Moskvitch412

01

Origins

The 412 of 1967 gave the solid 408 body a genuinely modern engine: a 1.5-litre overhead-camshaft four with an aluminium block, its hemispherical chambers earning comparisons to far grander machinery. The result was the fastest, most exportable Moskvitch yet, and the factory proved it in endurance rallying — 412s finished the brutal 1968 London–Sydney Marathon and the 1970 London–Mexico World Cup Rally in creditable numbers when many famous names retired, a result Soviet publicity understandably wore out. Exports boomed for a time, including UK sales. At home the 412 and its 408 sibling merged into the long-running 2140 family, built at Moscow and Izhevsk into the 1980s and past four million units in total. It was the marque's peak; the slow slide to 2001's closure came after.