What is the best homemade car body? Handmade creations: the unknown auto industry of the Soviet Union

All parents benefit from conducting educational activities for their children. It would be good for every father to make toys with his own hands together with his children, setting a positive example for them. One of these toys could be a toy car.

There are many photos on the Internet homemade cars ok, all that remains is to choose the appropriate option for yourself and get down to business.

What car to make

To choose the appropriate type of craft for making, you should soberly assess your strengths and means. If a teenager decides to take up this process on his own, then he should start with simple ideas for do-it-yourself machines.

To begin with, you can choose a craft made from cardboard and paper. They are relatively simple to make, and the materials and tools are readily available. All you need is scissors, glue, and cardboard.


How to make paper cars if you have no experience in designing at all? Where should you start, and what are the next stages of work? These issues need to be taken seriously. The child must learn to set a task for himself and be able to solve it.

Cardboard racing car

Let's look at how to make a machine with your own hands. To do this you will need:

  • cardboard cylinder;
  • scissors;
  • colored paper and plain paper;
  • stationery pins;
  • a set of felt-tip pens;
  • white and black cardboard.

The body of the car will consist of a cylinder; it will be covered with paper of any color. 4 black wheels and 4 white wheels are cut out of additional cardboard.

Additional cardboard circles are glued to the end parts of the car so that there are no through holes in the cylinder. The glued circles can be painted with felt-tip pens.

The wheels are attached with push pins in the center of the circle, and their ends are bent from the inside of the cylinder. A small hole for the driver should be cut on top of the finished body. The finished car is painted with felt-tip pens.

Electronic machine with remote control

Children really like cars with remote control. If you don’t find a suitable model in the store, you can assemble it yourself. Today, every home with children is full of toy junk. There you can select suitable spare parts and bodywork.

You will need the following:

  • wheels;
  • frame;
  • electric motor;
  • different screwdrivers.


Build process

Most likely, some parts will have to be purchased. This applies to the control system. If a homemade machine has a simple control panel, it will be simpler and more cost-effective. When installing radio controls, you may have to spend more money on parts.

Having distributed the assembly plan and the dimensions of the device, you need to start assembling. The chassis must include wheels. The product itself must be error-free and easy to move. Good grip Wheels with rubber tires will be provided for the machine.

There are two types of motor. Its choice depends on the user who will manage it. If this is a child, then you need to install an electric motor. It will cost less; if possible, it can be removed from a broken toy car.

If the machine is intended for adult users, then you can install a gasoline engine on it. It will cost an order of magnitude more, and caring for it will be more difficult.

Wired controls will limit the movement of the machine. It is preferable to choose a radio unit, then the product will be able to move independently of the wires. But movement will also only take place within radio range.

The choice of body is determined by taste preferences. The variety of models today is simply huge, everything is limited by imagination and budget.

Having prepared all the elements, you need to begin installation. The chassis with wheels is mounted first. Next, the motor and radio are installed on the frame. An antenna is attached to the body. If all components were purchased in a store, then installation instructions should be included.


The batteries are attached last. After debugging the engine, the housing is attached to the chassis. The final touch can be decorations from various stickers. The car is ready!

Homemade complex type machine

You can give other instructions on how to make a radio-controlled car. To do this you will need:

  • Body of any model;
  • Powerful 12V battery;
  • Radio control;
  • Charger;
  • Soldering tool and all necessary components for it;
  • Electrical measuring instruments;
  • Rubber blanks for bumpers;

Installation process

The process of step-by-step assembly of the machine is much more complicated than the previous type. The suspension elements are assembled first. Then the gearbox with plastic gears is assembled.

To install it, a thread is made in the housing. Next, the motor is connected to power and its performance is checked.

Radio circuits are mounted in such a way that overheating does not occur. Sometimes a radiator is attached to them. At the end, the model body is assembled. That's all you need to make a radio-controlled car.

To homemade car It had maneuverability, and with good speed one must try not to overload it with unnecessary parts.

