With the beginning of perestroika, the government proposed to the AZLK plant in the capital to develop a "car of 2000", that is, to predict what the cars will be like in 15 years. Alexander Kulikov was appointed as the project manager, who came up with the name of the novelty - "Moskvich-2144" ("Istra").
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The work began with the design of the car. Having made a plasticine model on a scale of 1: 4, it was placed in a wind tunnel and a mathematical model was developed using a computer. Its coordinates were entered into special machines and, as a result, body panels were made of fiberglass.
The car had a double door that opened vertically upwards and opened both rows of seats. The body itself consisted of duralumin and did not have a B-pillar, which was unusual. Due to the design of the body and its material, the drag coefficient of the car was only 0.149. By the way, for the VAZ-2106, which was popular at that time, it was 0.56, and for modern Audi A4, Mercedes CLA - 0.23.
The car's suspension was pneumatic and controlled by electronics. The suspension electronics increased the supply of air to the front axle during braking, and to the rear axle during acceleration. The same thing happened with
right and left rolls - air was blown into the right or left side of the suspension. On the off-road, the electronics pumped up air everywhere, and the Istra's ground clearance changed from the usual 140 to 240 millimeters.
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The "super-Muscovite" engine deserves a separate word. It was a compact 3-cylinder 68-horsepower ELKO 3.82.92T turbodiesel. The unique consumption assumed for 100 kilometers from 2.2 to 3.5 liters of fuel, depending on the mode of travel. At the same time, the engine could run on various fuels: kerosene, diesel fuel, gasoline and even vegetable oil! In 1990, such a motor was installed on the serial Moskvich-2141, which took part in the Moscow-Riga eco rally. For 100 kilometers of the rally, the car “ate” only 2.69 liters of diesel fuel.
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With a certain refinement, the engine made it possible to accelerate the Istra with an acceleration of 6-7 meters per second, or, on the contrary, to drive at ultra-low speeds in parking mode. The maximum speed of the "baby" was 185 kilometers per hour, which was quite reasonable with its weight.
It is worth noting that due to the super lightweight body and compact motor, the car weighed only 700 kilograms. The car had an ABS system (anti-lock brake
system), belts with pyrotechnic pretensioners and airbags. In addition, the designers provided for forward-looking scanners, which transmitted the image to the windshield through the head-up display. In poor visibility or at night, all obstacles, both movable and fixed, were displayed on the windshield, reducing the possibility of a collision.
It was believed that in the future the machines themselves would be able to "heal" themselves, and the AZLK designers came up with a unique system of self-diagnosis. Even now, 30 years later, in case of malfunctions in foreign cars, only the check engine lamp lights up, and the car owner goes to a car service to solve the problem. On the Istra's windshield, information was projected on which unit the problem was found.
The car also had air conditioning and a tire system with original cord and rubber. In general, if Istra were launched into a series, it would be a hit not only in the USSR, but also in the world. By the way, the production partner of AZLK was the German machine-building concern Liebherr.
However, in 1991 the USSR collapsed, and then the country was overtaken by hyperinflation. In the summer of 1993, government funding for the “car of the year 2000” program was discontinued, and the only copy of the “Istra” was put into eternal parking, first in the AZLK museum, and later in the vintage car museum on Rogozhsky Val in Moscow.
Lev KAPLIN
