$3614 USA: take Zaporozhets or…
ZAZ-966 “Zaporozhets” and Ford Mustang Mach I. It would seem that there could be something in common between a budget small car from the USSR – a car that everyone liked to joke about even in those days, and a sports coupe from the USA – a model that everyone wants in their garage. It turns out that the most important element of any car is the same for them …
ZAZ-966 “Zaporozhets” was produced in the Soviet Union since 1966. At the time of its creation, the “eared” in the USSR was considered, if not advanced, then quite a modern design. It had an original design, independent suspension, a new gearbox. In the booklets of Autoexport, the model was positioned as a 4-seater car with a 45-horsepower engine, developing a speed of 120 km/h. As a “plus” it was presented that at rush hour the “Zaporozhets” would slip everywhere and always be able to find a parking space.
The Ford Mustang Mach I in question appeared in 1969. It was a modernized version of the Mustang already known at that time: lengthened and heavier. Nevertheless, it was a full-fledged sports coupe, charged according to all the rules of the genre. The engine – a V-shaped “eight” with a displacement of 5.7 liters – could be paired with both “mechanics” and “automatic”. The 290-horsepower engine easily drove the speedometer to 200 km / h. Not a car – a projectile!
Now about the most important element of the passenger car. Of course, this is the price. In 1970, the ZAZ-966 “Zaporozhets” cost 3,000 Soviet conventional units, or at the official rate – $ 3,614 US. At the same time, the Ford Mustang Mach I cost… $3,562. That is, a charged sports coupe was CHEAPER, and you could buy it without any queue! But there were also less powerful and packaged versions in the Mustang line, and they cost… only $2820. You can, of course, refer to “overseas a heifer is a half, but the ruble is transported,” but the price will rise not by a third!
Do you think that I drew a comparison of a sedan and a coupe, and even an American one, by the ears – everything is cheaper there? Do you think that everything was different with classmates from Europe? Let's get a look. GAZ-24 “Volga”, the top of the model range of the Soviet automobile industry, available for purchase by ordinary motorists. Its price tag at that time was three times more expensive than that of Zaporozhets: 9200 conditional units or $11085. For the same money, a Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL was sold in Germany – 41,800 marks or $11,330. Unlike the GAZ-24, the “German” was equipped with a 2.8-liter in-line “six” with a capacity of 160 hp, an “automatic”, air conditioning, and much more that did not appear on the Volga until the very end of its production. But there were also Moskvich-408 for $5946 and Jaguar E-Type for $5920, or VAZ-2101 Zhiguli for $6711 and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray for $6650. Ways of pricing are inscrutable?
Perhaps the only car that was really better than its price opponents was the UAZ-469. At a cost of $8433, it beat the same Jeep CJ-5 for $6765 in all respects. Passability, functionality, capacity. That's just getting it in the Soviet Union in private ownership was, to put it mildly, very difficult …