The presence of headlights and dimensions looks nice, but to attach them, wiring must be installed. As a result, this will complicate the design and assembly.

Photos of homemade cars

Various homemade products for cars have always been of interest to motorists. All of them are intended to improve the performance, appearance or comfort of a passenger car. For example, you can make a subwoofer, a convenient organizer, eyelashes for headlights, license plate protection, etc. with your own hands. We will tell you about some useful homemade products, which are available to everyone.

Every motorist strives to make his car unique. This can be done with the help of unique overlays on the headlights, which are called cilia and add some zest to the appearance of any car.

To make your own eyelashes you will need the following:

  • construction hair dryer;
  • thick paper or cardboard;
  • primer and paint;
  • sandpaper;
  • hacksaw;
  • scotch;
  • plexiglass.

First you need to decide what shape of eyelashes you want to get. The choice depends on your preferences and imagination. Draw a template on paper or cardboard and cut it out. You can use it to cut a piece of plexiglass in the future.

Attach the created template to the headlight of your car and give it a finished look by carefully fitting all the edges. When everything is ready, attach the template to the plexiglass and trace it with some sharp object. The part should be cut out along the resulting contour.

In order not to damage the headlights and protect them from scattering, it is better to cover their surface with tape. Use a hairdryer to heat the workpiece, and when it begins to bend, you can apply it to the headlight.

After this, the surface must be treated with sandpaper, moistening it with water. When everything is dry, prime the part and then paint it in any suitable color. Everything is very easy, and the result can exceed all your expectations.

If the rims of your car have scratches or chips that damage appearance products, you can take the wheels to a specialized workshop for painting. If you don’t want to spend money on this, you can try to restore the damaged areas yourself.

To work you will need:

  1. Scratched discs.
  2. Epoxy glue of any color, since a layer of paint will be applied on top. However, if the paste is too bright, it may show through the paintwork, so before applying paint it is better to prime everything thoroughly with a primer.
  3. Sandpaper number 300-400 and 600.
  4. Adhesive tape.
  5. Spray paint and varnish.

First, using coarse sandpaper, you need to clean the places of chips and scratches to such an extent that you could not feel any bumps with your hand. We recommend covering the rubber with adhesive tape and covering it with newspapers to prevent paint from getting on it.

Mix both components of epoxy glue in a one to one ratio. Apply the mixture to the cleaned scratches so that the mixture completely fills them, and a thin layer forms on top.

Dry everything thoroughly. This takes a lot of time, and to speed up the process you can use heat by placing a fan heater or a simple incandescent light bulb near the disks.

When the glue has dried, sand it with fine sandpaper, preparing the surface for painting. Everything should be smooth to the touch and look - this is important.

Using a spray can, painting the rims is not difficult at all. You need to thoroughly shake the can and start spraying the paint from a distance of 20-30 cm. The paint should be applied in layers. Avoid too obvious transitions by applying two or three layers. Each of them needs to be dried, waiting for half an hour. To protect fresh paint from dust, it is better to carry out painting work in a pre-humidified room.

After the paint has dried, apply two coats of varnish. Between layers you need to wait half an hour, and the top layer should dry longer.

When everything is thoroughly dry, you need to moisten the finest sanding paper (1000-2000 grit) with water and carefully smooth the varnished area. To achieve factory shine, the surface can be polished.

The theft of registration plates has become one of the illegal types of income today. Money for intruders. It takes thieves no more than 10 seconds to steal license plates from a car. In order not to fall into the trap of scammers, you need to take care of protection registration number. There are several methods, each of which can be implemented independently at home.

Protect your number with tape

This method of protecting your license plate from theft may seem funny to you, but it is quite effective. The back surface of the registration number should be degreased and double-sided tape should be attached to it. This simple and inexpensive way to protect your plate creates an additional barrier for a thief to keep your license plate.

Secrets for car number

Instead of simple screws that secure the license plate, lockers are installed. The caps are designed in such a way that the locks can only be unscrewed with a special key, sold along with the fasteners. The kit costs about 500 rubles, and installation does not take much time.

