Project "1971 Soviet Aircooled ZAZ"

[Vlad_21]

Hi

I'm Vlad from Ukraine and my daily driver isn't enough. Today I want to share an exotic project for you, which is as closest to old VW as possible.

It is 1971 soviet-ukrainian ZAZ "Zaporozhets". It is the smallest and the cheapest car make in Soviet Union. Design was inspired by VW, NSU, FIAT (or maybe just copied). In stock, it has aircooled V4 in the rear, torsion in the front, 2 door body with lack of space, overheat, quality issues, PCD 4x256, etc. Anyway, it is simple, cheap and definitely has the style. Slightly changed it was produced until 1995.

But let's go back to our project.
I bought it in 2009. Body was repainted earlier, but was full of rust and scratches. I realized, that it is not the restoration project, because condition was too bad. Inspired by old school bugs we (together with my brother) decided to build some slammed rat. But no fake rust! Only original and historical injuries. We had 3 big stages in our project:

Stage 1 in 2012 ZAZ had stock body, cut springs and classic torsion adjuster in the font. It was low but not enough.

Stage 2 was a big step forward. My brother took the project in his hands. ZAZ received lifted bottom (1,5"), lifted engine and gearbox (3"), lifted suspension mounts. The body could lay on the ground. To manage the ride height, ZAZ had air suspension in the rear and custom front torsion, which can be easily adjusted from the trunk. Plus - bike patrol tank and custom interior. All work including welding and bags was done by my brother in the back yard. Car was on the wheels in 2015. Some old pics:

Custom torsion adjuster:
https://h-a.d-cd.net/faff8b4s-480.jpg

Some video including burnout:

Link



Stage 3. Brother couldn’t stop. ZAZ became full bagged: custom torsion was sold, single bag replaced it. Rear air sleeves were replaced by Rubena bags with changed mounts. To fit the new wheels on stock PCD 4x256 was «mission impossible». So we put Lada disk brakes and wheel hubs with PCD 4x100. To finish the look we fit Opel Manta steel wheels 13x6 with 135/70 tyres. As I think, these wheels look very similar to EMPI Sprint Stars and stock 914 Porsche wheels.

Now it looks like this:

Our blog with more photos: https://www.instagram.com/underthenutwood/
Plans: sell it or fit classic aircooled wheels.

So what do you think of it? How it looks? What wheels would be the best choice? Honestly, we need some feedback to move forward.

Thank you in advance

[gt1953]

I do enjoy the creativity aspect of what you have accomplished. The car sorta looks like a 3/4 scale 1960 Ford Falcon. As far as wheels, I am not that creative.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[KTPhil]

[gt1953]

And Ford took the Falcon base and made it a Mustang.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[mark tucker]

I saw one of those in a movie a few days ago!!! had the same thought about ford falcon lookalike. I think it was in like flint remake with army hammer and....crap.....some sweething...nice sweetthing... whistle britches I think was her name....

[Cali_Army_Guy]

Man that thing is cool looking. I'd daily that.
_________________
2015 VW Passat Wolfsburg Edition
1966 VW Beetle - Sold

[Komissar]

And it comes stock with a Porsche-style fan
_________________
1965 Sunroof Beetle
1972 Type 3 Squareback
1978 Skoda 105S

[mark tucker]

what a sweet promod that would make.

[cdennisg]

[Vlad_21]

Thank you everyone!

To speak about the roots: this is the second ZAZ model. The first is 965, also air cooled but much smaller. ZAZ 965 was based on FIAT 500/600. It had crazy overheat and critical lack of room inside. That’s why it was decided to build new model. Basic design source for new ZAZ 966 was Chevy Corvair. Construction began in 1961 and mass production started in 1967. Yes, side body panels look like 1962 Ford Falcon, some parts from NSU Prinz and torsion is 99% from Bug, also wheel hubs with PCD 4x256 have similar construction to Bug. It took 6 year to copy all from the rest automotive world. Maybe, because of the Soviet Moon program)))))).
Next image is for you to quickly understand how ZAZ is made:

The engine is 1.2 liter V4 which produces 40 hp. On earlier models it has 0,8 liter and 30 hp. As you mentioned, it has Porsche fan in stock)). It sounds great without exhaust. Something like Harley-Davidson. But it was too loud for us. Now our engine runs 2 separate mufflers – for left and for right cylinders. Also, we recycled stock centrifugal air filter (to dirty and complicated). Now we are looking for some good-looking air filter to fit.

The stock engine has some old-school charm. It has original sound – little from opposite, little form V8, smell of oil and petrol. It howls and farts – perfect noises for our slammed junky. By the way, all the mass production soviet cars (except trucks) run straight water cooled 4-cylinder engines with boring sounds. Swapping ZAZ engine, you kill some of its temper.

But, the idea to swap the engine always was strong for us. Easiest way is Lada engine (too easy and too small). Next solution - VW T3 bus gearbox and some 16-valve 4 cylinder engine. Last year we almost bought cheap 2.0 Volvo engine. But, let’s be honest – standard new-school straight water cooled engine will totally kill the temper of the car and the concept of our project.

New engine should be at least Subaru boxer with turbo. This sound is crazy. My daily-driver is non-turbo 2006 Subaru Legacy, and I always wonder about swapping this boxer to the old rusty ZAZ. In this case, I prefer mid-engine scheme. But the best choice is some other opposite 6-cylinder engine, which name is too obvious to say)))

But, let’s be honest once more again – will we race with this rusty low rider? Maybe, the maximum – is just the high revving at the parking lot. All we need is chilling and doing sparks.

[enjoyther1de]

I really really dig that thing. Goog job on the build.
_________________
HBB took me to BBV.

[camit34]

That thing is wild!
_________________
In search of a Vanagon
1971 Westy (SOLD)
1971 Deluxe (SOLD)
1967 Freedom Camper (SOLD)

[Patty B.]

That's pretty awesome!

[Vlad_21]

thank you
and some new photos

[awreed]

Awesome! Don't change a thing. I like the adjustable beam as well.