What they drove in the world's most closed country — the USSR: ZAZ-966 — the 'eared' Zaporozhets

Was the Zaporozhets a favorite for Soviet car enthusiasts? It's hard to say unequivocally. On the one hand, passenger cars were always in short supply in the USSR — and what could be bought in line* or inherited was cherished and tried to improve.

The ZAZ-966 began assembly at the Kommunar plant in 1966

In the first couple of years, it was equipped with an engine from the old '965', which was clearly lacking. Therefore, in 1968, the model received a new MeMZ-968 engine from the Melitopol plant. The shape of the air intakes quickly earned the ZAZ-966 the nickname 'eared' — and this nickname stuck. Later enthusiasts even found a photo of a German NSU Prinz, with which the Zaporozhets supposedly shared features.

In the photo, the NSU Prinz.

Many ZAZ-966 owners were secretly proud that their car had 'German roots'. But of course, they said with irony — well, ours is better! And rightly so: Soviet engineers didn't just replicate the German model, they seriously improved it — enhancing the suspension and handling. The assembly, however, was as expected, relying on the assembler's integrity.

It was precisely the quality of assembly that had the most nuances. Those who received the car in autumn were lucky — it was believed that cars were assembled particularly well at this time. Spring models also had a good reputation.

There was even a legend about the speedometer

The needle would start jumping when accelerating to 100 km/h, showing nonsense. In reality — just a defect in the cable from the gearbox. But nobody drove like that: they disassembled it, fixed it themselves, or took it to a mechanic. Although the ZAZ-966 looked modest externally, it drove lively, and the engine was as simple as a kettle.

The cooling system, by the way, worked well — up to 77°F in the summer, down to 14°F in the winter. In the heat, the engine compartment hatch was opened for ventilation, in the frost — on the contrary, it was insulated to start the car. But overall, these were small things — although in a huge country like the USSR, of course, there were complaints. Later, the system was improved on the MeMZ-968E engine.

Not everyone was thrilled

By the late 80s, when there was a shortage of gasoline, the ZAZ-966 was fueled with 'cocktails': a little normal gasoline was poured first — to start and warm up, then a homemade mixture of kerosene and diesel was added. The car lost power, smoked, but kept moving! After the trip, a little regular gasoline again — and it was turned off. No engine of any other Soviet car could do this.

The most problematic part was the gearbox. The gears themselves — reliable, but the adjustment left much to be desired. Everything had to be manually adjusted. Good transmission oils were also not available: Nigrol was used, or oil was taken from tractor drivers.

Four or five years later, the car tuning would begin

Seats were reinforced, upholstery changed. Popular Soviet magazines regularly published drawings and diagrams — those who could, did it themselves, those who couldn't — asked friends. A true people's refinement.

The same applied to the cooling system: air intakes were changed, covers made removable. In winter, the 'ears' were covered — to warm up faster and to prevent animals from climbing into the engine compartment for warmth.

Our expert conclusion: overall, the ZAZ-966 was like 'Lego' for adults: a car that needed attention and care. But with all this — it was appreciated and not criticized. Because it was a domestic car.