Many people dream of owning a car, but only a few find the strength, inspiration and desire to work hard and painstakingly to create their own dream car. It is these desperate self-taught people who do automotive world more interesting, saving him from the boredom of assembly line production. It is their creations that sometimes attract the attention of others more than the top models of famous manufacturers.

Today we want to introduce you to the best homemade cars from around the world. Our rating includes truly worthy homemade products that you can send to mass production, absolutely not afraid of low demand. Most of the cars included in the rating can easily compete with cars large manufacturers, but, unfortunately, they will forever remain in a single copy, delighting the public only at various auto shows. However, this is precisely what makes them special, inimitable, unique, and allows their owners to feel like heroes who managed to single-handedly create a truly decent car. So, let's start.

There are only five homemade products in our rating. It could have been more, but we decided to limit ourselves only to cars that have passed all the necessary certification and are registered, i.e. All participants in the rating are allowed to drive on public roads without any restrictions. This only confirms their quality and uniqueness, and also indicates a real opportunity to compete with production cars.

Fifth place goes to the SUV " Black Raven", built in Kazakhstan. This unique vehicle, created for hunting in steppe conditions, has a threatening and at the same time futuristic design. “Black Raven” could easily star in science fiction films or even act as an army vehicle, but it is used only by its creator – a modest self-taught engineer from Karaganda.

The appearance of the SUV is truly original, a little awkward, but original and brutal. “Black Raven” is a real man’s car with a powerful frame chassis, riveted aluminum body panels, “multi-eyed” optics and all-terrain wheels that are ready to bite even into difficult ground. The “Black Raven” is eager to fight thanks to a powerful American-made V8 engine, working in conjunction with an automatic transmission and a ZIL-157 gearbox located on the rear axle. Excellent ride quality SUV are guaranteed by a long wheelbase, wide track, central location of the engine and gearbox, as well as independent suspension with torsion bars from an armored personnel carrier. All this allows the car to maintain stability during sharp maneuvers even at a speed of about 100 km/h and easily overcome potholes and bumps along the way.

The unique homemade cabin is designed for two passengers. The jeep's equipment includes LED brake lights and turn signals, electric front windows, electric hood and a unique self-extractor with chain drive, mounted in the bottom. As for the price, then approximate cost“Black Crow” is about 1,500,000 rubles.

Go ahead. On the fourth line we have first ever Cambodian car- "". Oddly enough, it was not created by the state or private car company, but a simple mechanic, Nhin Pheloek, who decided that at 52 years old it was time to get his own car.

Angkor 333 is a very compact two-seater roadster with very modern features and a rather attractive design, especially for a poor Asian country.

The Cambodian homemade vehicle received a body with streamlined shapes, stylish optics and modern aerodynamic elements. Moreover, Angkor 333 is hybrid car, equipped with a traction electric motor, a 3-speed automatic transmission and a 45-horsepower gasoline unit designed for recharging battery. Surprisingly, the homemade roadster is capable of accelerating up to 120 km/h and covering about 100 km on a single battery charge. In addition, the Angkor 333 equipment includes touchscreen, acting as an instrument panel, and the doors are opened using a special magnetic plastic card. Even most production cars do not have such functions, so the development of a talented mechanic is worthy of respect.

The first Angkor 333 was assembled in 2003. In 2006, the creator presented the second generation of his brainchild, and in 2010, a modified third-generation car was released, which to this day is hand-assembled in small batches to order in Nhin Pheloek’s garage, providing the retired mechanic with a comfortable old age. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the cost of the roadster.

In third place in our ranking is a car that is most often called “”. This impressive SUV was created by Vyacheslav Zolotukhin from Krasnokamensk, Trans-Baikal Territory. The homemade product is based on a modified GAZ-66 chassis, complemented by converted shock absorbers from KAMAZ, split front hubs and power steering from a Hino truck.

