Moskvich-403

Moskvich-403 at a glance

The Moskvich-403 was a stopgap that MZMA, the Soviet Union's (USSR) small-car plant, used to bridge the gap between the rounded 407 and the all-new 408. Outwardly it was very close to the Moskvich-407, with new rear lamps, a revised grille and a reorganised dashboard. Underneath, it put the next model's components into series production early.

Its number is unusual. Moskvich models had climbed in order from the 400 through the 402 to the 407, so a car arriving after the 407 would be expected to carry a higher figure. The lower index is usually explained as a deliberate signal that the 403 was a temporary model, while the next "real" Moskvich, with a new styling line, was being prepared.

The plant kept the MZMA name throughout the 403's life; the AZLK name came only in October 1968, three years after the last car was built.

Why MZMA built a transitional model

The 403 existed because the 408 took longer to prepare than the 407 had left to run. Design work on the 408 began in 1959 and the first prototype was ready in March 1961, but it had a new body and a long list of new parts, and the first production car was not completed until 1 August 1964.

Rather than wait, the plant moved the finished mechanical improvements into the old body, in line with its habit of replacing assemblies step by step. The suspension, brakes and clutch could thus be proven on a car the workforce already knew how to build, while the 408's body tooling followed later. The 407 was phased out in October 1963, the 403 took over its place, and for roughly a year from August 1964 it shared the plant with the newer car.

The start date is the least certain part of the story. Spec databases give 1962 to 1965, the English Wikipedia article quotes 1961, mid-1963 and 1964 in different passages, and an earlier description of the car named December 1962. The end is clearer: the last 403 was built in July 1965.

Design and engineering changes

The 403's engineering news was all under the skin. Compared with the 407, it introduced four main changes, each of which carried over to the Moskvich-408:

1. Front suspension: a redesigned independent front end. Older descriptions give transverse arms with two ball joints per side and telescopic hydraulic dampers.
2. Brakes: drums on all four wheels, now with self-adjusting wheel cylinders, which reduced the need for regular manual adjustment.
3. Clutch: hydraulic actuation in place of a mechanical linkage.
4. Electrics: an improved 12-volt system; the 12 V standard itself had arrived with the 402.

The rear suspension stayed conventional, with a rigid axle on longitudinal semi-elliptic leaf springs. The body was the unitary steel shell of the 402 and 407 with minor changes. Inside, several trim parts came from the 408, but in a light colour; the 408 used black. The seats were covered in artificial leather, and the front bench had a split backrest that folded flat to form a sleeping area.

Safety equipment was of its era: seat belts do not appear in the specifications consulted. No crash-test data exists for the car.

Engine and drivetrain

The Moskvich-403 used the 407's overhead-valve four-cylinder petrol engine, displacing about 1.36 litres and rated at 45 hp, roughly 34 kW, at 4,500 rpm. Sources quote the capacity as anything from 1,357 to 1,360 cc; the 76 mm bore and 75 mm stroke work out at about 1,361 cc, so the differences are rounding.

Torque is given as 88 Nm (65 lb-ft) at 2,600 rpm in one spec dataset. The compression ratio of 7.0:1 suited low-octane petrol of around 80 octane, and fuel was fed by a carburettor. Some late cars are reported to have received a 50 hp (about 37 kW) version of the engine, but only one source family states this, so it should be treated as unconfirmed.

Drive reached the rear axle through a four-speed manual gearbox, synchronised on the 407 since December 1959 and operated by a steering-column lever. One online dataset lists front-wheel drive and ABS for this car; both entries are simply wrong.

Moskvich-403 specifications

The table covers the 403 saloon. Most dimensions come from a single spec dataset that matches older published figures, so treat them as typical rather than official factory values.

The consumption figure is a dataset average, with roughly 10 L/100 km (23.5 mpg US) quoted for town driving; no period test cycle is stated. A 0–100 km/h time of 36 seconds appears only in an older description and is left out here.

Variants and export versions

The 403 was the core of a small family that shared its engine and running gear. A four-wheel-drive version was never built: the off-road Moskvich models of the period were based on the 402 and 407.

The 424 estate

The 424 turned the saloon into a practical load carrier. Its flat floor measured 1,220 × 1,473 mm (48.0 × 58.0 in), roughly 1.8 m² (19.4 sq ft), and it was rated for 250 kg (551 lb) of cargo thanks to slightly wider rear springs. The spare wheel moved under the floor, while the loading sill sat more than 75 cm (29.5 in) above the ground. Pick-ups were not built at the plant; those that exist were converted later.

Export trim and markets

Export saloons were easy to spot. The 403E and 403IE had a wider grille that reached into the wings, clear indicator lenses, chrome mirrors on the wings, double side trim and rear-lamp lenses in body colour. Wikipedia counts 50,612 export cars out of the total.

East Germany and Poland were among the buyers. According to a 2022 feature in the Polish magazine Auto Świat, official imports to Poland were mainly export-spec saloons, with some estates and vans; taxi and ambulance versions were not offered there. In Belgium, the importer and assembler Sobimpex (Scaldia) continued building 407-based models even after the 403 had reached some markets.

Driving character: strengths and weaknesses

Classic-car writers today see the 403 as tough and simple rather than refined. Auto Świat called it primitive and poorly assembled, yet credited it with genuine virtues for its time.

On the positive side, the car had a reputation for being proven and dependable, its ground clearance was high (the Polish magazine measured 22 cm, or 8.7 in, under the axles), and the cabin shutter for the radiator helped in winter. Measured against its Soviet contemporaries, the magazine noted, the Moskvich offered more interior space than the small Zaporozhets and cost less than the larger Volga.

The weaknesses were just as clear: build quality was uneven, and the windscreen wipers were driven by a cable from a worm on the camshaft, so their speed rose and fell with the engine. In heavy rain at low speeds, visibility suffered.

Production numbers and place in the Moskvich line

Wikipedia puts total output at 133,523 cars, of which 50,612 were exported. That is a modest figure next to the 359,980 examples of the 407, which reflects the 403's short production run. A lower total of 105,726 also appears in older material, including earlier descriptions of the car.

In the family tree, the 403 is the last car of the rounded-body generation that began with the 402 of 1956. Its suspension, brakes and clutch lived on in the 408, and through it in the Moskvich-412. The line itself goes back to the Moskvich-400, and our history of Moskvich and AZLK traces the full sequence of models.

Preservation and collecting today

A surviving 403 is best identified by its mechanical details, because the body is nearly identical to that of the 407. These checks help:

• Badging and lamps: the rear lamps differ from those of the 407, and the wing ornament is reported to carry "403" in place of "407".
• Clutch: a hydraulic master cylinder points to a 403; a mechanical linkage suggests a 407 or a later swap.
• Brakes and front suspension: self-adjusting wheel cylinders and the revised front suspension are 403 features; parts from the 408 are related, which helps with spares.
• Export trim: a wide grille running into the wings and double side mouldings indicate a 403E or 403IE, or a car later dressed up to look like one.
• Cabin: light-coloured interior trim is original; black panels may have come from a 408.
• Structure: check sills, floor pans, wheel arches and the suspension mounting points carefully. This is general advice for any steel monocoque of the 1960s, not a documented weakness of this model.

Market values are outside the scope of this page. For other cars from the same period, browse Soviet classic cars, classic cars of the 1960s or all Moskvich models.