Russian 1951 Moskvitch 400 Page 1 of 2

Mosvsky Zavod Malolitrazhnykh Avtomobiley -Moskow Small Car Factory

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My name is John Patrick McEnaney. I live in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. I have 70 years under my belt. I created this web page to show readers what a simple but utilitarian car this Russian Moskvitch is. The original design and manufacture was the two door German Opel Kadett. As war reparations, the Opel factory was brought by the Red Army to Moscow in 1945. The first Russian “Moskvitch” was manufactured in Moscow in 1947.
My four door sedan you see above, is a 1951 Moskvitch 400 manufactured in Moscow. I discovered it stored and locked in a basement garage of an apartment building in Tallinn, Estonia in 1994. It was purchased for $400 U.S. It was in good running condition.
After being re-upholstered it was shipped from Tallinn to Baltimore in 1995. It was in Alexandria, Virginia for 5 years. In 1998 it was painted its original factory color. In 2003 it came with me to O'Brien, Florida It won two classic car shows. In 2005 I brought it with me to Charleston, S.C.
In 2007 I began to rebuild it. I hope to have it completed this year. SEE PAGE 2 for pictures of the rebuild process.
I am going to Saransk, Russia in May to live with a Russian family for three months. Ever since I met my first Russian in 1994 I have wanted to speak the language and meet more of the people. This old car has been a positive influence on me in that respect. Only now do I have an opportunity to carry out my dream. So I began studying Russian in September 2009 at the College of Charleston and now have a sense of what I am reading. In the end it is progress, not perfection. The joy is in the journey.
Many rare photos of the Moskvich Factory in the late 1940‘s and fifties along with some data on how many of these cars were built are provided for your appreciation. Take a look. For any suggestions or comments, you have my E-mail address.

1949 Production Line

Original Interior

Still running in 2010

Sales Floor

1947

Time for......

The popularity of the Moskvich was evident. Here, these women are assembling Miniature Moskvich’s for kids Click on this pix to see more!

Pictures are original factory which has been abandoned. Click here to see what it looks like Today!

1950 Car Show

1949-Final inspection before leaving the factory. Click on the foto to see the original web page.

When these cars first made their appearance, they sold very well, in spite of the post war economy. MZMA simply could not manufacture enough of them.

1930 - 1941 there was the KIM factory in Moscow. It assembled Ford trucks and Gaz automobiles. This was the: Zavod imeni (Factory) KIM , KomIntern Molodyozhi (Kommunist International -Youth Moscow)

1940-41 the factory then produced 500 cars which were labeled KIM

1941 the factory was devoted to manufacturing war materials for aircraft.

1945-1950 the factory produced only 50 KIM cars.

1947 the KIM factory became the ZMA or ЗМА factory Zavod Malolitrazhnyh Avtomobilei (Factory for making of small cars)

1947 the ЗМА factory began manufacturing Moskvitch 400 formerly Opel Kadett.

KIM- 1930-1941

Moskvitch- 1946-1954

1956-1968 MZMA, Moskovskiy Zavod Malolitrazhnyh Avtomobilei.

1956-2009 ALKZ, Avtomobilny Zavod imeni Leninskogo Komsomola (Lenin Communist Youth League Automobile Factory)

1946-1954 Moskvitch. Overall production: 216006 sedans, 17742 cabriolets, 11129 wooden vans and 2562 commercial chassis for pickups.

Factory history timeline and some production numbers

Зavod Malolitrazhnyh Avtomobilei

1950: Kremlin in back, M400, rear, right.

And this is where most of them are today!.

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