Car racing is very popular in Western countries. Manufacturers traditionally invest part of their profits in order to demonstrate their technological capabilities, and prizes serve as the best advertising for famous brands.
There was no such profession as a high-speed designer. There was no need for such spectacular competitions, the mass consumer was constantly in cramped conditions. When cars were sold freely, the population did not have money, and as soon as necessary funds some of the people appeared, somewhere disappeared cars, despite the constant growth of their production. And yet there were enthusiasts.
Agitov's first record car
Evgeny Agitov, the first designer of high-speed cars in the USSR, decided to create a car that, no less, could break the record. Design department Gorky Automobile Plant in 1938, headed by Andrey Lipgart, he warmly supported this undertaking. As a result of the hard work of two talented engineers, a miracle was born, called a record car, since there was no point in organizing races due to the lack of worthy rivals. The official GAZ-GL1 index stood for "Racing Lipgart". Agitov didn't mind.
The mass-produced "Emka" GAZ-M1 served as the basis for creating the car, but with significant constructive changes. Initially, adding 15 "horses" by increasing the working volume, and then it was replaced with a more powerful, hundred-strong one. Outwardly, the car became completely different, with its aerodynamics it resembled the fuselage and reached almost 168 km / h, which, of course, was a good result, but by no means a record. In 1940, the GL-1 was dismantled in the hope of doing something better, but soon the war began, and there was no time for sports.
Our Zvezda Peltzer is the fastest!
After the Victory, trophies began to arrive in the USSR, including samples of former enemy equipment. This circumstance was successfully used by Alexander Peltzer, another designer of high-speed cars. In the USSR, based on an engine from sport bike DKW built the Zvezda car. This happened in 1946 in the Central Design Bureau "Glavmotoveloprom" created at that time, later renamed NAMI. german motor later replaced with a domestic one, and five years later Zvezda-M-NAMI set nine world speed records in different categories. This achievement was facilitated by the possibility quick change engine to another, with a volume of 250 to 500 cubic meters. see. The car accelerated to 215 km / h (with 350 "cubes").
"Kharkov" designer Laurent
In the 50s, when our country joined the FIA international auto federation, Eduard Osipovich Lorent, a talented designer of high-speed cars, proved himself. In the USSR and beyond its borders, this name became famous in 1960, when he accelerated to 286 km / h on a car built by himself "Kharkov-L2" from a distance of a kilometer, which is still considered an unsurpassed achievement.
Laurent's son Valery, also a car designer, broke several more international records on the L-2 and created other samples of high-speed vehicles, such as the Kharkov-L3, the first dragster in the USSR (a class of racing cars that start from a place and compete at short distances), and "Kharkov-L4" (formula class).
The sixties and seventies became the "golden age" of Soviet factory-built ones. Excellent results showed in 1976-1978 the BPS-Estonia car, which was driven by V. Barkovsky, its designer. The USSR once again demonstrated its technological capabilities to the whole world. True, in single copies ...
Auto giants around the world compete endlessly in power, speed and other parameters, creating more and more serial record holders, setting more and more new records and developing more and more advanced technologies. In this compilation, we will introduce you to the main record holders among stock cars on this moment. As they say, there is no limit to perfection, and it is quite possible that in the near foreseeable future, all of the following supercars can push new developments, but in the meantime, we will learn a little about modern record holders.
So, first on our list is a supercar that is currently considered the fastest at acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h - it does it in 2.1 seconds.
car with Chevrolet engine V8 with 1622 hp based on the Ultima GTR, but with a more advanced chassis and two turbochargers.
The cost of such a "toy" in 2009 was $3 million.
The serial production of this model was originally planned, but the demand did not meet the expectations of its creators and at the moment only a few cars have been sold, which, nevertheless, actually makes it a serial model.
next car from our list - - in 2009 was the fastest in the world, reaching a mark of 418.6 kilometers per hour on a dry salt lake in Utah.
In 2010, its creators wanted to "step over" the mark of 480 km / h, but, unfortunately, the car crashed.
As we know, at the moment the record is broken by the notorious Bugatti Veyron Super Sport - today it is 431.072 km / h, but Keating can be left on our list if only for his power.
After all, the power of the 7-liter V-shaped "eight", which is the heart of the Keating TKR, is 1832 hp. with a curb weight of 995 kg!
Due to the low cost, Anthony Keating managed to sell a good number of Keating TKR copies, at the moment he continues to improve his creation.
The third record holder is the leader in several "nominations" at once - engine size, torque, acceleration to 200 km / h and acceleration to 300 km / h.
