CarBrandLogos archive · Moskvitch · 1986

MoskvitchAleko

Perestroika's hatchback — modern at last, and just in time for the deluge.

The story

A defining chapter in Moskvitch history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Moskvitch Aleko, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The 2141, sold as the Aleko, was Moskvitch's leap to modernity in 1986: a big front-wheel-drive hatchback with genuinely contemporary packaging, its layout informed by close study of the Simca 1308 — Chrysler Europe's Car of the Year — reworked in Moscow with a longitudinal engine. Against every previous Moskvitch it was transformed: roomy, aerodynamic, decently mannered. Against what flooded in when the USSR dissolved, it was doomed: build quality wobbled with the collapsing supply chain, promised engines never matured, and Western used cars undercut it in its home market. Derivatives and a stretched 'Prince Vladimir' saloon prolonged the agony until production ceased around 2001, ending the marque. The Aleko deserves the footnote history rarely grants it: the right car, finally, from a system with no time left to build it properly.

Moskvich M-2141S · Zosma · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1986–1997

Engine

Petrol engine

Body

5-door hatchback

Technical specification

The Aleko, in detail.

Production: 1986–1997 (1998–2002 for the more advanced M-2141-02/-45/-00/-22 versions)
Class: Mid-size/Large family car (D)
Body style: 5-door hatchback
Layout: Longitudinal front-engine, front-wheel drive
Engine: Petrol engine; petrol: ; 1.5 L UZAM-331.10 Straight-four engine; I4 ; 1.6 L VAZ-2106-70 I4 ; 1.7 L VAZ-21213-70 I4 ; 1.7 L UZAM-3317 I4 ; 1.8 L UZAM-3318 I4 ; 2.0 L Renault F-Type engine#F3x
Transmission: 5-speed Manual
Assembly: Soviet Union/Russia: Moscow ; Bulgaria: Lovech (Balkancar)
Manufacturer: Moskvitch Stock Company