Moskvitch 412
Encyclopedia
The Moskvitch 412 also called 2140 in 1975 prior to discontinuation and 1500 SL outside USSR, is a small family car
produced by Soviet manufacturer MZMA/AZLK
from 1967 to 1976. It was also built as the Izh 412 by IZH
in Izhevsk
from 1967 to 1982 and replaced by the spun off Izh Comby
series thereafter. The 412, although featuring many flaws gradually fixed with its replacement, was one of the best known third generation Moskvitch
es and, until 1974, the best selling car in the history of AZLK.
Basically, Moskvitch 412 was an upgrade of the 408
model in terms of engine features, as much as the second generation M-403 was an upgrade of the 402/407. Falsely, both cars are often considered as one chain of succession, which is incorrect since the 412 was in planned development before the 408 production began, simply offering more features to the driver for more expenses. Unlike 407, the car was made affordable by the absence of concurrency in many Eastern Bloc
countries (besides its own relative, the 408).
The 1500 cc was a slant inline-4 engine
. Block, head and inlet manifold were aluminium castings. Steel cylinder liners were replaceable to enable easy repair of the engine instead of having to replace it entirely. The same engine was used on Moskvitch cars until the sixth generation (2142).
In 1969 both the 412 and the related 408 had their body and taillights redesigned. These were notable for being the first Moskvitch models to feature square headlights and vertical rear lights and triangular turn signals, which passed on to the 2138/2140
in 1976. Until then, the 412 profited from heightened tailfins and tanned headlight lamps on export models. Another notable (but not unique, since it was used in other Russian cars at the time) feature were the so-called side lamps, mounted on the C-pillars on some vehicles (something like the American "opera lights").
It was launched in the United Kingdom
in 1969, when the first 20 dealerships were set up and some 300 cars were sold; sales peaked in 1973 when some 14,500 cars were sold through a 268-dealer network. However, sales fell soon afterwards and Moskvich was withdrawn from the United Kingdom before the end of the 1970s
, by which time it had fallen behind fellow Soviet brand Lada
in the sales charts.
Outside USSR, the 412 received contradictory reviews. At the time, Soviet automotive industry was mainly focusing on powertrain and speed handling, overlooking such issues as design, seating comfort and safety. Therefore, M-412 was the first Moskvitch to pass safety features test in France
, Bulgaria
, Czechoslovakia
, Sweden
in 1970—71 and Germany
in 1972, which might have seemed standard for Western car brand-influenced Europe
, but was a considerable breakthrough for the Soviet engineers. The design features, however, would not be given consideration for Moskvitch as far as until its fourth generation, the Aleko
.
In 1975, it was planned to rename both M-408 and M-412 respectively as M-2138 and M-2140, primarily because AZLK was passing to 4-digit model codes, but also because of an earlier adaptation to the real M-2140, which entered in production starting 1976. Therefore, the only difference between this model and its successor, at the time, was the engine change.
identical to that of the Moskvitch 408
, which had been launched 3 years earlier in 1964. The only differences between 408 and 412 were the engines and the interior. This can be confusing, because there are no external differences between the two cars.
Here are the main differences between the Moskvitch 412 and the Moskvitch 408:
The differences between the 412 and the 408 chassis:
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
produced by Soviet manufacturer MZMA/AZLK
AZLK
AZLK was a Russian automobile factory , the maker of the Moskvitch brand....
from 1967 to 1976. It was also built as the Izh 412 by IZH
Izh
Izh may refer to one of the following.*Izh River , Udmurt Republic, Russia*Izh motorcycles from IzhMoto*izh, ISO 639-3 code for the Ingrian language...
in Izhevsk
Izhevsk
Izhevsk is the capital city of the Udmurt Republic, Russia, situated on the Izh River in the Western Urals. Population: From 1984 to 1987 Izhevsk carried the name Ustinov |Minister of Defense of the USSR]], Marshal of the Soviet Union, Dmitry Ustinov). The city is an important industrial center,...