Weineck Cobra 780cui 2006 is equipped with a V8 engine with a volume of 12782 cm 3 or almost 12.8 liters with a maximum torque of 1760 N * m!
The initial power of this monster is "only" 1115 hp. with a curb weight of 989 kg, but later, to participate in drag racing, the engine of one Weineck Cobra 780cui was boosted to 4500 "horses"!
In first gear, you can accelerate up to 160 km / h, while acceleration to “hundreds” will take about 2.2 seconds, up to 200 km / h - 4.9 seconds, and 10 seconds after the start, the car reaches 300 km / h !
Only professional dragsters can compete with such a result, so the almost serial Weineck Cobra 780cui worth $650,000 is a very tasty morsel for fans of crazy speeds and accelerations.
True, it is not known for certain how things are with handling, because. usually in cars with such power, acceleration dynamics and a fairly "non-aerodynamic" appearance serious problems with agility)
A completely different important advantage of any powerful car is its effectiveness brake system…
In this regard, the undisputed leader is Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Centennial Edition 2012 release, whose braking distances at emergency braking from 100 km/h is only 28.3 meters!
Moreover, in comparison with the above supercars, the cost of this Corvette is only $ 130 thousand, almost for nothing)
Of course, one cannot ignore the above-mentioned one, which in 2010 set the still unbeaten record for maximum speed among production cars - 431 km / h.
You can read more about this legendary supercar in a separate article, here we only note that the cost of exact copies of the record-breaking car was $ 2.4 million apiece.
Finally, I would like to write about one more extraordinary car- 2011 - the creation of an American company Shelby Super Cars, which has long since become famous thanks to SSC Ultimate Aero TT - the one that for 2 years held the palm among fastest cars planets.
New supercar, according to its creators, is capable of breaking the current Bugatti record - for this purpose it was designed absolutely new form body, increased engine power, and the car itself is as light as possible and equipped with the most modern 7-speed gearbox with a triple clutch disc.
It remains only to wait for the moment when the company decides to finally challenge speed and show the world what their new supercar is capable of.
Basically, that's all for now. The list is short, but we tried to cover everything. important categories records for current supercars. We will follow the development automotive technology and further!
In 1968, within the walls of the Kharkiv Automobile and Road Institute HADI, under the leadership of the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Vladimir Nikitin, a grandiose project was being prepared - Kharkovites designed jet car, which for the first time in history had to reach supersonic speed without taking off from the ground, thereby setting absolute record dry speed!
At that time it was fashionable and prestigious to set records, everyone wanted to be the first. Vladimir Konstantinovich Nikitin, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, an unsurpassed racer and a talented designer-inventor, devoted his whole life to creating high-speed racing cars. He said that “Creating a record-breaking racing car also has great practical significance: by designing and researching something new, we teach tomorrow's engineers to look for non-standard, original solutions the problems that they will face when they come to the design: bureaus and research institutes.
The idea to build a supersonic jet car, or as it was also called, a car, was born by Nikitin in the spring of 1968. The news that “The Russians are striving to create the fastest world car», flew around all corners of the planet and literally stunned Western experts, and curious students rushed to the laboratory to Nikitin ... After all, initially the creation of a fireball called "HADI-9" was a collective graduation project of several students of HADI. Each of the graduate students developed a certain part of the machine: a drive, a frame, a body, undercarriage, and the leader was Vladimir Konstantinovich Nikitin. At first it was very difficult. Even excellent knowledge of students was clearly not enough. But soon senior students from the Kharkov Aviation Institute and the Institute of Art and Industry came to the rescue, and the work went more cheerfully. In just a few days, the first model of the future car was made, which passed comprehensive tests in the HADI aerodynamic laboratory. Following the first, a second, improved, then a third appeared. Designers-inventors, model after model, improved their offspring, improving aerodynamic characteristics and simplifying appearance.
For the first time in the Union - a jet supersonic car!
In the second year of designing the car, Kharkiv residents heard rumors that Gary Gabelich had crossed the line of 1000 km/h in the USA “on a land rocket” Blue Flame. This upset the Soviet enthusiasts a little, but their enthusiasm did not diminish. The creation of the car took several years. Finally, in 1978, the Soviet record holder was ready!
By the combined efforts of students from three Kharkov universities, under the leadership of Vladimir Nikitin, a supersonic jet car was created for the first time in the Soviet Union.
