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SMZ Cycle-car
The SMZ was a Soviet cyclecar or microcar, manufactured in Serpukhov, Russia, by ''Serpukhov Motor Works'' (, ''Serpukhovskiy Motozavod''), later known as the now-defunct SeAZ. The most common models were the S-3A and S-3D. They were specially designed for disabled drivers and were distributed in the USSR for free or at a large discount through the Soviet Union's social welfare system, and were not officially sold to non-disabled people. The S-3A-M was produced between 1958 and 1970. It was powered by a 346 cc single-cylinder two-stroke engine, giving and a top speed of . The S-3D, produced between 1970 and 1997, was a twin-seat, four-wheeled cyclecar, in length, but rather heavy (≈500 kg) due to its all-steel body. It was powered by an IZH-P3 air-cooled two-stroke engine. In the USSR, the model was commonly known as a "motor-wheelchair" (, ''invalidka'') because they were only leased via the social care system to disabled people for five years without permission to sel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SeAZ
SeAZ () was a large engineering plant in Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast, Russia. From 1939 to 1995, the company was called SMZ (Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant) and produced various cyclecars for use by disabled drivers, usually powered by IZh motorcycle engines. Between 1991 and 2008 it also produced Lada Oka microcars developed by AvtoVAZ. The company was declared bankrupt in 2013. History The company was founded on July 7, 1939, by an order of the People's Commissariat for General Automotive Industry and by the head of '' Glavmotoveloprom'', concerning production of small-capacity motorcycles. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the factory entered a period of development: the prototype of a new car was designed and produced, and was named "Oka". It anticipated the car produced nowadays. In 1985, the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union issued a decree "On the creation of new capacities for the production of the new model of a microcar at the AvtoVAZ and KamAZ plants and at the Ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invacar
The Invacar (abbreviated from "invalid carriage") is a small single-seater microcar vehicle designed for use by disabled drivers, and was distributed for free in the UK. History In 1948, Bert Greeves adapted a motorbike for exclusively manual control with the help of his paralysed cousin, Derry Preston-Cobb, as transport for Preston-Cobb. In the number of former servicemen disabled in the Second World War they spotted a commercial opportunity and approached the UK government for support, leading to the creation of Invacar Ltd. The British Ministry of Pensions distributed Invacars free to disabled people from 1948 until the 1970s. Most early vehicles were powered by an air-cooled Villiers Engineering, Villiers 197 cc engine with Dynastart, but when production of that engine ceased in the early 1970s it was replaced by a more powerful 4-stroke 500 cc or 600 cc Steyr-Puch engine, giving a reported top speed of . During the 1960s and 70s the Invacar, with its modern fibreglass s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convertibles
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving experience, with the ability to provide a roof when required. A potential drawback of convertibles is their reduced structural rigidity (requiring significant engineering and modification to counteract the side effects of almost completely removing a car's roof). The majority of convertible roofs are of a folding construction framework with the actual top made from cloth or other fabric. Other types of convertible roofs include retractable hardtops (often constructed from metal or plastic) and detachable hardtops (where a metal or plastic roof is manually removed and often stored in the trunk). Terminology Other terms for convertibles include cabriolet, cabrio, drop top, drophead coupé, open two-seater, open top, rag top, soft top, spid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subcompact Cars
Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) car size class definition, the subcompact category sits between the "minicompact" and "compact" categories. The EPA definition of a subcompact is a passenger car with a combined interior and cargo volume of . Current examples of subcompact cars are the Nissan Versa and Mitsubishi Mirage. The smaller cars in the A-segment/city car category (such as the Chevrolet Spark and Smart Fortwo) are sometimes called subcompacts in the U.S., because the EPA's name for this smaller category — "minicompact" — is not commonly used by the general public. The prevalence of small cars in the United States increased in the 1960s due to increased imports of cars from Europe and Japan. Widespread use of the term subcompact coincided w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcars
Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include #Bubble cars, bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycle (EU vehicle classification), quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often covered by separate regulations to normal cars, having relaxed requirements for registration and licensing. Predecessors Voiturette is a term used by some small cars and tricycles manufactured from 1895 to 1910. Cyclecars are a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s. Europe 1940–1970: Microcars The first cars to be described as microcars (earlier equivalents were called voiturettes or cyclecars) were built in the United Kingdom and Germany following World War II, and remained popular until the 1960s. They were originally called minicars, but later became known as microcars. France also produced large numbers of similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Automobiles
