How the first passenger car was invented in the USSR

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Exactly 90 years ago, the first sample of the Soviet passenger car NAMI-1 was born. Despite the fact that the serial production of the small car lasted only three years, this car is considered a cult car.

How did a Moscow University student manage to create a prototype of the famous passenger car while writing his thesis, why was NAMI-1 called “a motorcycle on four wheels,” and what role did the subcompact designer play in the space industry?

The brainchild of a student

The history of the first passenger car in the history of the USSR began with the fact that in 1925 Konstantin Sharapov, a final year student at the Moscow Mechanics and Electrotechnical Institute, who for a long time could not decide on the topic of his thesis, finally decided what he wanted to write about and approved a work plan from his supervisor. Then the Soviet automakers were faced with the task of developing a subcompact car that can be used without problems in domestic realities. Some experts suggested simply copying the foreign Tatra passenger car, but it turned out that in many respects it still did not fit, so it was necessary to design something of our own. It was this problem that Sharapov tackled.

It is not clear whether he understood then that his work titled "A subcompact car for Russian operating and production conditions" would become historical, but he approached it with all seriousness.

The student was attracted by the idea of combining a simplified design of a motorized carriage and a car passenger capacity in one unit. As a result, his supervisor liked Sharapov's work so much that he recommended him to the Automotive Research Institute (NAMI), where he was admitted without any competition and tests. The project of the car developed by him was decided to be implemented.

The first drawings of a small car, prepared by Sharapov in 1926, were modified for the needs of production by the famous engineers Andrei Lipgart, Nikolai Briling and Evgeny Charnko who later became famous.

The final decision on the production of the car was made by the State Trust of Automobile Plants "Avtotrest" at the beginning of 1927. And the first sample of NAMI-1 left the Avtomotor plant on May 1 of the same year. It is noteworthy that then the designers assembled only the chassis of the car for testing, there was no talk of creating a body yet - first it was necessary to understand whether the innovative design would be able to show itself well in real road conditions.

The car was tested a week later, in the first test drives the car proved to be worthy, and by September 1927 two more cars were assembled in production. For them, the engineers prepared a more serious test - the cars had to overcome the Sevastopol - Moscow - Sevastopol route.

For safety reasons, Ford T cars and two motorcycles with sidecars were sent on a test run together with a pair of NAMI-1. The subjects showed themselves well this time too.

There were no serious breakdowns on the way, especially considering that there was almost nothing to break in the design of the new cars.

One of the main advantages that allowed NAMI to overcome the track without any problems was the high ground clearance. In addition, the car turned out to be very economical - a full tank lasted for about 300 km.

After the successful completion of the tests, the designers proceeded to create a body for NAMI-1. Initially, two options were developed: one is simpler and cheaper, and the second is more advanced, having a two-section windshield, three doors and a trunk, but at the same time quite expensive. However, not one of them got into production - the third prototype of the body began to be put on the cars, which was quite extraordinary and by no means elegant, which subsequently caused discontent among drivers and passengers.

NAMI went into series

The decision to start serial production of NAMI-1 was made in the same year 1927. The Avtorotor plant was engaged in the assembly of cars. Separate parts of the car were manufactured at other enterprises, in particular the 2nd car repair plant and the plant of car accessories No. 5.

The cars were assembled by hand, which made the production process quite lengthy and expensive. As a result, only the first 50 vehicles were ready by the fall of 1928. And they got to users in the spring of 1929.

It is noteworthy that in those days cars were not sold to ordinary people - they were distributed between the garages of enterprises, where professional drivers drove them. At first, many drivers accustomed to driving foreign vehicles were skeptical about the new product. During operation, NAMI-1 really showed a number of significant shortcomings: an uncomfortable interior, an improperly designed awning, strong vibration from the engine, for which the car was popularly nicknamed "Primus", and the lack of a dashboard.

The press even flared up a discussion about whether NAMI-1 has the right to further existence and development. For its small size, economy and special design, the car has received another name among the people - "motorcycle on four wheels". And this, according to the drivers, did not paint it.

“I believe that, by design, NAMI is not a car, but a motorcycle on four wheels, and therefore NAMI cannot play any role in the motorization of the country,” wrote the magazine “Za Rulem” dated 1929.

Many engineers stated that the car needed to be greatly reconstructed and that it would be possible to speak about the continuation of its production only after these changes were made to the design. At the same time, one of the developers of the small car, Andrei Lipgart, answered his opponents that this car has a great future, and the existing shortcomings can be eliminated, but this will take time.

“Analyzing NAMI-1 diseases, we come to the conclusion that all of them can be easily and quickly eliminated. It is not necessary to make any fundamental changes either in the general scheme of the machine or in the design of its main mechanisms. We'll have to make small design changes, the need for which will be revealed by the operation, and most importantly, it is necessary to improve production methods. The production workers themselves are well aware that they do not make cars the way they should, but they do not always dare to admit this, "wrote in the 15th issue of the magazine" Za Rulem "in 1929.

At the same time, despite numerous complaints from drivers, NAMI-1 performed well on narrow Moscow streets, where it easily overtook even more powerful foreign competitors.

The village also spoke well of the new small car - provincial drivers argued that the car had a high cross-country ability, which was so necessary in rural conditions.

The subcompact drove to a dead end

As a result, supporters of stopping the production of the car won the dispute over the further "life" of NAMI-1. The last runabout left the factory in 1930. In just less than three years, according to various sources, from 369 to 512 cars were produced. In the order of "Autotrest" about the termination of production, it was said about the actual impossibility of correcting design defects. The slow pace of car production also played a role - the industry then needed about 10 thousand NAMI-1 per year, but the Avtorotor plant could not cope with such volumes.

However, the creator of the small car did not stop there - by 1932, at the institute where he worked, an improved NAMI-1 model appeared, which received the name NATI-2. However, this model also faced a failure - it never went into mass production.

The fate of Sharapov himself did not develop in the best way in the future. During the Stalinist repressions, he was detained on suspicion of handing over car drawings to a foreign citizen.

The engineer was sent to serve his sentence at a motor depot in Magadan. There he continued to design various devices and even on his own initiative developed a diesel aircraft engine. Sharapov was released only in 1948, after which he was appointed deputy chief engineer of the Kutaisi car assembly plant.

However, life again played a cruel joke with the talented engineer - less than a year later, in January 1949, Sharapov was again arrested and exiled to Yeniseisk. He was finally released only after Stalin's death in 1953.

After rehabilitation, Sharapov worked at the Engine Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences, then at the Central Research Institute of Motors. In this organization, the engineer took part in the development of an onboard power plant for an artificial earth satellite.