Every detail, every node, every unit of HADI-9 was an original design, the fruit of a long scientific analysis. The supersonic car had a rocket-like fuselage, on both sides of which, openly, on tubular braces, stood rear wheels. Twin wheels were installed in front. Tires - aviation, made to order specifically for this model, and from the MIG-19 was taken turbojet engine. Its length was 11 m, height 1100 mm, and weight 2500 kg. The braking of the car was carried out with the help of parachutes and air dampers, and also used the transfer of the turbine operation mode to reverse. There were sensors in the nasal needle. electronic system who provided information about air flow to control the flaps that keep the car on the track and prevent it from flying into the air. The fastest car in the world had to reach a speed of 1200 km/h!
The car looked like an arrowhead or an airplane without wings - similar aerodynamic shapes, smooth contours, a high stabilizer, a pressurized cabin.
Here is how one of the magazines of that time described the supersonic car: “It looks more like an abstract image of a pterodactyl: a sharp nose turns into a long predatory needle. This is no longer a car ... It is rather a plane that is designed to glide along the ground. The only difference is that the wings and tail should not help, but prevent the apparatus from getting off the track.
In 1979, HADI-9 was already being tested. And then another blow - news came from America that the pilot of the Budweiser car had developed supersonic speed. Later, at the official level, this information was not confirmed, but there was no longer any certainty that Kharkovites would be the first.
HADI-9, or unset records
The first tests of HADI-9 on safe speeds gave a feel for the enviable potential of this machine. However, the "pilots" of the car, stating that the Kharkov "rocket" could overcome 700-800 km / h, strongly doubted the achievability of the milestone of 1000 km / h, and even more so the speed of sound - 1200 km / h. The device was lighter than American counterparts, but noticeably lost to them in terms of thrust.
What is the maximum speed that was developed on the HADI-9 remains a secret to this day. Nobody knows about it. It is only known that due to the lack of a suitable track, no attempts were made to set a speed record on it.
The fact is that for adequate testing of such a car and reaching maximum speed, a direct and very flat track about 10 kilometers long. The only place in the USSR where such a route could be built at minimal cost was the salty bottom of the drying lake Baskunchak in Astrakhan region. But here, too, the testers failed - due to an increase in salt production, all races on this lake were stopped.
Knowing about the difficulties of Kharkiv citizens, American enthusiasts invited Nikitin's team to their place in Utah, to the famous Bonneville salt lake. And they even promised to take all the expenses on themselves, provided that the Russians compete there with the Americans. However, the grand show did not take place - it was embarrassing for Nikitin to fly to America with other people's money, and for his team it was exorbitant expenses. And age no longer allowed - by the time the construction of the “supersonic aircraft” was completed, Nikitin was almost seventy. He always set speed records on his cars on his own, without risking anyone's life. Therefore, not a single record was set on the most famous Soviet "supercar".
According to rumors, during the filming of the film "Speed" on Lake Baskunchak with the participation of this car, the pilots, in secret from everyone, dispersed the car to 500 km / h. Is it true or fiction, it is difficult to understand today.
HADI-9 has not survived to this day. During a long stay on a salt lake, he was fairly soaked in brine. Then, for uselessness, he was put in the backyard of the institute and forgotten. When, after many years, suddenly remembering the HADI-9, they decided to save it for future generations, instead of the once beautiful “rocket machine”, they found only a pile of rusty metal. Thus ended the life of the fastest Soviet car, which, unfortunately, was never destined to set a single speed record ...
Vladimir Konstantinovich Nikitin was born in 1911. Designer of high-speed cars, world and USSR record holder in auto racing, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, mentor of several generations of automotive engineers.
Vladimir Nikitin died in 1992, leaving behind several unbroken international and all-Union speed records, as well as a dozen original record cars, most of which are stored in Kharkov, in the museum of the Automobile and Road Institute.
It is generally accepted that in the USSR cars were very simple, utilitarian and slow-moving. But in reality this is far from the case. The review presents the first Russian and Soviet cars designed specifically for racing and speed records.
Most of them difficult story creation and difficult path to success.
Racing cars of the Russo-Balt plant
In the 1910s, there were very few cars in Russia, but the first races were already being held. As in Europe, rallies became the main type of competition. In those years, autodromes were not yet built, and competitions were held on ordinary roads over long distances. Race cars were also often based on production models. The first racing car in Russia can be called the Russo-Balt C24, which existed in several versions. 
And if the first modifications looked like ordinary two-seat cars, then the C24 / 58 became the first special prototype. A large, streamlined green car was nicknamed the "Russian Cucumber". Its 4.9-liter engine developed a record 58 hp for that time. The maximum speed of the car is 120 -130 km/h.
