The UAZ plant can be safely considered one of the most conservative enterprises in the Soviet Union. Many models have been produced at the enterprise for decades! Some modern UAZ "Hunter" is a direct descendant of the UAZ-469 SUV, which was born back in 1972. However, it would be a mistake to think that new car models were not created at the plant. Many of these machines were literally ahead of their time. There is only one question: why none of this went into series.
1. UAZ-460
In the late 1950s, the "Soviet Range Rover" was created at UAZ. The brand new SUV UAZ-460 had a very unusual stuffing for its age. Firstly, the car had a rear-engine layout. Secondly, the UAZ-460 had a fully independent torsion bar suspension. Thirdly, a load-bearing body was already used in this car. In addition, an experimental 2.5-liter V4 engine was installed in the UAZ-460.
2. UAZ-3170
In 1980, the UAZ-3170 was born with a fashionable angular body. The car was developed in a short (regular) version and in an extended version with a cabin for 9 people. The main customer of the Pajero from the USSR was the Soviet army, which wanted a new modern SUV for itself. The car had four-wheel drive, a noticeably redesigned dependent suspension and an updated 2.45-liter engine. In the late 1980s, the UAZ-3172 model was being prepared for production, but due to Perestroika and the “dashing 90s”, all production plans were destroyed.
3. UAZ-3972
"Loaf" does not need any extra introduction. Individual cars of this model plow the expanses of the former USSR to this day. However, few people know that in the mid-1980s, a new modern "loaf" - UAZ-3972 - was created within the walls of the Ulyanovsk Design Bureau. In addition to the fashionable angular body, the car received an improved filling and a fundamentally new frame. However, well-known events put an end to serial production.
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4. KiAZ-3727
Despite the name, this car was developed primarily by the efforts of the designers of the Ulyanovsk plant in the 1980s. KiAZ-3727 was born in 1986, when the legendary GAZelle in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) was not even thought about. The creation of this van, in fact, was the first and quite successful attempt to make a fundamentally new car for the Soviet industry. A fat cross on the project was put in 1989, when the Karabakh conflict broke out: until that moment, they wanted to produce KiAZ-3727 in Azerbaijan.
5. UAZ-3165 "Simba"
A car that was introduced by UAZ already in the late 1990s. True, they began to develop it back in the zero year of the decade. At its core, the UAZ-3165 Simba was supposed to be an alternative to the obsolete Loaf. Several variants of the car were proposed, differing primarily in bodies. It even went as far as factory testing. However, for unknown reasons, further development was curtailed, and the release into the series was canceled.
If you want to know even more interesting things about cars, then read about common misconception, which makes drivers prefer all-wheel drive.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/021121/61119/