Familiar stranger: rare archival photos of the first “Tavria”, published in 1978

Rare archival photos of the first prototypes of the ZAZ-1102 Tavria appeared on the Internet. Hatchbacks were created in 1978, nine years after the start of production of a series model. This is reported by the Ampercar website.

The photo shows that the concept car ZAZ-1102 “Tavria” is slightly different from the production model. It has a curved hood and a distinctive front end with larger rectangular headlights inspired by the Vauxhall Chevette.

A tachometer was installed in the prototype cabin, which disappeared in the production model. The cars received a 1.1-liter 50-horsepower engine, which made it possible to accelerate to 135 km / h.

It should be noted that the successor of the Zaporozhets began to be designed in the mid-70s. Before the “Tavria” came the front-wheel drive sedan ZAZ-1102 “Perspective”. The car has been ready for production since 1976, but the authorities did not allow it to be released.

The development of the model continued, and in the late 70s it was transformed into the Tavria hatchback. A total of 11 such prototypes of the first series were produced, and in 1982 the car changed and got its usual familiar design.

But “Tavria” for a long time was not allowed to go on the conveyor. The fact is that the priority was a larger model with a similar layout – the VAZ-2108 hatchback: the ZAZ-1102 project was given the green light only after it went into production.

Previously Focus reported that the rarest electric car “Tavria” was discovered in Germany. Auto planned to manufacture and deliver to Europe.

We also wrote that in the USA they noticed an old “Zaporozhets” in excellent condition.