Car "invalid": years of production of cars, technical characteristics, device, power and features of operation

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Serpukhov Automobile Plant in 1970, to replace the S-ZAM motorized carriage, produced a four-wheeled two-seater SMZ-SZD. "Invalid" such cars were popularly called because of the distribution through the social security agencies among the disabled of various categories with full or partial payment.

Sobes issued motorized carriages for a period of five years. Free repair of the Soviet car "invalidka" was carried out after two and a half years of operation. The owner used the motorized stroller for another two and a half years, after which he handed it back to the social security and received a new one. Not all disabled people who received such vehicles used them in the future.

Social security organized wheelchair training for people with disabilities, which required an "A" driver's license.

History of Creation

SerpukhovFrom 1952 to 1958, the automobile plant produced the S-1L three-wheeled motorized carriage, which at the time of development was marked as SZL. It was replaced by the famous "morgunovka" - a SZA model with a tarpaulin top and an open body, featuring a four-wheel design.

SZA in many ways did not meet the requirements for cars of this type. This was the reason for the development of a new generation of cars, which started in the sixties, together with specialists from MZMA, NAMI and ZIL. The created prototype "Sputnik", which received the index SMZ-NAMI-086, was never put into mass production, and the car plant in Serpukhov continued to produce a four-wheeled "blinker".

The design department of SMZ began developing a new generation of motorized strollers only in the early seventies and launched the created car into mass production under the index SMZ-SZD.

The main units, assemblies and components of motorized carriages during the Soviet era were widely used for the hand-made manufacture of vehicles due to their ease of maintenance, availability and sufficient reliability. Descriptions and design features of such homemade products were widely published in the magazines "Technology of Youth" and "Modeler-Constructor". Social Security authorities often transferred decommissioned SMZ-S3D "invalid" models to the Young Technician Stations and the Pioneer Houses, where they were used for similar purposes and made it possible for the younger generation to study the automotive industry.

Specifications

The car "invalid" from the USSR was equipped with a rear-wheel drive, a double saloon, a two-door coupe body, a three-spoke steering wheel with paddle shifters, a rear engine. Despite the criteria typical for sports cars, the brainchild of a conscientious car industry looks very different. A photo of a "disabled woman" can drive one into a stupor, but such a miracle of design thought has been produced for 27 years. In the period from 1970 to 1997, over 223 thousand cars rolled off the conveyors of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant.

The body of the motorized carriage was assembled from stamped components. With a length of 2825 millimeters, the disabled car had an impressive weight - 498 kilograms, which, in comparison with the same Oka, for example, was quite a lot: a four-seater car weighed 620 kilograms.

Engine range

For the first few years of mass production, the motorized stroller was equipped with a single-cylinder 350 cc engine with 12 horsepower, borrowed from the IZH-Planet 2 motorcycle. A little later, a disabled car from the USSR began to be equipped with a 14-horsepower engine from IZH-Planet 3. Considering the increased operational loads, the engineers decided to deforce the engines in order to increase their working life and elasticity. The power plant was supplemented by a forced air cooling system that drives air through the cylinders. The consumption of a combustible mixture in a compact "invalid" FDD was rather big: per 100 kilometersconsumed 7 liters of oil-gasoline mixture. The volume of the fuel tank was 18 liters, and such appetites did not revolt the owners only due to the low cost of fuel in those years.

Chassis

Paired with the engine from the "invalid" was a four-speed manual transmission with a typical motorcycle gearshift algorithm: the neutral was located between the first and second stages, and the gears were sequential. The reverse gear of the car was carried out thanks to the reverse gear, activated by a separate lever.

Car suspension "invalid" independent, torsion type, front with a double-lever design, rear - with one lever. 10-inch wheels are equipped with steel collapsible discs. The brake system is represented by drum mechanisms and a hydraulic drive connected to a hand lever.

The manufacturer indicated a maximum speed of 60 km / h, but in practice the motorized carriage could only be accelerated to 30-40 km / h. The motorcycle engine installed on the disabled woman mercilessly smoked and was too loud, thanks to which it was possible to hear the motorized carriage a few minutes before it appeared in the field of view. It is difficult to call a comfortable ride on such a car, but it can still be found on the roads in villages and provincial cities.

Myths and facts about the Soviet "disabled woman"

The tiny car, the rumble of which could be heard in various parts of the country at the end of the last century, attracteda lot of attention and was nicknamed "invalid". Despite the more than modest dimensions and unusual appearance, reflected in numerous photos, the "invalid" performed an important task, being a special vehicle designed for the movement of people with disabilities.

Perhaps, it was this feature that caused the fact that ordinary motorists did not have a proper idea about the technical component of a motorized carriage. In this regard, ordinary citizens were greatly mistaken about the "invalid" car, which served as excellent soil for the emergence of a large number of myths that run counter to existing facts.

Myth: SMZ-SZD is an upgraded version of the blinker

Most of the cars produced during the Soviet era had an evolutionary development: for example, the VAZ-2106 was transformed from the VAZ-2103, and the "fortieth" Moskvich was developed on the basis of the AZLK M-412.

