Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS ZAZ 965: AUTHORS OF REBORN AND ZAZ
If we ask any motor enthusiast what their favorite cars are, they are almost always going to move in a fork where unattainable myths such as the Countach and popular icons such as the Beetle, the 2CV or the 600 appear. We tend to remember the extremes: what always seemed special to us together with the devices that were part of the daily decoration of our lives. Perhaps that is why the updates of those popular classics have been a resounding sales success in recent years.
From the Mini made under the tutelage of BMW to the rejuvenated FIAT 500 - through the New Beetle- pull nostalgia and charm "oldies" it delights the accounting departments of the main brands. However ... Russia is a world apart. With its continental proportions, its extreme winter climate and its rugged geography, in addition to its communist past, this country has impressed on its cars the toughness and simplicity necessary to survive in such an environment.
That is why in the history of the Russian automobile there are few occasions for the beauty of the bodies or the sophistication of the mechanics. There the motto "less is more" that characterizes extreme practicality becomes canon making the beautiful and advanced the reliable and, in case of damage, the easy to fix.
For all this - and unlike the aforementioned models - a company has not been in charge of resuscitating the popular AZ 965, but some enthusiastic individuals capable of creating their particular reinterpretation of the Russian classic on the chassis of a New Beetle. It is not entirely faithful to the original, but it must be recognized that it has its charm, and it also helps us to tell you the story of the ZAZ 😉
ZAZ 965: THE PEOPLE'S CAR IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SOVIETS
All countries have a car that is the symbol of the motorization of their popular classes; in France they have the 2CV, in Germany the Beetle, in England the Mini, in Spain the 600 and in Russia ... In the Soviet Union they had the ZAZ 965. A small urban utility that was inspired by the FIAT 600. However, the ZAZ acquired a personality of its own by creating itself with Russian needs in mind.
After several tests with different engines, including a Ural twin that only endured 30.000 kilometers in the tests and a finally discarded boxer inspired by the mechanics of the VW Beetle ... 1960 was the year in which the popular mount was presented to the Soviet people.
Produced in Ukraine, the ZAZ 965 was fitted with a propeller 4cc 746hp air-cooled V23, enough to motorize the little more than 600 kilos that the car delivered on the scale. In addition, it was equipped with independent suspension with torsion bars, which did not prevent a high center of gravity from wreaking havoc when cornering.
With all this, the 965 emerged as a simple car, easy to repair, very cheap, durable and adapted to rural areas where driving on asphalt would alternate with overland routes in which the suspensions and wheels with greater wingspan than those mounted by the Mediterranean were appreciated 600.
Thanks to its cheap cost - it was even said that it was the "Retiree car" because even with a simple state pension you could afford it - the ZAZ 965 sold like hotcakes. Its small engine was also said to be the starter for Red Army tanks. It was the car of choice for the Soviets until… 1969 saw the end of its production in favor of its somewhat larger but equally basic successors.
49 YEARS LATER, SOME ENTHUSIASTS OF THE FIBERGLASS ARRIVED
As you have seen, the ZAZ 965 more than fulfilled the mission for which it was created and that is why it was recorded in the collective subconscious of the Russians. It was a matter of time before at one point or another someone paid him homage in the form of a contemporary interpretation. And no, we are not talking about doing extreme modifications on some 965, but to design a current car with a clear nod to the past.
Well, more or less is what we can see in this unique model with which several ZAZ enthusiasts - and fiberglass - have taken a VW New Beetle as a basis to mount a bodywork on it that, even completely changing the original proportions and volumes, takes his master lines to port them on the current German.
And the penalty is that: that it remains in the bodywork instead of having redesigned the whole car with mechanics and suspensions that pay tribute to that pioneer «SUVSoviet ”.
Anyway, it is already a giant step considering that what we see is the fruit of some small bodybuilders, which We hope it will inspire some of the current Russian manufacturers to be encouraged to rescue the spirit of that ZAZ 965. And well, if by the way someone dares to resurrect the curious East German Trabant, or the Serbian Zastava, or the Czech Skoda 110, or the Gaz Volga ... We are delighted.