The Mega Cruiser Russia is powered by a naturally-aspirated 7.5-liter Hino h07D diesel engine, which, during the process of modification, received a KAMAZ air cleaning system. The engine is supported by a 6-speed manual transmission and transfer case from a GAZ-66, in which all bearings were replaced with imported ones. The homemade vehicle has a full drive, with the ability to lock the axles, in which the main pairs were replaced, which made it possible to achieve a smooth ride on paved roads.

The body of Mega Cruiser Russia is metal, prefabricated, attached to the frame through 12 shock-absorbing supports. The “living part” is a modernized cabin of an Isuzu Elf truck, to which is also attached a redesigned “rear” of the Noah minivan. The front part of the body consists of modernized wings from the GAZ-3307, a hood of our own design and a radiator grille made from several copies of the grille Land Cruiser Prado. The homemade bumpers are metal, of our own design, and wheel disks“riveted” from GAZ-66 wheels, which made it possible to install tires from the TIGER army jeep.

If you look into the cabin, you will see 6 seats, a lot of free space, right-hand drive, a rather nice interior and a comfortable driver's seat with excellent visibility in all directions.

Mega Cruiser Russia is equipped with a 150-liter gas tank, a gyroscope, an electric winch with a force of 6 tons, an audio system and even a spoiler. According to the author of the homemade product, the SUV is capable of accelerating up to 120 km/h, its weight is 3800 kg, and the average fuel consumption is 15 liters on the highway and about 18 liters off-road. Last year, Mega Cruiser Russia was put up for sale by its creator at a price of 3,600,000 rubles.

The second place in our rating of homemade products is occupied by another unique SUV, this time from Ukraine. We're talking about a car." Buffalo", also built on the basis of the GAZ-66. Its author is Alexander Chuvpilin from Bila Tserkva, Kiev region.

“Bison” received a more modern and more aerodynamic appearance, the originality of which is emphasized, first of all, by the front part of the body. The creator borrowed most of the body panels from the VW Passat 64, but some elements had to be made independently.

Under the hood of the Ukrainian homemade product there is a 4.0-liter turbodiesel with an output of 137 hp, borrowed from the Chinese DongFeng DF-40 truck. He also gave the Bison a 5-speed manual box transmission Together, the Chinese units provided the home-made SUV with the ability to accelerate to 120 kph with an average fuel consumption of 15 liters per 100 km. The Bison has permanent rear-wheel drive, with the ability to connect the front axle, lock the differential and use a low gear.
The car is capable of fording a ford up to 1.2 meters deep, and is also equipped with a tire pressure regulation system with an additional outlet for household needs: pumping up boats, using a pneumatic jack or pneumatic tools, etc.

The Bison's body, mounted on 12 supports, is reinforced with numerous stiffening ribs and a frame frame, and the roof of the SUV is made of 2 mm thick metal, which made it possible to place a drop-down tent on it for overnight stays. One of the features of the Bison is a nine-seat interior layout (3+4+2), while two rear seats, capable of rotating in any direction, can be removed, allowing you to increase the free space of the luggage compartment. Overall, the Bison has a comfortable and spacious interior with high-quality finishes, comfortable seats and a front panel with two glove compartments.

Among the numerous equipment installed on the Bison, we highlight the presence of power steering, dual amplifier brake system, rear view cameras, GPS navigator, electric winches, special headlights reverse and a retractable rear door step. Alexander Chuvpilin spent about $15,000 to create “Bison.”

Well, all that remains is to name the winner, which, naturally, could only be a sports car, because a racing car is what every motorist dreams of. A simple self-taught person without a technical education, Chelyabinsk resident Sergei Vladimirovich Ivantsov, who planned to build his own sports car back in 1983, also dreamed about it. A car with a simple name " ISV", consisting of the initials of the creator, was built for about 20 years and during this long journey it managed to survive two prototypes, sculpted on a 1:1 scale, first from window putty and then from plasticine. At the same time, according to the creator, he did everything “by eye,” without drawings or calculations.

