268:– proved to be a success, with a designed capacity to produce up to 250...300 thousand cars and trucks annually. The use of a readily available foreign technology allowed Russia to become a large-scale manufacturer of cars for the first time in its history. However, Ford cars were relatively large and heavy, and, while mass production made them relatively cheap, they still required a considerable amount of resources to build and maintain. It was considered uneconomical to provide such vehicles for personal use by individuals in any significant quantities. The cars produced were virtually all distributed between state and public organisations. The NAMI continued to work on lighter, smaller cars based on the NAMI-1 design, which could complement the GAZ cars as a cheaper alternative, but with little success.
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359:(supplied frames, leaf springs, large forgings), GAZ (stampings and castings), Moscow “Ball Bearing” plant, “Red Etna” factory in Gorky and up to 90 other industrial facilities. There were few differences between the prototypes and the production cars, including the use of recessed headlights and the absence of body side moldings and running boards on the latter.
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People's
Commissariat of Medium Machine-Building, and its head I. A. Likhachyov personally, had made several unauthorized alterations to the specifications which significantly worsened the car's technical and economic qualities, including the increase of length and height, two doors instead of four and chromed moldings on the body sides.
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The car with the new four-door body was designated KIM-10-52, the chassis remained virtually unchanged. Mass production was planned to start in July, 1941, with annual production figures of 50,000 units (30,000 in 1941). However, the plans never came to fruition because of the German invasion on June
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In the meanwhile, the
Sovnarkom was becoming increasingly unhappy with the design of the car, which significantly deviated from the original specifications of the Economic Committee during the development cycle. In August, 1940 it adopted a resolution, "On the KIM small litrage car," stating that the
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with the passenger capacity and comfort of a small car. It was considered quite a success from the engineering point and deemed very suitable for the country's still primitive road system. However, the project ultimately turned into a failure due to very limited experience in car building and lack of
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In
November and December 1940 the KIM plant assembled 16 sedans, another 70 in January, 1941, 50 in February, 102 in March and 100 in April – 338 units altogether. The exact production numbers for the phaeton are unknown, but they were extremely rare even when new. The production was assisted by ZIS
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The
Sovnarkom demanded these alterations to be reversed before the start of mass production, and also requested several other changes, including increase of the road clearance to at least 185 mm, removal of the running boards, replacement of the free-standing headlights with recessed units and
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Starting on May 12, 1941 the Red Army subjected one of the production cars (chassis No. 178) to a series of tests, including 4512 km in road conditions varying from the newly built Moscow-Minsk asphalted highway to rural mud roads and off-road. Despite the official “mostly satisfactory” mark,
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E93A – essentially a scaled-down version of Ford's larger U.S. models which the Soviet engineers and car mechanics were quite familiar with. The
Prefect's chassis and powertrain were reverse engineered, the resulting drawings converted into the metric system and adopted to the Soviet materials and
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The situation had changed considerably by the end of 1930s, when USSR's rapidly growing industrial economy provided both the demand for a personally used small car and the means to produce it. As well as improving the quality of life for the citizens affected, it was assumed that people who had
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and several other plants, managed to assemble only several hundred cars in 1927-31 (exact numbers vary considerably depending on the source). Old-fashioned production techniques and low scale resulted in mediocre build quality and high retail price – several times that of a locally assembled Ford
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The KIM-10 received generally positive reviews from the operators. Conservative mechanicals proved to be simple and robust, and the styling was one of the most advanced among the prewar Soviet passenger cars. The interior was quite roomy for the car's class, with individually adjustable separate
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with designing a small economy car suitable for large scale manufacture which was named KIM-10. Initially two sub-models were planned for release – KIM-10-50 sedan and KIM-10-51 phaeton (convertible). The
Economic Committee demanded the car to be based on the British
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lottery, with a listed price of 7000 roubles (for the scale, the GAZ M-1 was listed for 9500 roubles). Most KIMs were lost during the war of 1941-45, in which they saw active service. Only several cars survive to this day in the expositions of various museums.
339:. This body fulfilled all of the requirements set by the Sovnarkom with the exception of the soft insert into the roof, however it was not accepted. Instead, a more conservative body was approved, which closely followed the styling of the
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The original two-door version was more fortunate, as the plant was allowed to assemble 500 cars using the test bodies produced by Budd – 250 KIM-10-50 two-door sedans and 250 KIM-10-51 phaetons were initially planned to be built.
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K38 as a part of the war reparations package. This car was quite close to the KIM-10-52 in specifications and appearance, making it a suitable replacement. The equipment was installed at the former KIM plant which was renamed
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The car was also found to be somewhat underpowered and have insufficient road clearance, however just as its
British counterpart, the KIM was designed neither for high-speed motoring, nor for the bumpy rural roads.
