Moskvich-2140

Moskvich-2140 at a glance: maker, years and purpose

The Moskvich-2140 was a five-seat family saloon made by AZLK, the Lenin Komsomol Automobile Plant, between January 1976 and July 1988. The plant was called MZMA until its renaming in 1968. The history of Moskvich and AZLK covers the company itself; this page concentrates on the 2140 and its derivatives.

The car was not a clean-sheet design. AZLK took the body structure of the Moskvich-412, gave it a new front and rear, a new interior and better brakes, and renamed it. Export cars wore the name Moskvitch 1500, after the engine size. A twin model, the Moskvich-2138, shared the same body but kept the older and smaller engine of the Moskvich-408.

Development and production history

The 2140 entered production in January 1976, straight after the Moskvich-408 and 412 saloons ended in December 1975. Pre-production cars had been shown in 1975. Because the new model reused the old body structure, roof and mechanical layout, the change-over did not need a new shell.

Engine supply decided the shape of the range. The UZAM-412 engines came from a separate engine plant, UZAM, which at first could not build enough of them. AZLK therefore launched two cars at once: the 2140 with the 1.5-litre aluminium engine and the 2138 with the 1,358 cc MZMA-408 unit rated at 50 PS (37 kW). The 2138 was sold abroad as the Moskvitch 1360 and stayed in production until 1982.

From 1982 the 2140 was the only saloon on the line. That year brought a facelift with the new AZLK badge, and the luxury 2140 SL, launched in 1981, added plastic bumpers and new head restraints. A more radical update, the 2140SR, was shown at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1979 with production planned for 1980, but it never went into series production.

The successor came from a different direction. The Moskvich-2141 Aleko, a front-wheel-drive hatchback, entered production in 1986, and the two cars shared the plant for more than two years. The last 2140 saloons were built in July 1988.

Design and engineering

The 2140 kept the 412's body shell but changed almost everything you could see. According to a detailed 2019 review by the Czech magazine Auto.cz, every outer panel apart from the roof was new. The chrome grille gave way to a black plastic one, the round headlamps to rectangular units made by the East German supplier VER, which also equipped the Wartburg 353. New bumpers and tail lights, flush door handles and a fuel filler moved to the centre of the rear panel above the bumper completed the change.

The cabin was the larger step forward. Auto.cz lists hazard warning lights, an electric windscreen washer, a heated rear window, a new steering wheel, front head restraints and round gauges set in a leatherette-trimmed dashboard. The ignition switch sat to the left of the steering column. Together these changes moved the interior on from the late-1960s design of the 412.

Chassis, steering and brakes

Underneath, the 2140 used a conventional layout: independent front suspension, a rigid rear axle on leaf springs and worm-type steering. Brakes were the biggest mechanical upgrade. The car had a dual-circuit system with a servo and disc brakes at the front, while the wheels ran on 13-inch cross-ply (diagonal) tyres. The turning circle is quoted as 11.4 m (37.4 ft).

In the Auto.cz test the rigid rear axle limited confidence in fast bends, but the suspension rode bumps and unpaved surfaces comfortably.

Engine and drivetrain

All mainstream 2140 versions used the UZAM-412, a 1,478 cc inline-four with an overhead camshaft and an aluminium cylinder block. Bore and stroke are 82.0 × 70.0 mm (3.23 × 2.76 in), the compression ratio is 8.8:1 and fuel is fed by a single carburettor. The engine needs petrol of at least 93 octane and produces 55 kW (75 PS) at 5,800 rpm. Peak torque is given as 112 Nm in German reference data and 115 Nm in English-language sources, so about 112–115 Nm (83–85 lb-ft) at around 3,000–3,800 rpm.

The engine is inclined in the bay by 20 degrees, a feature carried over from the 412, where it was designed by Igor Okunev. Its link with the BMW M10 is disputed: Auto.cz describes the design as based on the old BMW four-cylinder, while English-language reference works call the resemblance superficial. One practical detail survived to the end: the engine could still be turned over with a hand crank, which helped in severe cold.

Power reaches the rear wheels through a single dry-plate clutch and a four-speed manual gearbox. Reverse is not synchronised. The 21406 rural version used a detuned engine with a 7.5:1 compression ratio, rated at 50 kW (68 PS) at 4,800 rpm and 105 Nm (77 lb-ft), so it could run on 76-octane fuel.

Moskvich-2140 specifications

The table covers the standard 2140 saloon with the UZAM-412 engine. Full data for each version is on the 1.5 sedan specifications page.

Some figures need context. The consumption range combines a factory figure of 8.8 L/100 km at a steady 80 km/h (50 mph) with 10.4 L/100 km measured in an East German test, so it is not a modern combined-cycle value. The same test recorded 142 km/h (88 mph) and stopped the car from 80 km/h in 42.6 m (140 ft). Some catalogues give a kerb weight of 1,045 kg, which is the published figure for the earlier 412.

Variants and derivatives

AZLK built the 2140 family as saloons, estates, vans and a pickup, plus versions for taxi fleets, rural owners and disabled drivers. The 2137 estate is often described as the last Soviet car with tail-light fins.

In service: operation, reliability and legacy

AZLK sold the 2140 in Belgium, where it was marketed under the Scaldia name, and in Finland and Greece, where Moskvich cars had a following. Western sales fell away from 1984. East Germany imported only the 2137 estate, and only between 1977 and 1979.

How it drives today

The most useful modern assessment is the Auto.cz road test of a preserved car, published in May 2019. The car felt quicker than its figures suggest, and the four-speed gearbox was described as precise. The pedals were light but gave little feedback, the brakes were adequate for the car's performance, and visibility was good. The engine became loud at high revs.

Reliability and legacy

Auto.cz rates the mechanical parts as sturdy and reliable and names the ageing body as the main weakness, especially corrosion of the underbody. The same article says the 2140 resisted rust better than Škoda models of the period.

The 2140's legacy is that of the last classic Moskvich: a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive saloon with roots in the 1960s. Its replacement, the Aleko, changed layout and body style completely, and AZLK stopped car production in 2001. Today the 2140 sits among the Soviet classic cars of the late 1970s and 1980s.

Preservation and collecting today

Surviving 2140s are rare outside former Soviet-bloc countries, and even in the Czech Republic Auto.cz found them practically absent from the roads in 2019. The cars that remain are kept running by enthusiasts, who often fit refreshed or updated carburettors and alternators.

When inspecting one, the body deserves more attention than the engine. Underbody corrosion is the problem the press singles out, so floor pans, sills and the areas around the rear springs should be checked from below. Identifying the exact version matters too: a 2138 or a 21406 looks almost the same as a standard 2140 but has a very different engine. We found no verified English-, German- or Czech-language source on parts supply, so availability should be checked with specialist clubs before buying. The car is listed with other models of the period under classic cars of the 1970s, and the rest of the range is under all Moskvich models.