From the plasticine model, Sergei made plaster casts of the parts of the future body, after which he painstakingly glued them out of fiberglass and epoxy resin. It is worth mentioning separately that the creator of this masterpiece is allergic to epoxy resin, and therefore he had to work in an army gas mask, sometimes spending 6-8 hours in it. What can I say, the tenacity with which he pursued his dream deserves respect, and the result of his work impresses not only ordinary onlookers, but also seasoned specialists in the automotive industry. From a design point of view, the homemade ISV is ready to compete with many currently produced sports cars, but the final concept of the sports car was conceived about 15 years ago. As Sergei himself admitted, he drew inspiration from the Lamborghini Countach, but if you look closely, you can catch notes of Aston Martin, Maserati, and even Bugatti in the appearance of the ISV.

The ISV is based on a spatial welded frame made of square pipes, and the entire chassis and suspension are borrowed with minor modifications from the Niva. The ISV has only rear-wheel drive, as befits a good sports car. As for the engine, initially the homemade product received a modest engine from the “classic”, but then it gave way to a 4-cylinder 1.8-liter engine with 113 hp. from the BMW 318, paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission. Unfortunately, due to his great love for his brainchild, Sergey never loaded ISV onto full power, so we will probably never know the true speed capabilities of the car. The author of the sports car himself drives quite carefully and does not accelerate more than 140 km/h.

Let's take a look at the ISV salon. Here is a classic sports car 2-seater layout with an interior tailored to the maximum comfort of the driver. And this is not surprising, because the interior was made by hand and was repeatedly modified and redesigned. Here, as in the exterior, you can see an interior design concept worthy of a sports car, some details of which also resemble the styling of cars from famous manufacturers. The ISV has a removable roof, guillotine doors, air conditioning, power steering, a stylish Audi dashboard and an audio system.
It’s difficult to talk about the price of ISV. The creator himself considers his car priceless and, according to some sources, once refused to sell it for 100,000 euros.

That's all, we introduced you to the most interesting and high-quality home-made cars of recent times, approved for use on public roads. Each of them is unique, original and interesting in its own way. But all together, they certainly left their bright mark on the history of the global automobile industry and gave a sea of ​​positive emotions not only to their creators, but also to numerous visitors to various automobile exhibitions and shows. We hope that the number of people who like to create masterpiece cars in their garage will only grow, and, therefore, we will have reasons for new ratings.

Are you planning to surprise others with your car? Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be made into a production model that came off the assembly line of some factory, but a vehicle made with your own hands will undoubtedly attract the attention of the crowd on the street.

A homemade vehicle can evoke two emotions in those around you - genuine surprise at your skill or an undisguised smile at the sight of your invention. If you delve into the issue of assembling your own car, then there will be nothing complicated in the process. The main thing is to learn more about the main parts and components of the car, to understand the features and properties vehicle.

Homemade cars in history

Mass production of homemade cars began in the Soviet Union. At that time, only certain models were released onto the market, which could not satisfy all consumer needs. As a result, self-taught craftsmen appeared who designed own cars, in accordance with your desires and financial capabilities.

The assembly of a new car was carried out on the basis of broken down cars; on average, three non-working ones were required for one home-made car. The craftsmen removed all the necessary spare parts and introduced them into new body. By the way, body work was popular in villages; the old body of the car was specially removed and replaced with a more spacious one.

In addition to functional models, vehicles that were simply attractive from an aesthetic point of view were also created, which could not be distinguished from well-known sports factory examples. Such cars were full-fledged road users.

It is worth noting that until the 80s there was no ban on the design and use of homemade vehicles. After the ban appeared, inventors had to get out, many of them registered a completely different vehicle with the traffic police, and then used their invention.

How to build your own car

Before starting assembly, it is necessary to draw up a plan for future work, in which you need to indicate what the car will be like, what features and characteristics it will have. If the car will be used in the future, it is necessary to purchase high-quality materials and parts, assemble a reliable frame and an impact-resistant body.

Important! Depending on what kind of vehicle you plan to assemble, you will need certain materials. In this case, it is unlikely that you can get by with bolts, wheels and scrap metal.

You can learn about the actual assembly process from training videos, of which there are plenty on the Internet.