from 1967 to 1982 and replaced by the spun off Izh Comby
Izh Comby
Izh 2125 "Comby" is a small family car produced by the Soviet automotive maker IZH from 1973 to 1997. It was based on an Izhevsk-modified Moskvitch 412, with the first prototype released in 1972 to meet small family needs...
series thereafter. The 412, although featuring many flaws gradually fixed with its replacement, was one of the best known third generation Moskvitch
Moskvitch
Moskvitch was an automobile brand from Russia produced by AZLK from 1945 to 1991 and by OAO Moskvitch from 1991 to 2002...
es and, until 1974, the best selling car in the history of AZLK.
Basically, Moskvitch 412 was an upgrade of the 408
Moskvitch 408
The Moskvitch-408 series is a small family car produced by the Soviet car manufacturer MZMA/AZLK between 1964 and 1976....
model in terms of engine features, as much as the second generation M-403 was an upgrade of the 402/407. Falsely, both cars are often considered as one chain of succession, which is incorrect since the 412 was in planned development before the 408 production began, simply offering more features to the driver for more expenses. Unlike 407, the car was made affordable by the absence of concurrency in many Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries (besides its own relative, the 408).
The 1500 cc was a slant inline-4 engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
. Block, head and inlet manifold were aluminium castings. Steel cylinder liners were replaceable to enable easy repair of the engine instead of having to replace it entirely. The same engine was used on Moskvitch cars until the sixth generation (2142).
In 1969 both the 412 and the related 408 had their body and taillights redesigned. These were notable for being the first Moskvitch models to feature square headlights and vertical rear lights and triangular turn signals, which passed on to the 2138/2140
Moskvitch 2140
Moskvitch 2140 series is a small family car produced by the Soviet automotive maker AZLK from 1976 to 1988. It started first as Moskvitch 2138 and Moskvitch 2140 with the modified 408 platform, designed and released for the Soviet market in late 1975...
in 1976. Until then, the 412 profited from heightened tailfins and tanned headlight lamps on export models. Another notable (but not unique, since it was used in other Russian cars at the time) feature were the so-called side lamps, mounted on the C-pillars on some vehicles (something like the American "opera lights").
It was launched in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1969, when the first 20 dealerships were set up and some 300 cars were sold; sales peaked in 1973 when some 14,500 cars were sold through a 268-dealer network. However, sales fell soon afterwards and Moskvich was withdrawn from the United Kingdom before the end of the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, by which time it had fallen behind fellow Soviet brand Lada
Lada
Lada is a trademark of AvtoVAZ, a Russian car manufacturer in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast. All AvtoVAZ vehicles are currently sold under the Lada brand, though this was not always so; Lada was originally AvtoVAZ's export brand for models it sold under the Zhiguli name in the domestic Soviet market...
in the sales charts.
Outside USSR, the 412 received contradictory reviews. At the time, Soviet automotive industry was mainly focusing on powertrain and speed handling, overlooking such issues as design, seating comfort and safety. Therefore, M-412 was the first Moskvitch to pass safety features test in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 1970—71 and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1972, which might have seemed standard for Western car brand-influenced Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, but was a considerable breakthrough for the Soviet engineers. The design features, however, would not be given consideration for Moskvitch as far as until its fourth generation, the Aleko
Aleko
The Moskvitch 2141, commonly referred to as simply Aleko , is a Russian small class, third group hatchback car that was first announced in 1985 and...
.
In 1975, it was planned to rename both M-408 and M-412 respectively as M-2138 and M-2140, primarily because AZLK was passing to 4-digit model codes, but also because of an earlier adaptation to the real M-2140, which entered in production starting 1976. Therefore, the only difference between this model and its successor, at the time, was the engine change.