Auto prepared for racing one verst. The acetylene lights, fenders, bumpers, running boards, spare tanks, canvas convertible top were removed from the car, and the weight was almost halved.
Cars Russo-Balt adequately performed at competitions both in Russia and abroad. After particularly successful races, sales of new cars grew noticeably. 
For many years there was a situation in the country when there was no time for motorsport. And then amateurs took over the cars. In the late 1930s, several enthusiasts put together their own versions of racing cars. In 1937, on the Zhytomyr highway near Kiev, they staged a race for a kilometer, where GAZ-A Girel, GAZ-TSAKS Tsypulin, GAZ-A Zharov and GAZ-A Kleshchev met. These were all cars on obsolete Chassis GAZ-A, with old 4-cylinder engines. As a result, the All-Union speed records set by them did not even reach the record of Tsarist Russia: 142.5 km / h.
ZIS-101A-Sport
In 1938, in the experimental workshop of the Moscow Plant named after Stalin, three young workers began an initiative development sports car mobile. Based on the best soviet limousine ZIS-101. True, this is not the best base for a sports car - after all, it weighs 2.5 tons, but Komsomol members can’t do that.
The inline 8-cylinder ZIS-101 engine was boosted. With an increase in the working volume from 5.8 to 6.1 liters, the power increased one and a half times - from 90 to 141 hp.
The car was shown to I.V. Stalin. He, like other members of the Politburo, liked the car. ZIS-101A-Sport was tested on the track, it maximum speed- 168 km / h.
Pobeda-Sport (GAZ-SG1)
The design of his own, Soviet car for setting speed records was entrusted to aviation engineer A.A. Smolin. Under his leadership, the new soviet car M20 "Victory" has undergone a number of transformations. The new body was made of duralumin, the roof was lowered, the tail was made pointed. On the hood cover appeared "nostrils" for better air intake. The bottom of the car turned out completely flat. As a result, she came out quite light - only 1200 kg.
A 2.5-liter "GAZ" engine was installed on the car. In the most productive version, with the Roots compressor, maximum power increased to 105 hp, and speed - up to 190 km / h.
In total, five cars were built, which set new all-Union speed records when driving long distances.
Star
Zvezda is the first car in the USSR built specifically for sports. A car with a motorcycle engine of 350 cc. cm accelerated to 139.6 km / h. Reasons for success: easy aluminum body with very good aerodynamics and unusual engine Zoller with a power of 30.6 hp In the future, the car improved, the prototypes Zvezda -2, 3, 3M, M-NAMI, 5, 6 were created, which repeatedly set all-Union and world records in different classes.
Falcon-650
In the 1940s, immediately after the war, a joint Soviet-German enterprise developed racing car class "Formula 2". The engineers who created the Auto-Union racing cars that conquered European tracks before the war worked on it. The Sokol-650 model made its first trips in 1952. Vasily Stalin himself followed the development of the machine. two completely finished car delivered to Moscow to participate in the race. But local mechanics were not able to service such complex equipment, and the Sokol-650 did not show itself on the track. Although the 12-cylinder 2-liter engine was able to accelerate a 790-kilogram car to 260 km / h.
GAZ Torpedo (1951)
After experiments on the creation of a sports car Pobeda-Sport, the next project of GAZovsky, engineer A. Smolin, was the Torpedo (SG2) - a car of a completely original design. The drop-shaped body, 6.3 meters long, was made of aviation materials: duralumin and aluminum. Thanks to this, the weight turned out to be small - only 1100 kg. From others sports cars In the 1950s, the Torpedo was distinguished by its ease of control and maneuverability.
The engine was taken from the Pobeda M20: 4-cylinder, bored out to 2.5 liters of working volume. A Roots compressor was also installed on it. At a speed of 4000 rpm, the motor produced 105 hp. Thanks to good aerodynamics, the GAZ Torpedo car showed a maximum speed of 191 km/h.
GAZ-TR
The SG3 car, also known as TR (“turbojet”), was built at the Gorky Automobile Plant in 1954. The development of engineer Smolin was aimed at setting a new world record for maximum speed among cars. With an engine from the MiG-17 fighter with a power of 1000 hp, GAZ TR, according to the project, could reach 700 km / h. The tests of the car ended in an accident due to the lack of tires with the necessary qualities in the USSR.
ZIS-112
Looking at the success of the sports cars of the Gorky Automobile Plant, in Moscow at the ZIS plant they also decided to make their own version. The resulting car amazed everyone. Made in the spirit of American dream cars, the six-meter car was dubbed the "Cyclops" for its characteristic appearance - a round grille and round headlight at its center. As in the case of the ZIS-101A-Sport, the car turned out to be very heavy, weighing as much as 2.5 tons.
