1963 Moskvitch-403E
Moskvich-403 is a Soviet passenger car of small class, produced at Moscow Plant of Baby Cars (MZMA – Moskovsky Zavod Malolitrazhnykh Avtomobiley) from December 1962 till July 1965. It was a transitional automobile model between the Moskvich-407 existing on the assembly line till 1963 and the Moskvich-408, gone into production in 1964. A total of 105, 726 Moskvich-403 with modifications were produced.
At the beginning of 1960s the plant MZMA prepared for change-over to a crucially new in comparison with produced at that time Moskvich of the family 402—407 (body 425) model — future Moskvich-408. However, the preparation of its production dragged on, while the most part of the new car aggregates had already been ready for exploitation but only the production lines for pressing and welding of body panels were late, as they were the most expensive and time-consuming production parts of the operating equipment. Under such conditions the decision was made to set up the release of the transitional model in the old 425-body, but with a completely new sub frame, on which a power pack, a front suspension and a steering gear from the future 408 model were mounted. The Moskvich-403 was produced in parallel with both Moskvich-407 (till 1963) and Moskvich-408 (till the summer of 1965).
It ought to be noted that Moskvich-403 of the base model practically did not have external differences from Moskvich−407, except for rear lamps which became tripartite instead of bipartite. Only so called “export” (in fact both design variants were often offered for export as diverse grade) version — М-403Э — had a changed exterior — a wide radiator grill with rectangular mold lines, modified (“two-storey”) side molding, painted tail lights to match the body color, exterior rear-vision mirrors. Just such an automobile is shown in the illustration on the left, but it is necessary to consider that the bulk of the model release had still usual appearance as in the illustration above.
The automobile combined a body and an overhead valve engine of the М-407 and borrowed from the perspective М-408 a steering gear with an idler arm, a front suspension with two ball couplings on each side (with the М-402 and the М-407 the suspension had one ball coupling and one cylinder pin on each side), brakes, an under-motor frame and a front bodywork frame. The clutch pedal and the brakes were remade from floor into suspended, correspondingly the main brake cylinder was removed under the hood (earlier it was situated under the floor). The clutch linkage became hydraulic. The latest М-403 could be fitted already with a 50-hp 408 engine with a double-barrel carburetor.
At the beginning of 1960s the plant MZMA prepared for change-over to a crucially new in comparison with produced at that time Moskvich of the family 402—407 (body 425) model — future Moskvich-408. However, the preparation of its production dragged on, while the most part of the new car aggregates had already been ready for exploitation but only the production lines for pressing and welding of body panels were late, as they were the most expensive and time-consuming production parts of the operating equipment. Under such conditions the decision was made to set up the release of the transitional model in the old 425-body, but with a completely new sub frame, on which a power pack, a front suspension and a steering gear from the future 408 model were mounted. The Moskvich-403 was produced in parallel with both Moskvich-407 (till 1963) and Moskvich-408 (till the summer of 1965).
It ought to be noted that Moskvich-403 of the base model practically did not have external differences from Moskvich−407, except for rear lamps which became tripartite instead of bipartite. Only so called “export” (in fact both design variants were often offered for export as diverse grade) version — М-403Э — had a changed exterior — a wide radiator grill with rectangular mold lines, modified (“two-storey”) side molding, painted tail lights to match the body color, exterior rear-vision mirrors. Just such an automobile is shown in the illustration on the left, but it is necessary to consider that the bulk of the model release had still usual appearance as in the illustration above.
The automobile combined a body and an overhead valve engine of the М-407 and borrowed from the perspective М-408 a steering gear with an idler arm, a front suspension with two ball couplings on each side (with the М-402 and the М-407 the suspension had one ball coupling and one cylinder pin on each side), brakes, an under-motor frame and a front bodywork frame. The clutch pedal and the brakes were remade from floor into suspended, correspondingly the main brake cylinder was removed under the hood (earlier it was situated under the floor). The clutch linkage became hydraulic. The latest М-403 could be fitted already with a 50-hp 408 engine with a double-barrel carburetor.