Moskvitch
- M—412 was the base sedan model that underwent various adaptations with letters such as "E", "I", "U", "P", etc. added after its numbers. Letters usually meant the class of the vehicle (as in luxury residential, commercial, governmental, sports, export, and so on) instead of precising words used on earlier models.
- М—427, a station wagon on the same base, produced from 1969, replacing the M-426 wagon. AZLK stopped making these in 1976, however, IZH continued with production for up to 1982. Starting 1971, the base of this model served to create the Izh-2125 hatchbackHatchbackA Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
(see below). - M—434, which was the unibody panel vanPanel vanA panel van is a form of solid van, smaller than a lorry or truck, without rear side windows...
variant that succeeded the 433 straight from 1967 to 1973 (thereafter it was replaced by the Izh-2715 that increased in popularity by that time). Both this model and M-427 kept their rear light tailfin design until 1982, and passed it on to M-2137 variants from 1975.
Izh
- Izh—412 — practically similar to M-412, with slight changes in the frontal grille (featuring design elements from earlier M-408). Since IZH stopped delivering the Izh-408s in 1967, last production Izh-408 lines were also named "Izh-412" for convenience.
- Izh—427 was a calque of the M-427, with no other changes beside the company logo. The car, however, entered in production only in 1971 because of the abundance in Moskvitch variants.
- Izh—2125 — surnamed "KombiIzh CombyIzh 2125 "Comby" is a small family car produced by the Soviet automotive maker IZH from 1973 to 1997. It was based on an Izhevsk-modified Moskvitch 412, with the first prototype released in 1972 to meet small family needs...
", was the first Soviet hatchback series produced from 1973 to 1982, before receiving the Moskvitch 2140 platform as Izh-21251. It was then kept in production until 1997. - Izh—2715 was IZH's panel van variant, also produced from 1973 and commonly referred to as a "covered pick-up". Izh kept this variant starting 1982 and stylistically improved it, maximally approaching the Kombi.
Relationship to M-408
The original 412 of 1967-69 had a chassisChassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
identical to that of the Moskvitch 408
Moskvitch 408
The Moskvitch-408 series is a small family car produced by the Soviet car manufacturer MZMA/AZLK between 1964 and 1976....
, which had been launched 3 years earlier in 1964. The only differences between 408 and 412 were the engines and the interior. This can be confusing, because there are no external differences between the two cars.
Here are the main differences between the Moskvitch 412 and the Moskvitch 408:
| Moskvitch 412 | Moskvitch 408 | |
|---|---|---|
| Production | 1967–1976 | 1964–1976 |
| Engine model | 412 | 408 |
| Chassis | 408 (1967–1969); 412 (1969–1976) | 408 (1964–1969); 412 (1969–1970) |
| Successor | Moskvitch 2140 | Moskvitch 2138 |
The differences between the 412 and the 408 chassis:
| 412 | 408 | |
|---|---|---|
| Production | 1967–1976 | 1964–1976 |
| Features | Square headlights; horizontal rear lights; triangular rear turn signal markers; separated front seats; floor mounted gearshift lever (except for the 408 which had column-mounted shifter until 1973). | 2 or 4 (twin) round headlights; vertical rear lights; front bench seat (until 1968); column mounted gearshift lever (on the 408 until 1973, on the 412 until the fall of 1968). |
UZAM-412 1500 vs. BMW M115 1500
| Engine | First year of production | Volume, cc | Max HP | Max torque, N*m | Block material | Head material | Type | Carburetor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMW M115 (1500) | 1961 | 1499 | 75 at 5500 rpm | 118 at 3000 rpm | Iron | Aluminium | SOHC, propelled by chain, valves had V-layout | Solex 34 PICB - 2bbl |
| UZAM-412 (1500) | 1967 | 1480 | 75 at 5800 rpm | 108 at 3400-3800 rpm | Aluminium with replaceable iron wetliners | Aluminium | SOHC, propelled by chain, valves had V-layout | LenKarz K-126N - 2bbl |