27 breakdowns of the new Moskvich – an honest test “Behind the wheel” in 1957

We continue the material cycle dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the magazine “Za Rulem”.

Secret trial

The first car of the new thaw era was Moskvich-402, production of which began in 1956. Special attention was paid to the car. After all, Moskvich was specifically aimed at private buyers – motorists.

In addition, the car was strikingly different from its predecessor, the Moskvich-401, which had a pedigree of the German Opel Kadett from 1938.

Moskvich-402 received a completely new body and interior. Engine power with a working volume of 1.2 liters increased almost one and a half times – up to 35 horsepower.

Employees of “Behind the wheel” were very eager to try the novelty in action. But where can I get it? There were no dealer test cars. And our colleagues from the 1950s just wouldn’t understand the phrase “press park.”

Helped the reader – the owner of a fresh Moskvich, released less than six months ago – in June 1956. For two days he gave the “pen sharks” a personal car to be “torn to pieces.”

Correct, provided his name is not mentioned in the magazine. The Moscow-Minsk highway and the roads adjacent to it were chosen as a two-day test route.

10 days and 27 failures

The new car already had a story. Probably, the owner was close to MZMA, since an article about his car had already appeared in the factory newspaper.

It was about the fact that in the first ten days of owning a car, he had … 27 breakdowns! The plant seems to have taken away all complaints.

That rust has already appeared on the chrome parts, the journalists immediately noticed. The owner said that she appeared literally in the first month.

But the testers were waiting for a lot of interesting things.

Watch and oil seal

Journalists constantly (albeit in absentia) compared the 402nd with the well-known Moskvich-401. Compared to him, the new car was radically different in a comfortable fit (as they would say now – ergonomics). Visibility was also much better than that of the 401st and Pobeda.

I really liked the suspension, especially on a country road, where we left the highway already past Smolensk. True, despite a slight build-up, the body creaked and creaked with everything possible.

I also liked what would now be called a complete set. Indeed, in the 402nd there was even a radio. And the journalists were so pleased with this that they were ironic about the lack of watches. They joked that the owner of the Moskvich is so glad he doesn’t look at the clock!

The testers separately praised the folding seats. In an era of rapid growth in interest in motor tourism, this was considered a very important advantage of the automobile. By the way, not only in the USSR.

But soon the travelers had much more prosaic concerns. For example, a half shaft oil seal leaked. In addition, smears even leaked to the outer part of the disc. “Not the first time,” says the experienced owner.

Dust persistently entered the cabin, and then rain streams. After looking closely, we found that from the back seat of the car, through the gap between the body and the doors, the sky was visible.

On the way it turned out that Moskvich leads to the right when braking. However, according to the ideas of Soviet motorists of those years, it was acceptable.

Records and failures

Journalists were shocked by the dynamics of Moskvich-402. On an empty highway in Minsk, the car scored 110 km/h on the speedometer with an official maximum speed of 105 km/h. At the same time, the car was well on the road and did not suffer from vibrations, such as the Moskvich-401, which is well known to the employees of Behind the Wheel.

But soon the testers’ joy was overshadowed by traction failures due to the unstable operation of the carburetor. Lenkarz’s carburetor plant, unable to recall the device, was run separately in the article.

Then the wiper blades stopped working. Of course, during heavy rain! It was not possible to repair the disk on site. We drove on and moved the brushes manually.

Epilogue with prologue

“… the many advantages of the Moskvich cannot overshadow the shortcomings found in it. The Moscow small car plant should drastically improve its work, ”the authors wrote at the end of the article, which grew into two spring 1957 issues.

The first Muscovites-402 were far from perfect, to say the least. Soon the quality was noticeably improved, and the Muscovites successfully went to export.

Despite the fact that the magazine was part of the DOSAAF system and a retired military man was in charge of “Behind the Wheel”, despite the official ideology and party control, the journalists described the car and all its shortcomings honestly, and in some places even corrosive. So, in 1957, the test standard “Behind the wheel” was established. And this genre is just beginning!

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