Manufacturer MZMA/AZLK
IZh Layout FR layout | Class Compact car | |
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Also called Moskvich 1500 (UK, 1974), Moskvitsh Elite 1500 M (Finland) Production 1967—1975 as "Moskvitch-412/427/434"
1967—1982 as "Izh-412"
1972—2001 as "Izh-2715" Body style 4-door sedan
3- and 5- door station wagon
3-door van
2-door pick-up | ||
The Moskvitch 412 (Moskvich 412, Москвич 412, M-412) was a small family car produced by Soviet/Russian manufacturer MZMA/AZLK in Moscow from 1967 to 1975, and by IZh in Izhevsk from 1967 to 1982 (also known as Izh-412). It was a more powerful and prestigious version of the M-408 model, offering more features to the driver for a higher price.
Contents
Design
The Moskvitch 412 was a derivate of Moskvitch 408, differing in more powerful 1.5 engine. The earliest engines for the M-412 were built in 1964. The Moskvitch-412 had a slanted (to a tilt of 20 degrees) inline-four engine with a block, head, and inlet manifold cast in aluminium alloy in order not to increase the weight of the engine and a hemispherical combustion chamber. Steel cylinder liners were replaceable to enable easy repair of the engine instead of having to replace it entirely. Since it was of an OHC design it was taller than the OHV MZMA-408 engine it replaced, which is why it was mounted at a slant. The UZAM-412 had a capacity of 1,478 cc (90.2 cu in) c.c. and developed 75 horsepowers. Its more powerful version, the Moskvitch-412-2V, had 100 h.p. and was installed on sports cars. The 1,478 cc (90.2 cu in) UZAM-412 engine, with a light alloy block, was designed by Igor I. Okunev. According to some observers, it bore some similarities to the contemporary BMW M 115 motor used in the BMW 1500 model, although in other ways they are different from each other. The similarity between the two engines is superficial and limited only to the tilt angle of the cylinder block and between the valves and the gear of the overhead camshaft. The gearbox inherited from the M-408 was improved, with the gearbox ratios being revised to make better use of the increased power output.
In 1969, both the M-412 and the related M-408 had their body redesigned. These were notable for being the first Moskvitch models to feature rectangular headlights and horizontal rear lights, which passed on to the 2138/2140 in 1976, replacing round headlights (two on ordinary models, four mainly on export models) and vertical rear lights. Only rear triangular turn signals remained on vestigial tailfins. Until then, the M-412 profited from heightened tailfins and tanned headlight lamps on export models. Another notable (but not unique, as it was used in other Russian cars at the time) feature were the so-called side signals, mounted on the C-pillars on some vehicles and similar to the American "opera lights". The car was upgraded with dual-circuit brake system, reinforced car-body structure, and passive safety features such as soft grip steering wheel cover, soft interior parts, seat belts, and padded dashboard. It was the first Moskvitch to pass safety features tests in France, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden in 1970—71, and in Western Germany in 1972. The modernized model, both for export and domestic market, received a factory code M-412IE (IE for "export rendition"), to mark, that it fulfils new safety requirements.
The M-412 was launched in the United Kingdom in 1969, when the first 20 dealerships were set up and some 300 cars were sold; its sales increased annually and peaked in 1973, when some 14,500 cars were exported through a 268-dealer network. However, soon afterwards they was pushed off the British market by the fellow Soviet brand Lada, down to only 3462 sales in 1973 and 344 in 1975, so that Moskvitch decided to withdraw from the United Kingdom. SATRA's 1974 rebranding it the Moskvitch 1500 did not change anything.
SATRA Motors entered M-412s in the Group One Production Saloon Car Championship in 1972 and 1973, where it easily beat "sharp-handling but underpowered" Hillman Imps and Austin Minis. It also placed 1-2-3 in the 1973 Avon Round Britain Rally and scored a class win in the South Africa Safari Rally the same year.
Moskvitch
Izh
Relationship to the M-408
The original M-412 of 1967-1969 had a chassis identical to that of the Moskvitch-408, which had been launched 3 years earlier in 1964. The only differences between the two models were the engines and the interior.
Here are the main differences between the Moskvitch-412 and the Moskvitch-408:
The differences between the 412/408 chassis:
Prototype variants
In 1970, Moskvitch built a prototype of the M-353, a restyled hatchback version of the M-412 that was larger but recognizably related. The M-355 of 1972 was larger still, with 23 cm (9.1 in) greater length, 14 cm (5.5 in) more wheelbase, and 8 cm (3.1 in) more width. This made both the interior and the boot noticeably larger. The M-355 was further developed into the M-356 between 1973–1975, with "much bolder front end styling", new suspension, and an enlarged 1,799 cc (109.8 cu in) version of the Moskvitch-DM with twin Zenith carburetors, giving 103 hp (77 kW; 104 PS), with a Borg-Warner transmission planned. None were built.