Drawings of the future car

Imagination and fantasy will help you think through the smallest details in your head about the appearance and structure of the future car, however, to implement your plans in reality, you need to draw up a drawing of the vehicle.

It is better to make two drawings of the car: the first one will depict general form, on the second - individual components and parts of the vehicle.

Before you start creating a drawing, you should prepare a pencil, ruler, Whatman paper and eraser. First, sketches are made on the sheet with thin lines, which, if necessary, can be easily erased. After all the details have been drawn and you are completely satisfied with the resulting image, the drawing is outlined with a thick line.

It is not necessary to draw a drawing on a sheet of paper; modern designers come to the aid of software that greatly facilitates the process of creating a drawing.

Car assembly

In America and Europe, over the past few years, “kit car” kits have become popular, which are a set of various parts that allow you to assemble a car with your own hands. The parts are universal, so how the finished car turns out depends entirely on the imagination of the owner of the set.

This is not some kind of tuning that spread out of boredom in the “decaying bourgeois society.” Just think - attach a “lip” to the bumper, repaint the hood or hang an elaborate wing on the trunk! Is it weak to build an entire car from scratch? More than one thousand Soviet citizens could, instead of answering this question, present a car they had made with their own hands - personally or in a team with friends. The most active of them are under the patronage government agencies regularly gathered for grand all-Union races, promoting technical creativity among the masses and raising the level of automotive culture. And the masses reciprocated: in every “transit” city, such mobile auto festivals attracted tens of thousands of spectators - entire stadiums, central squares and avenues filled to capacity. Yes, to some extent it replaced the current annual auto shows and auto exhibitions for us, at that time. However, this was something more than the philistine interest of the consumer who comes with a prepared wallet to the pavilions of fashionable motor shows shining with spotlights.

Who and why?

But in addition to hundreds of public “homemade workers”, along with their creations rightly favored by the attention of DOSAAF, central television and popular science magazines, there were a much larger number of craftsmen who built a car exclusively for themselves. Not wanting to spend their tariff holiday on high-profile all-Union events, they quietly and modestly exploited their once created exclusive for personal needs. And in almost every city of the Union one could find at least one, or even several passenger cars that had no analogues anywhere in the world.

Photos used from the archive of Sergei Iones

Who were they - these people, the owners of an absolute exclusive car? After all, not sheikhs from the Emirates, not princes, and not even the heirs of overseas millionaire grandmothers... To make a car for yourself, in the conditions of the USSR it was enough to have self-confidence and be a technically savvy person. There were plenty of citizens with such qualities back then. Why didn’t they buy themselves a ready-made production car? Not at all because it was expensive - the construction of a homemade product was no cheaper in money than at least a used Moskvich. There are several reasons: the limited type of production cars, the desire to stand out among comrades, and most importantly, the itch for creativity and the desire to express oneself in working with technology. But the feat of Soviet home-made workers is different: as a rule, when they entered the path of the Samavto movement, they doomed themselves to many years of hard work in their free time. That is, no weekends, vacations, gatherings over dominoes or beer. The USSR record for the speed of building a car is 8 months (resident of the Armenian SSR Lev Sahakyan), and the average figure is perhaps 3-4 years, since many worked on the “topic” for ten to fifteen years.

How did they do it?

Not all, but still the majority of amateur designers had a detailed project, which they more or less strictly adhered to throughout the entire work. Many components and technical solutions were refined “along the way”, and more often - “on the spot”. Despite the approving attitude of the party and government towards do-it-yourselfers, the state did not allow anarchy in the transport sector. Were officially legalized " Technical requirements To passenger cars, made individually." They limited, for example, the engine size and dimensions of the homemade product, and prescribed the use of the most important systems (brakes, steering, lighting technology) factory production. Over the years, the state’s trust in amateur designers grew: over 25 years, the “Technical Requirements” were changed four times, and each time they became more liberal. If in the 1960-70s it was allowed to equip home-made cars only with motorcycle engines, then in the next edition of the “Technical Requirements” from 1980, the volume of the permitted engine increased to 1.2 liters - and this is the engine of the “big-eared” Zaporozhets (40 liters .hp) or the “first” model of Zhiguli (58 hp)! And since 1987, it was possible to use power units of any size, provided the vehicle’s specific power was within the range of 24-50 hp. per ton of gross weight.

