"Moskvich-2141" (AZLK): description, specifications and reviews

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

By the mid-80s, the AZLK plant produced rear-wheel drive cars, the design of which did not differ much from the Moskvich 412, developed 20 years ago. Production and export volumes fell steadily despite cosmetic updates and the release of a "luxury" version. The plant, until recently the leader of the automotive industry in the USSR, was turning into an outright outsider. The company urgently needed a modern and promising car. AZLK 2141 became such a design.

Creating a new machine

It is worth noting that the development of promising AZLK models began immediately after the creation of the 412th Moskvich. In the 70s, several experimental rear-wheel drive cars were created, but for a number of reasons they did not reach the assembly line.

Toward the end of the 70s, at the level of the ministry, it was decided to mass-produce front-wheel drive on all promising models. Since the plant had neither deadlines nor experience in creating cars with front-wheel drive, thenwhen creating a new model, designers widely used the experience of foreign automakers.

One of the borrowed solutions was the layout of the AZLK 2141. The design of the machine provided for a longitudinally mounted engine, following the example of Volkswagen products. This solution ensured good loading of the drive wheels and the ability to accommodate various power units.

Engine problems

As mentioned above, the timing of the creation of the new model "Moskvich" AZLK 2141 was extremely tight. To speed up the release of the car, the designers took an unpopular step - they used the UZAM engine from the previous model as a power unit. The clutch and elements of the brake system were left unchanged.

From the very beginning it was clear to everyone that a 72-horsepower engine is not suitable for a fairly heavy car. Therefore, the search for an alternative engine option for AZLK 2141 began. One of the main conditions for the choice was an established mass production. Under such conditions, the only relatively suitable engine was the Togliatti 76-horsepower VAZ 2106.

Since VAZ was not able to provide engines for the entire production program of AZLK 2141, both types of engines were used on production cars. Cars of the first year of production were equipped exclusively with VAZ engines.

In parallel, work was underway to boost the UZAM power unit. In the course of work, the Ufa plant encountered huge technological difficulties. On themotor UZAM 331, designed for the car AZLK 2141, managed to introduce only a new block head and a modified intake manifold.

To solve problems with engines, the AZLK plant began building its own engine production. It was supposed to produce two engines of a new family with a working volume of 1.8-1.9 liters - a 95-horsepower gasoline and a 65-horsepower diesel. This plant was not completed, so almost all AZLK 2141s produced were equipped with low-power engines.

First serial

Despite all the difficulties, the new car went into production from mid-February 1986. For almost two years, there was a parallel release of the old and new models, and only in the summer of 1988 was the last Moskvich with rear-wheel drive assembled. The first 245 production cars were distributed among AZLK employees and veterans of the Great Patriotic War.

The new car had many unusual solutions for AZLK - front-wheel drive, a five-speed gearbox, a combination of instruments with a tachometer, plastic voluminous bumpers and much more. In different years, instrument clusters from different manufacturers were installed on AZLK 2141, but they were all covered with curved glass that did not give glare.

The spare wheel was taken out of the luggage compartment under the bottom into the rear overhang of the car, which made it possible to level the floor of the trunk. There was a big minus in this decision - it was possible to remove the wheel from its place only while kneeling.

The car was positioned as an intermediate between productsVAZ and GAZ, so the price of AZLK 2141 in the basic version was 8500 rubles. In the "luxury" version (which already cost about 9,600 rubles), a standard radio and a "wiper" on the rear window were installed on the car.

Differences of early cars

The very first AZLK 2141 had repeaters in front of the wings, closer to the headlights. This headlight design was also a novelty for AZLK.

The trim parts were multi-colored due to the difficulties in mastering the production of plastics. VAZ had exactly the same problems in the production of early cars with front-wheel drive VAZ 2108/09. Many elements of the early trim differed in the number and location of attachment points.

Early cars were equipped with a trunk light and a regular pump mount on the skin, then the installation of these parts was gradually abandoned. There were no seat belts in the rear seats, although there were points for installing them.

Plastic was used in the design of many components of the early AZLK 2141. A fuel tank and radiator structural elements were made from it. Subsequently, these parts began to be made of metal.