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area, extending across eleven time zones and sharing borders with twelve countries, and the third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), it was a flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow. The Soviet Union's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin, established the Russian SFSR, the world's first constitutionally communist state. The revolution was not accepted by all wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Cars
The A-segment is the first category in the passenger car classification system defined by the European Commission. It is used for city cars, the smallest category of passenger cars defined. A-segment sales represented approximately 4.2% of the European market in 2024. It is approximately equivalent to the kei car class in Japan. Definition As of 2021, the A-segment category size spans from approximately to . Characteristics Body styles for A-segment cars in Europe are always hatchbacks. But as Crossover (automobile), crossovers gain popularity, new models may shift to resemble crossovers. Examples of Crossover_(automobile)#Crossover_city_car_(A-segment), crossover city cars include Suzuki Ignis and Toyota Aygo X. Other body styles such as Sedan (automobile), sedans are not present in this segment because these shapes largely prove impractical at typical A-segment dimensions. Current models In 2020 the ten highest selling A-segment cars in Europe were Fiat Panda, Fiat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LiveJournal
LiveJournal (), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as a way of keeping his high school friends updated on his activities. In January 2005, American blogging software company Six Apart purchased Danga Interactive, the company that operated LiveJournal, from Fitzpatrick. Six Apart sold LiveJournal to Russian media company SUP Media in 2007; the service continued to operate out of the U.S. via a California-based subsidiary, LiveJournal, Inc., but began moving some operations to Russian offices in 2009. In December 2016, the service relocated its servers to Russia, and in April 2017, LiveJournal changed its terms of service to conform to Russian law. As with other social networks, a wide variety of public figures use the service, as do political pundits, who use it for political commentary, particularly in Russia, where it partn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gearbox
A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/reduction in a machine. Transmissions can have a single fixed-gear ratio, multiple distinct gear ratios, or continuously variable ratios. Variable-ratio transmissions are used in all sorts of machinery, especially vehicles. Applications Early uses Early transmissions included the right-angle drives and other gearing in windmills, horse-powered devices, and steam-powered devices. Applications of these devices included pumps, mills and hoists. Bicycles Bicycles traditionally have used hub gear or Derailleur gear transmissions, but there are other more recent design innovations. Automobiles Since the torque and power output of an internal combustion engine (ICE) varies with its rpm, automobiles powered by ICEs require multiple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VAZ-1111
The Lada Оkа (VAZ-1111, SeAZ-1111, КаmАZ-1111, Astro 11301) () is a city car designed in the Soviet Union in the later part of the seventies by AvtoVAZ. It entered production in 1988 powered by a SOHC two-cylinder engine. While developed at AutoVAZ by a team led by Yuri Kuteev, no production models were built there. Instead, manufacturing was outsourced to SeAZ factory in Serpukhov and ZMA in Naberezhnye Chelny (then owned by Kamaz and now owned by SeverstalAvto). Massive plans were in place for a new plant in Yelabuga, but these failed to materialize. The car was also produced in Azerbaijan by the Gyandzha Auto Plant. The name comes from the Oka River in Russia upon which Serpukhov is situated. History This affordable, lightweight and simple automobile replaced the air-cooled, rear-engined ZAZ Zaporozhets 966-968 series models as "the people's car". SeAZ factory specialized in building purpose-built vehicles for handicapped drivers and by the 1970s their offering was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zaporozhets
ZAZ Zaporozhets ( ) was a series of rear-wheel-drive superminis (city cars in their first generation) designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine. Different models of the Zaporozhets, all of which had an air-cooled engine in the rear, were produced until 1994. Since the late 1980s, the final series, ZAZ-968M, was replaced by the cardinally different ZAZ-1102 Tavria hatchback, which featured a front-wheel drive and a more powerful water-cooled engine. The name ''Zaporozhets'' translates into a Cossack of the Zaporizhian Sich or а man from Zaporozhye (now Zaporizhzhia) or the Zaporozhye Oblast (now Zaporizhzhia Oblast). Zaporozhets is still well known in many former Soviet states. Like the Volkswagen Beetle or East Germany's Trabant, the Zaporozhets was destined to become a "people's car" of the Soviet Union, and as such it was the most affordable vehicle of its era. At the same time, it was rather sturdy and known for its excellent performance on po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disabled
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or a combination of multiple factors. Disabilities can be present from birth or can be acquired during a person's lifetime. Historically, disabilities have only been recognized based on a narrow set of criteria—however, disabilities are not binary and can be present in unique characteristics depending on the individual. A disability may be readily visible, or invisible in nature. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines disability as including: Disabilities have been perceived differently throughout history, through a variety of different theoretical lenses. There are two main models that attempt to explain disability in our society: the medical model and the social model. The me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