Masterpieces from Cellars

The main problem for many do-it-yourselfers was workplace- a workshop where the creator could create his brainchild over the course of several years. Still, the vast majority of home-made car builders were city dwellers. And they, as a rule, lived in comfortable apartments and had no room for technical creativity. Therefore, they had to turn these apartments into workshops. For the few years that work on the car lasted, the patient family huddled in the kitchen and one or two remaining rooms. There are known cases when not only individual units, but even bodies were created in high-rise buildings. The problem of lowering the finished product to the ground against the backdrop of many years of work to create the car seemed trivial. So, some resorted to the help of ropes and the muscle strength of friends (like the Muscovites Shcherbinin brothers), others used a truck crane (like Genrikh Matevosyan from Yerevan), others used cables stretched at an incline from the balcony to the ground - they rolled the car along them, as if on rails, placing instead of wheels there are bare rims. At the same time, such little things as the need to dismantle balcony frames or dismantle the roof of the Khrushchev building did not stop anyone. Against this background, do-it-yourselfers who had at least some kind of basement or barn at their disposal seemed to their “colleagues” to be lucky.

Technologies

It would seem that it couldn’t be simpler - take, say, a Zhiguli chassis, “put” your body on top of it - and get a unique car. But it wasn't interesting. Therefore, many authors have designed their own chassis. There are known cases of manufacturing motors of their own design: in an era of shortages, it was easier for some to make an engine themselves than to wait for the opportunity to buy it in a store. Moreover, in the 1980s, the unsightly-looking Vesna car, designed by Vladimir Mironov, with an automatic transmission unprecedented in the USSR: a V-belt variator of its own production, became widely known! Few people in our country knew about similar components of DAF small cars at that time, and only drivers of LiAZ buses and government limousines had the happiness of driving an automatic transmission.

If the shortage of automotive components and the above-mentioned “Technical Requirements” restrained the fantasies of do-it-yourselfers as designers and constructors, then from the point of view of technology, the freedom of creativity was complete. Most often, the body was made of reinforced plastic - construction fiberglass (or even ordinary burlap) impregnated with epoxy resin. Depending on the patience and aspirations of the author, the parts were glued onto a blank (this is easier) made of wood, plaster or clay, or into a matrix (this is much more difficult). Matrix technology besides best quality the surface of the parts made it possible to subsequently replicate the body in small series, which was done in some cases. The load-bearing base of a fiberglass car was either the body itself (it turned out to be heavy), sometimes reinforced with load-bearing metal elements built into it (saving weight), or a frame welded from water pipes. Some did not trust plastic, tapping body parts from a steel sheet the old fashioned way or welding them from small pattern fragments. A progressive method was used by Mariupol resident V. Mileiko: he “stamped” the convex roof for his “Melody” by shooting at a sheet of iron from two double-barrel shotguns loaded with shot...

Glass had to be used from production cars, although over time, craftsmen got the hang of cutting standard “triplex” windshields to the desired shape. The issue of the lack of metallic paint on sale was solved, as they said then, in an innovative way: by purchasing manicure varnish from the nearest haberdashery (by the way, this is not a cheap option).

Bureaucracy

To obtain a registration certificate and license plates, it was necessary to provide the traffic police with a document from the technical commission on the safety of the constructed vehicle. Typically, such a conclusion was issued by the VDOAM cell - the All-Union Voluntary Society of Automobile Enthusiasts. However, in the outback the issue could have been resolved more simply - the creator of one of the unique cars said that he received the license plates immediately after a half-hour test drive of his brainchild, conducted personally by the head of the traffic police. Apparently, in many cases, officials turned a blind eye to obvious violations of standards by designers: for example, some interesting cars equipped with engines more powerful than what was officially allowed at the time of their birth. Another serious problem was paper: for each unit used in the machine, as well as all parts and materials, it was necessary to provide a receipt or other document confirming the legality of the purchase. Meanwhile, in a country with a non-market economy, commodity relations between citizens often came down to an agreement “for a bottle” or even “as a friend”. And many more parts and assemblies borrowed from serial vehicles appeared in such papers as “written off” - that is, they allegedly served their time in the transport of the state ATP, plant, collective farm.

