AZLK Moskvich-2144 "Istra", 1985-88. A concept car mock-up was built after the call of the USSR government to create promising models in 2000. The Moskvich-2144 car was developed in 1985 by the Advanced Design Group, specially created at AZLK, and was declared as the "Car of the Year 2000". The car received its name "Istra," and its focus on the future was stuffed with solutions unprecedented for the domestic auto industry. The streamlined body was made of aluminum. "Istra" was equipped with air suspension, and the ground clearance was electronically regulated, depending on the speed of the car and the type of road surface. A single side door, sliding up, opened access to both rows of seats simultaneously. The car was equipped with several active and passive safety devices: airbags, seat belts with pretensioners, ABS, forward-view scanners,
The engine of "Istra" deserves a separate story. The three-cylinder turbodiesel ELKO 3.82.92T was offered for installation on the car (and later, when the new family was put into production, the original engine, created based on ELKO technologies) of the German company Elsbett with a capacity of 82-95 hp. and a working volume of 1.45 liters, aggregated with a continuously variable transmission. This power was enough to accelerate the Istra, whose mass was 700 kg, to a speed of 185 km / h. Fuel consumption per 100 kilometers ranged from 2.2 to 3.5 liters, depending on the driving mode. The main feature of this engine was its multi-fuel capacity - in particular, in addition to conventional diesel fuel, kerosene, boiler fuel, biodiesel mixtures, in which the amount of gasoline reached 20% of the total volume, could be used,
Moskvich-2144 did not leave the stage of experimental work, and its index was subsequently assigned to the all-wheel-drive version of the Ivan Kalita sedan.
Source: denisovets.narod.ru (translated from Russian)
