Moskvich 402 - Soviet subcompact of the fifties

After the war, five years passed, the country's leadership declared a continuous and progressive increase in the well-being of the population, and what a prosperity without a personal car ...

The Stalin Politburo made a decision to launch the production of lekushek - beautiful, modern, comfortable and very high-quality, affordable, in exchange for the obsolete 400th Muscovites copied from the Opel of the 30s.

The deadline for the development of technical documentation was minimal. The country was working on depreciation, restoring the war-torn economy, so everything had to be done quickly. And for the late performance ... Even to think it's scary that it was waiting for those who were late.

By the summer of 1951, Moskvich 402-425 had rolled out of the assembly line of the Moscow factory of small cars . The first three digits - the model number of the engine, the following meant a completely new index for our automotive body index - a sedan, the Ford Consul type, produced at the factory of the British branch of an American firm.

Soviet engineers at this time could not be reproached for direct copying - the machine turned out to be its own, domestic, it was simply performed using the experience accumulated by the world industry, albeit with due regard for the harsh realities of a very modest budget. So, the engine was left the same, with the lower valve arrangement. Then it did not matter, the USSR was in an international isolation, no one thought about the export potential of the new car. The rear axle and gearbox also inherited from the 400 series.

Tests and debugging were carried out almost four years, in 1955 a new passenger car was decorated with VDNKh, mass production began a year later. Stalin's idea of a national car found support from NS. Khrushchev.

Moskvich 402, the photo is confirmed, it looked quite seriously at that time, it sparkled with chrome overlays, was capacious (ahead of the driver and passenger, behind - three more), the glass curved and solid. Inside, too, everything was on the level - a stove, adjustable seats, blowing windows, radio, automatically turn-off indicators, in general, unparalleled comfort for the Soviet car. The doors were equipped with push-button locks, and the trunk and gas tank could be opened while sitting in the driver's seat.

The chassis was equipped with telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers, drum brakes with floating pads. In general, the Moskvich 402 corresponded to the then adopted standards for small cars. Power supply was made by twelve-volt, not 6V, as in previous models.

Specifications also pleased. The speed that Moskvich 402 could develop was 110 kilometers per hour, and it consumed only 9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. However, gasoline was cheap then, it cost less carbonated water.

This car was produced until 1958, before the appearance of the 407th model, outwardly almost the same, but with a top-hat engine.

In our time there are lovers, restoring Moskvich 402. Tuning, as a rule, is required deep, sometimes except for the body you have to change almost everything. However, there are also fans who are able to assemble such a car completely from authentic details.