Modifications

Initially, the project of the AZLK car with front-wheel drive provided for the creation of different versions of the car. Some of these variants were produced in small series.

The AZLK 2141 pickup truck was supposed to enter the assembly line five years after the launch of the base model, but in fact this happened only at the end of 1993. But the first pickup trucks appeared already in 1986-1887, these cars were made from defective bodies andused inside the factory. But some of these machines were later bought by employees. The “official” Moskvich 2335 pickup truck with a rear spring suspension from the 2140 model was produced in small batches.

In addition, in 1990, several cars with a sedan body were assembled under the designation AZLK 2142. This car entered the series only in 1998 in an elongated form under the name "Prince Vladimir" and became one of the symbols of the death of the plant.

Entering the export market

In the 60s, AZLK (the plant then bore the name MZMA) actively exported its products. In some years, the share of exports reached 65-67 percent. This was followed by a sharp decline associated with the rapid obsolescence of manufactured products.

According to the plan of the developers, the Moskvich AZLK 2141 was supposed to return part of the lost market. But problems with the engine did not allow the new car to immediately enter the foreign market. It was only in 1990 that a version for export abroad was created.

Since serial gasoline engines did not meet the tightened requirements for exhaust toxicity, the car was equipped with a four-cylinder diesel engine. The export version with a 60-horsepower Ford HLD418 diesel engine received an internal factory index of 2141-135. The initial contract between the AZLK plant and the European branch of the Ford company provided for the supply of 20,000 of these engines.

Cars began to be delivered to Europe in 1992 under the trademark "Lada Aleko". The name "Lada" was used for marketing reasons, since this brand of cars from the USSR was well knownin the European market.

Deutsche Lada, a subsidiary of the Volga Automobile Plant, was engaged in the implementation. But the name did not help the car gain popularity - in just a year no more than 400 cars were sold. Already in 1995, sales of cars abroad were stopped, and the remaining diesel AZLK 2141 were sold on the domestic market. Such cars had the inscriptions Aleko and Diesel on the trunk lid and an instrument cluster with a built-in gear indicator.

Problems with sales

The production of AZLK 2141 in the first years of production, despite criticism from buyers, only increased. Many buyers chose AZLK 2141 because of the universal body with a large trunk. Production peaked in 1991, when almost 105 thousand cars were assembled.

Before the plant, there were wide prospects for expanding the model range, since the platform of the machine initially provided for the possibility of using various bodies. But the low quality of products and the growing problems with the supply of components led to an outflow of potential buyers. The growing import of second-hand foreign cars, which successfully competed with new domestically produced cars, also played a role.

Customers criticized trim elements that had poor fit and creaked in motion. Major complaints were caused by the UZAM engine, which was equipped with most of the produced cars. Due to the high compression ratio, the motor was prone to detonation. The distributor, located low to the ground, was easily flooded with water, which caused failures.ignition systems AZLK 2141.

Belated new motors

By 1994, the Ufa plant was able to re-equip its production with modernized equipment and start producing engines with an increased displacement. The AZLK plant began to complete its products with the UZAM 3317 engine with a working volume of 1.7 liters and UZAM 3313 with a volume of 1.8 liters. The new motors have significantly improved the operational and dynamic data of the machine.

But the engines appeared too late and could not affect the sales of AZLK 2141. By the beginning of 1996, the plant was mired in debt, thousands of incomplete cars stood on the sites. The supply of spare parts for AZLK 2141 also became unstable. All these factors led to the first complete production shutdown in February 1996.

Last 2141

A year later, production was resumed, modernized cars under the name "Moskvich Svyatogor" went into production. This machine had a lot of different versions and deserves a separate story. One thing can be said - they could not save the Svyatogor plant and the machines based on it, they only postponed its death by five years.

The number of imported components has increased in new cars. This made it possible to improve the consumer characteristics of the machines, but during the crisis in August 1998, the plant suffered huge losses. The economic situation at the plant has always been difficult, and this blow was fatal. At the end of 2001, the main AZLK conveyor stopped for the second and last time.