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In August and
October 1940 the NATI (former NAMI) developed a very modern-looking streamlined four-door body for the KIM chassis (retrospectively named NATI-KIM), which to some degree resembled the German
311:, developed an original body for this chassis, with the frontal styling reminiscent of the flagship model of the Soviet automotive industry, the ZIS-101A. The wooden master-model was sent to the
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In
December, 1930 the Moscow State Automotive Assembly Plant No. 2, which had started assembling Ford cars and trucks from CKD kits earlier that year, was named after the
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organization (Kommunisticheskiy
Internatsional Molodyozhi – KIM). In 1939 it was reorganized as a full-cycle car manufacturing plant and renamed accordingly.
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The side-valve engine of the KIM-10 had a displacement of 1170 cmÂł and produced 30 hp. Its cooling system lacked a water pump, relying on
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a modern industrial base. The Moscow State Automobile Plant No. 4 (also known as the "Avtomotor" plant; later renamed "Spartak"), assisted by the
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front seats and a high back seat cushion which gave the passengers an unobstructed view over the heads of the driver and the front passenger.
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The plant's newly formed design department was headed by A. N. Ostrovtsev, an engineer from the NAMI, and tasked by the Economic Committee of
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In October, 1941 the plant was hastily evacuated to Ural. Most of the manufacturing equipment was abandoned or destroyed during the
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No version of the KIM-10 was ever officially sold to the general public. 64 cars were awarded as prizes in the 15th tour of the
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learned to drive in peacetime would, in the event of armed conflict, constituted a cadre of trained drivers for the
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Rear wheels were driven via a 3-speed manual transmission, with synchromesh on II and III (direct drive) gears.
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by F. Fomin, head of NATI's automotive department. Published in "Za Rulyom" magazine, No. 15, 1939. Pages 9-11.
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After the war the USSR managed to obtain the production lines for the four-door version of the
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Chassis components were mounted on a separate frame which was rigidly riveted to the body.
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However, another automotive manufacturing project of late 1920s & early 30s – the
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413:(Moscow Small Car Plant). In 1946 it started producing cars under "Moskvitch" brand.
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production techniques. The project was completed ahead of schedule by June 13, 1939.
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Valentin Brodskiy, a GAZ designer later to become famous for his work on the
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the car proved to be unsuited to the requirements of the military service.
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substitution of the metal roof panel with an artificial leather insert.
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22, 1941 - only a small series of four-door prototypes was ever built.
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Dmitriy Dashko, "Soviet Passenger Cars. 1918-1942" (published 2012).
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Suspension employed transverse leaf springs, both front and rear.
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Brakes were mechanically operated drums on all four wheels.
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239:The very first passenger car designed in the
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231:designed for large-scale mass production.
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264:plant, built with the assistance of
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127:4-cyl., 4-stroke, 1170 cc, 30 hp
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281:Young Communist International
160:3,940 mm (155.1 in)
370:Sales and surviving examples
176:1,630 mm (64.2 in)
168:1,430 mm (56.3 in)
152:2,386 mm (93.9 in)
186:840 kg (1,852 lb)
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303:Pre-production KIM-10-50.
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451:Small-litrage KIM-10
400:Further development
313:Budd Company of USA
470:Soviet automobiles
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266:Ford Motor Company
423:thermocirculation
417:Technical details
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343:K38, favored by
182:Curb weight
57:Body and chassis
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364:Siege of Moscow
317:bodies in white
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75:Body style
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137:3-speed manual
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335:'s prototype
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214:Moskvitch 400
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16:Motor vehicle
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345:Josef Stalin
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293:Ford Prefect
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241:Soviet Union
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204:Ford Model A
133:Transmission
41:Manufacturer
406:Opel Kadett
376:OSOAVIAKhIM
341:Opel Kadett
309:M-20 Pobeda
196:Predecessor
68:Compact car
464:Categories
427:thermostat
333:Auto-Union
191:Chronology
142:Dimensions
117:Powertrain
49:Production
475:Moskvitch
383:Reception
347:himself.
288:Sovnarkom
257:Model A.
229:small car
210:Successor
148:Wheelbase
111:FR layout
52:1940—1941
274:Red army
249:cyclecar
36:Overview
445:Sources
235:History
94:4-door
90:phaeton
88:2-door
82:2-door
337:DKW F9
245:NAMI-1
243:, the
226:Soviet
222:KIM-10
200:NAMI-1
173:Height
157:Length
123:Engine
106:Layout
22:KIM-10
165:Width
96:sedan
84:sedan
63:Class
411:MZMA
262:GAZ
254:AMO
44:KIM
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