Many glorious dates are inscribed in the history of the Volga Automobile Plant, associated with the start and increase in the production of VAZ cars, their modernization and renewal. In April 1970, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.I. Lenin, the first cars left the assembly line, and in December 1973 the millionth car was produced. In 1977, the production of a new all-wheel drive car began here VAZ-2121.
In the future, the rate of production did not decrease. In 1979, the five millionth car was produced, in 1984 - the eight millionth, and finally, in 1986, the coveted milestone was reached - car No. 10,000,000 rolled off the assembly line of the plant.
The desire of the plant staff to be at the level of the requirements of scientific and technological progress allowed the plant to launch a new or modernized car model every one and a half to two years. Each of them, as a rule, increased efficiency and comfort, provided greater safety for the driver and passengers and a lower degree of environmental pollution.
The plant's team has accumulated rich experience, and today it is capable of solving the most complex tasks.
The 26th and 27th Congresses of the CPSU and the plenums of the Central Committee of the Party determined a firm course towards the intensification and restructuring of the economy of the national economy, towards an all-out increase in labor productivity. For automakers, this means, first of all, the creation of cars corresponding to the promising world level, improving the quality and reliability of manufactured cars, increasing production, and introducing the latest technologies.
Fulfilling the tasks set by the party and the government, the Volga automakers have prepared for the release of a new basic front-wheel drive model - VAZ-2108 («Lada-Sputnik»). The first batch of these cars left the assembly line in 1984. Then, in 1986, the second model, the VAZ-2109, was mastered and modifications of cars based on the VAZ-2108 and VAZ-2109 began to be produced.
The development of front-wheel drive vehicles characterizes a qualitative leap in the development of the domestic automotive industry and plays the same role as a car in its time VAZ-2101. Putting into production fundamentally new models is not just replacing one model with another on the assembly line. This is, first of all, the introduction of progressive technological processes into production, the development of new materials, the replacement of equipment and the installation of new automatic lines that correspond to the modern technical level.
Recently, the efforts of automakers around the world are aimed at solving the main task - to reduce fuel consumption and reduce environmental pollution. Combustion efficiency is improved, the weight of the units is reduced, friction losses in moving parts are reduced, aerodynamic drag is reduced, etc. There are more and more front-wheel drive cars: this arrangement allows them to reduce their weight and efficiently use the interior space. All these trends were reflected in the design of the VAZ-2108, VAZ-2109 and their modifications, work on which began in 1978.
Based on a comprehensive analysis of technical and technological capabilities and a generalization of the experience of operating such vehicles abroad, the terms of reference for the production of a front-wheel drive vehicle were approved as the most promising for the coming years. A sufficient number of prototypes of cars were made, which were tested in various climatic zones of our country. In addition, all vehicle components were subjected to comprehensive bench tests. According to their results, appropriate changes were made to the design of the car and its components.
When developing and fine-tuning cars, the most serious attention was paid to the reliability and durability of components, manufacturability, a high level of active and passive safety, and reducing the labor intensity of maintenance. All this, combined with the advantages of a front-wheel drive car, made it possible to achieve high consumer qualities of VAZ-2108 and VAZ-2109 cars, in which they are not inferior to their foreign counterparts.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the design of cars cannot be considered as something unchanged. The staff of the Volga Automobile Plant is constantly working on its improvement. Changes are being made and will be made to it, aimed at improving the consumer qualities of cars, at increasing reliability and manufacturability. Therefore, there may be some discrepancies between the text of the book and the design of cars that came off the assembly line after the book was published. This publication reflects the arrangement of vehicles as of September 1987.