Restyling of the exclusive

Naturally, many amateur designers did not stop there and, after registering the machine, continued to improve it. Moreover, sometimes a new, more advanced one was built under the documents of an already built, long-registered car - fortunately, a photograph was not attached to the registration certificate. Thanks to bodies made of durable stainless fiberglass, we can still see some of the truly unique homemade cars today. And what is doubly gratifying is that they are often stored in museum collections. One of the little known custom built cars. Its metal body amazes with the complexity of its manufacture: all rounded surfaces are made up of dozens of shaped pieces of sheet steel carefully fitted according to patterns and then welded. In addition, the car has a homemade three-cylinder engine: its creator, Muscovite O. Kucherenko, did not wait for the engine of the permitted volume to arrive at the store.



KD (“Sport-900”): (1969)



The stylish coupe of the passenger formula “2+2” is created on the basis of the units of the “humpbacked” ZAZ-965. The car is rear-engine, the fiberglass body is mounted on a flat tubular frame, the curb weight is only 500 kg. Several like-minded people took part in the project, for each of whom a fiberglass body was glued using a single matrix. Construction of the machines took seven years. The total number of bodies is 5 or 6, the exact number of complete cars is at least four. Several of them have survived to this day.




GTSH (1969)



One of the most famous home-made cars of the Soviet period, its name contains the surname of the brothers-authors: “Gran Turismo Shcherbinin”. The engine from the GAZ-21 Volga accelerated the coupe to 150 km/h. Anatoly and Vladimir welded the frame of the car under construction in the courtyard of a high-rise building. Then they took her to an apartment on the seventh floor, where they gradually “dressed” her with body panels glued from fiberglass. After that, the finished body was lowered down again, and it was completed in the yard power unit, suspension, cladding, interior. Having survived two “restylings”, the car has survived to this day.

"Doe" (1972)





A typical custom-built car, which had not previously been seen at DIY gatherings. Sedan with a two-door body (Tudor). Built by a resident of the Lugansk (formerly Voroshilovgrad) region during the early “Samavto” period. Based on units and parts of production cars; over time was modernized - more powerful engine from VAZ-2101. The body is fiberglass, with a harmonious, stylistically consistent design. The car was operated in Lisichansk until the mid-2000s and has remained running to this day.

"Triton" (1985)



This unique vehicle is registered with both the State Traffic Inspectorate and the State Inspectorate of Small Boats. The engine is from the Volga GAZ-21, the transmission is from the ZAZ-968 Zaporozhets. Unlike many other amphibians, Triton feels confident both on land and on water. Thanks to the excellent weight distribution along the axles (50:50), the car is characterized by a smooth ride and stability on the highway. The propeller on the water is a water jet, which allows movement in shallow water, the propeller on the ground is wheels. In planing mode on the water, they are lifted up along the sides by a cable winch. For long water trips, the wheels can be removed completely, for which the hydraulic brake lines are equipped with quick-acting “dry” connectors.



"Mercury" (1980)

We can say that this is a VAZ-2106 with a coupe body. In addition to the aggregate base of the “six”, its steel bottom was also used, which serves as the basis for attaching suspension elements and a fiberglass body. Non-essential parts are made of burlap impregnated with epoxy resin, and fiberglass is used, in particular, for gluing the standard metal bottom of the VAZ-2106. Five copies were built: two in Tbilisi and three in Moscow. The first, “starting” copy was built in a Moscow basement. Several cars have been preserved, one of them has been converted into an electric car.

"Centaur" (1984)

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