ZAZ Tavria () is a range of

front-wheel-drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional l ...

subcompact cars produced by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and then Ukrainian manufacturer

ZAZ ZAZ or Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant (, ''Zaporiz'kyi avtomobilebudivnyi zavod'' or ''Zaporiz'kyi avtozavod'') is the main automobile manufacturer of Ukraine, based in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia. It also produces buses and t ...

. ZAZ-1102 Tavria and subsequent ZAZ-1102 Tavria Nova, ZAZ-1105 Dana, ZAZ-1103 Slavuta and ZAZ-11055 Tavria Pick-Up replaced the

rear wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-whee ...

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 engi ...

series in the product lineup. Production of all ZAZ Tavria models (except Pick-up) stopped in 2007.

ZAZ-1102 Tavria

In the 1970s, several experimental models of hatchback and two-door sedan were created in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. ZAZ-1102 Tavria, a 3-door hatchback released in 1987, was the first model of the range. It features independent

MacPherson strut The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles. The name comes from American automotive engineer ...

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

at the front and a

twist-beam rear suspension The twist-beam rear suspension (also torsion-beam axle, deformable torsion beam, or compound crank) is a type of automobile suspension (vehicle), suspension based on a large H- or C-shaped member. The front of the H attaches to the body via rub ...

. The

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and no ...

MeMZ MEMZ is a trojan horse created for Microsoft Windows. The name of the malware refers to its purpose as a humorous Trojan intended to replicate the effects of early computer viruses. Origin MEMZ was originally created by Leurak for YouTuber da ...

-245 I4 engine was a major shift forward from the

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

V4 used in former models. The 1102 acquired the Tavria name in 1989. It was chosen in an internal factory contest and resembles ''Tauric'', the ancient

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

name of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. ZAZ-1102 "Tavria" became the basis for a whole line of cars, which are both directly modifications of the base model (more than 40 different variants), and independent models on its platform, such as: "five-door liftback" ZAZ-1103 "Slavuta", "Five-door station wagon" ZAZ-1105 "Dana" and commercial pickup truck ZAZ-11055 "Pick-Up".

ZAZ-1102 Tavria Nova

ZAZ-1102 Tavria Nova production started in 1999. "Tavria Nova" is a modification created jointly with Daewoo, aimed at eliminating the identified deficiencies and improving technical and operational indicators. A cosmetic modernization of the radiator grille, headlights and taillights was carried out, as well as new decorative caps on 4.5J wheel rims with tubeless tires began to be used, a third brake light was installed on the rear door. To improve the reliability of the car and increase the level of passive safety, the load-bearing and technological elements of the body were reinforced, which made it possible to reduce the noise level in the cabin. In 2006 and 2007, the plant's management announced several times about the imminent withdrawal of the model from production. The mass production of the ZAZ-1102 "Tavria" hatchback model was completed in 2007, although at least two more batches were assembled in 2008 and 2009.

ZAZ-1103 Slavuta

ZAZ-1103 Slavuta was a B-class

liftback A liftback is a variation of a hatchback car body style, with a more gently sloping roofline, roughly between 45 and 10 degrees, whereas traditional or archetypal hatchback designs tend to use a 45 degree to near vertical slope on the top-hinged ...

released in 1995 and discontinued in 2011. It featured a

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All c ...

engine of 1,2-1,3 liters. Due to the use of a completely new liftback type body with an elongated roof line and more rounded contours of the hood and trunk lid, turn indicators were moved onto the headlamp assemblies and rain gutters from above the doors were removed. The aerodynamics were improved, luggage compartment volume was increased, the loading height lowered by 60 cm, and the dirtying of the rear glass in rainy weather was decreased. When ZAZ started the production of

Chevrolet Lanos The Daewoo Lanos is a compact hatchback / sedan car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Daewoo from 1997 to 2002, and thereafter produced under license agreements in various countries worldwide. It has also been marketed as the Daewoo Sens ...

, some design elements of Chevrolet Lanos (such as seat and door parts) were added to the Slavuta. During the period of production more than 140 000 cars were produced. In January 2011 the last car of the ZAZ-1103 "Slavuta" model was produced by the ZAZ line, and it was sold during an online auction on February 11, 2011, for ₴47,020.

ZAZ Forza ''Forza'' ( , ; Italian language, Italian for "force" and "strength") is a racing game, racing video game series for Xbox consoles and Microsoft Windows published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise has sold 16 million copies as of December 20 ...

became the direct descendant of Slavuta on the line. ''ZAZ-Slavuta'' and ''ZAZ-Tavria'' family were the last wholly Ukrainian cars. In 2004 the Slavuta was awarded zero stars out of a possible four by the Russian

ARCAP ARCAP (Autoreview Car Assessment Program) is an automobile safety assessment program founded by the Russian car magazine Autoreview. It was Russia's first independent rating for the passive safety of a car, presenting itself as the local edition ...

safety assessment program.

ZAZ-1105 Dana

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ZAZ-1105 Dana, a 5-door wagon version was released in 1992 and discontinued in 1999. Since 1996, a commercial van has been made. The latest version uses updated

-301 engines with

. Compared to the standard "Tavria" it had improved

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

ZAZ-11055 Tavria Pick-Up

ZAZ-11055 Tavria Pick-Up is a

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. Depending on laws and designations, a commercial vehicle can be any broad type of motor vehicle used commercially or for business purposes. Classi ...

designed for small

cargo transportation Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been exte ...

. In contrast to the passenger models, the pickup has a fiberglass cargo compartment and plastic upper cover. The Tavria Pick-Up has a body 20 cm longer than the passenger model. ''Tavria Pick-Up'' is designated for cargo transportation, and its front support beam is made of thicker metal than in

hatchback A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...

(3.2 mm instead of 2.8 mm). It was powered by a

-310 engine (1.1-1.3 liters). ''Tavria Pick-Up'' behaves well on uneven roads due to the reinforced structure of the rear suspension. It is more rigid compared to the passenger hatchback. This also increased the vehicle's carrying capacity to 420 kg. The fiberglass cargo compartment is rigidly screwed to body. It measures 1250 mm high and 1300 mm wide. The length of cargo is 1320 mm, but it is possible to open the upper rear hatch, which is supported by pneumatic struts to transport longer items. The large area of the rear hatches of tail gate perfectly suits small traders. As such the car can be used as mobile trading stall. The lower part of the hatch can be opened to create a 'counter'.

Outside the USSR

Producers positioned Tavria as an economy-class car. It was sold in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

as the Lada Tavria in the early 1990s, and in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

between 1992 and 1995. The 3-door hatchbacks were sold in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

from 1992 to 1995. In 1989 the USSR Ministry of Automobile industry released a promotional video targeting the Western market, which won the Cannes Bronze Lion for trade ads.

References

{{ZAZ vehicles ARCAP superminis 1980s cars 1990s cars 2000s cars Tavria Soviet brands Ukrainian brands Soviet automobiles Cars introduced in 1987 Cars discontinued in 2010