic panels mounted on a steel body, a multifunctional steering wheel. The minivan promised to become a universal car, but never went into production. Honestly, it's a pity.