The essential difference between the third generation of the motorized carriage of the authorship of the Serpukhov plant was that it was created, in fact, on the basis of a new engine from the Izhevsk machine-building plant, and received an all-metal body of a closed type, despite the fact that at the first stages of the project as a material fiberglass was offered. In both the rear and front suspension, trailing arm torsion bars have replaced classic springs.

With the previous model, the "disabled" car is united only by the concept of a four-wheeled double motorized carriage, in all other respectsSMZ-SZD is a completely independent design.

That is why the SMZ-S3D should be considered an independent design, which is united with its predecessor only by the concept - a two-seater four-wheeled motorized carriage.

Myth: The SMZ-FDD was too primitive for its time

For most motorists, the "invalid" was too wretched and backward car. Both its technical component - a two-stroke single-cylinder engine, and its appearance with flat windows, a simple but functional exterior and a complete lack of interior as such (the latter, by the way, is reflected in numerous photos) did not allow to treat a motorized stroller as a modern vehicle. The car "invalid", however, in many design solutions and unique characteristics was quite progressive and to some extent innovative vehicle.

By the standards of its time, the plane-parallel design used in the SMZ-SZD was very relevant. The car was equipped with independent suspension, transverse engine, rack-and-pinion steering combined with independent front suspension, cable-operated clutch, hydraulic brake system, automotive optics and 12-volt electrical equipment, which was quite good for a sidecar.

Fact: The motorcycle engine was not powerful enough

Soviet motorists were very skeptical, and sometimes completely negative about the motorized carriage,significantly slowing down the flow of cars.

The IZH-P2 engine, derated to 12 horsepower, was not enough for a car weighing almost 500 kilograms, which affected the dynamic performance of the car. For this reason, since the autumn of 1971, "invalids" began to be equipped with a more powerful version of the power unit, which received the IZH-P3 index. However, the installation of a 14-horsepower engine did not solve the problem: the updated motorized stroller was too loud, while remaining extremely slow. The maximum speed of a car with a ten-kilogram load and two passengers was only 55 km / h, and the acceleration dynamics was frankly bad. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not consider the option of installing a more powerful engine on the disabled car.

Myth: every wheelchair was issued to every disabled person indefinitely and free of charge

The cost of SMZ-SZD at the end of the eighties was 1,100 rubles. Social security agencies distributed motorized wheelchairs to people with disabilities, and offered the option of both full and partial payment. The car was issued free of charge only to disabled people of the first group: veterans of the Great Patriotic War, people who received a disability while serving in the Armed Forces or at work. For disabled people of the third group, a motorized stroller was offered at a price of approximately 220 rubles, but it was required to stand in line for five to seven years.

The conditions for issuing a car "invalid" assumed a five-year use and disposableoverhaul after two and a half years from the date of receipt of the transport. A disabled person could receive a new copy only after the previous model was handed over to the Social Security authorities. But this is in theory, but in practice it turned out that some disabled people could operate several cars in a row. There were cases when the received "disabled woman" was not used for all five years due to the lack of need for it, however, people did not refuse such gifts from the state.

In the driver's license of a person with disabilities who drove a car before becoming disabled, all categories were crossed out and the mark "motorcycle" was put. For disabled people who did not previously have a driver's license, special courses were organized to teach how to drive a motorized wheelchair. Upon completion of training, they were issued a special certificate of a special category, which allowed only a "disabled" to drive a car. It is worth noting that such transport was not stopped by traffic police officers to check documents.

Both a fact and a myth: in winter, the operation of a motorized carriage was impossible

The lack of a heating system familiar to all motorists in the SMZ-SZD was due to the installed motorcycle engine. Despite this, the car was equipped with an autonomous gasoline heater, which was typical for cars equipped with air-cooled engines. The heater was quite capricious and demanding to maintain, however, it allowed the car interior to warm up toacceptable temperature.

The lack of a standard heating system was more of an advantage for the "disabled" than a disadvantage, since it saved the owners from the daily need to change the water, since in the seventies of the last century, rare owners of the Zhiguli used antifreeze, while all the rest vehicles used ordinary water, which froze at low temperatures.

In theory, the disabled car was much better suited for operation in the winter season than the same Volga or Moskvich, since its engine started easily, but in practice it turned out that instantly freezing was formed inside the diaphragm fuel pump condensate, due to which the engine refused to start and stalled on the go. For this reason, during the cold season, most people with disabilities did not operate the SMZ-FDD.

Fact: the motorized stroller was the most massive model of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant

The pace of production at the automobile plant in Serpukhov in the seventies began to actively increase in order to improve quantitative indicators and exceed the plan, which at that time was very typical for all Soviet factories. For this reason, the plant in the shortest possible time reached a new level with the annual production of more than ten thousand motorized strollers. During the peak period, which fell in the mid-seventies, more than 20 thousand "invalid" were produced per year. For the entire period of production - from 1970 to1997 - more than 230 thousand SMZ-SZD and its modification SMZ-SZE, designed for people driving a car with one hand and one foot, left the conveyor of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant.

On the territory of the CIS countries, neither before nor after, not a single car for people with disabilities was produced in such quantities. A compact, unusual and rather funny car from Serpukhov was able to give thousands of disabled people freedom of movement.