MeMZ 965

Engine of a ZAZ-965 Zaporozhets

The MeMZ 965 was a Soviet automobile engine, built by the Melitopolski Motor Plant (MeMZ).

Originally known as the NAMI-G (for the Soviet National Automotive Institute),^[1] the MeMZ 965 was designed for use in the LuAZ-967.^[2] It was a 746 cc (45.5 cu in) air-cooled 90° V4,^[3][4] producing 23 hp (17 kW; 23 PS).^[5] It had had characteristics not common for automobile engines, including a magnesium alloy engine block, accessories mounted high (to assist in case of crossing rivers), and a rear-mounted oil cooler.^[6]

When the initial MD-65 engine proposed for the ZAZ-965 proved inadequate, the MeMZ engine was selected, thanks in part to it being air-cooled, like the successful VW Type 1's boxer engine.^[7]

It would be developed into the 887 cc (54.1 cu in) MeMZ 966^[8] and the 1,197 cc (73.0 cu in) MeMZ 968.^[9] The MeMZ 968 was offered in the ZAZ 968M in three performance levels: E (40 hp (30 kW; 41 PS), carbureted, low-compression for 76-octane fuel); GE (40 hp (30 kW; 41 PS), dual carburettor); or BE (50 hp (37 kW; 51 PS), 8.4:1 compression, for 93-octane).^[10]

In addition, the 965 would serve as a prototype 15 PS (11 kW) 500 cc (31 cu in) vee-twin (half an MeMZ 965), for the prototype NAMI 086.^[11]

Notes

1. Thompson, Andy. Cars of the Soviet Union (Haynes Publishing, Somerset, UK, 2008), p.369.
2. Thompson, p.90.
3. Thompson, p.90.
4. ZAZ-965/965A, Avtolegendy SSSR Nr.17, DeAgostini 2009, ISSN 2071-095X, (Russian)
5. Thompson, p.92.
6. Thompson, p.90.
7. Thompson, p.89.
8. Thompson, p.200.
9. Thompson, p.201.
10. Thompson, p.203.
11. Thompson, p.203.

Sources

• Thompson, Andy. Cars of the Soviet Union. Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing, 2008.
• ZAZ-965/965A, Avtolegendy SSSR Nr.17, DeAgostini 2009. ISSN 2071-095X. (Russian)