Instead of the base 140-horsepower engine, engineers installed an experimental 8-cylinder inline engine. Gradually refining it, by 1954 the power was increased to 192 hp. With this motor, the maximum speed of the car has increased to a phenomenal 210 km / h. The car that took part in the race turned out to be complete failure: axle weight distribution and handling were found to be unsatisfactory. Soviet Union more maneuverable vehicles were needed.
In 1957, the Moscow plant introduced new versions of its racing cars - ZIL-112/4 and 112/5. They had a body, glued from fiberglass, with a suspension from a ZIS-110 limousine. Engine from ZIS-111 with power up to 220 hp accelerated the car to 240 km / h. In 1957-1961. "Zilov" racers won many awards, including the championship and vice-championship of the country.
In the early 1960s, the ZIL-112S was manufactured. Its elegant fiberglass body followed the contours of the most modern European racing cars at that time. 6 liter carbureted engine The V8 developed 240 hp, and the improved 7.0-liter version was boosted to 300 hp. The car was equipped with modern disc brakes, which quickly slowed down a car weighing 1330 kg from a maximum speed of 260-270 km / h. In 1965, the racer Gennady Zharkov became the champion of the USSR driving a ZIL-112S.
One of the ZIL-112S cars has survived to this day and is now on display automobile museum in Riga.
Moskvich-404 Sport
Looking at the successes of sports GAZ and ZIS, the management of the Moscow plant could not stand aside small cars. Their production cars, "Muscovites", were low-powered and rather heavy. But even sports prototypes were built on their basis. In 1954 Moskvich-404 Sport was created. The 1.1-liter engine with four carburetors produced a modest 58 hp, which accelerated the car to 150 km / h.
KD
A car called KD Sport 900 is not the work of Italian designers, but just a homemade product. In 1963, a team of enthusiasts began work on a series of five cars of their own design. The fiberglass body hid the units of the "humpbacked Zaporozhets" ZAZ-965. 30 hp motor air cooling accelerated the car to 120 km / h. This is a modest result by today's standards, but a considerable speed for a car of those years.
Automobiles of the Kharkov Automobile and Road Institute
In 1951-1952, a small group of HADI students took on the design of a sports car. The task was to build a car with the maximum use of the nodes of existing equipment. The car was made according to the model of "formulas" - open wheels, a body of welded pipes, 30-horsepower motorcycle engine M-72. The first car of the famous Kharkov University developed a speed of 146 km/m.
In 1962, the HADI Fast Car Laboratory developed the smallest racing car in the world. In a car weighing only 180 kilograms, the pilot was placed lying down, which ensured very good streamlining. It was planned that a 500 cc engine with small dimensions and weight would allow it to accelerate to 220 km / h. Unfortunately, when testing a prototype on the plain of the Baskunchak salt lake (the Soviet analogue of Bonneville), the “maximum speed” was only 100 km / h. Vicious turned out new technology tireless wheels.
Year after year in the Lab sports cars HADI was developing a new experimental technique. Some of the samples turned out to be successful and set republican and all-Union speed records, tests of others turned into the identification of deficiencies or accidents. The work of students and teachers of Kharkov University on new machines continues to this day.
Racing cars "Estonia"
The history of Soviet formula cars began with the Sokol-650 model of 1952. But those were piece samples, moreover, built to order in Germany. But already in 1958, at the Tallinn Experimental Car Repair Plant, they began to build their own from domestic components. racing cars with open wheels. Each subsequent model became better than the previous one, reliability increased, aerodynamics improved, the power and maximum speed of Estonia cars increased. Most successful cars were built in series of dozens, and even hundreds of copies.
Rally Moskvich-412
The Moskvich-412, produced since the 1960s, has become one of the most famous Soviet sports cars in the world. The car had phenomenal survivability and unpretentiousness. From 1968 to 1973 compact sedan participated in many international rallies. High places in the London-Sydney (16 thousand kilometers) and London-Mexico City (26 thousand kilometers) races created good fame for the Soviet Moskvich, confirming its high reliability.
It is generally accepted that in the USSR cars were very simple, utilitarian and slow-moving. But in reality this is far from the case. The review presents the first Russian and Soviet cars designed specifically for racing and speed records. Most of them have a difficult history of creation and a difficult path to success.
Racing cars of the Russo-Balt plant
In the 1910s, there were very few cars in Russia, but the first races were already being held. As in Europe, rallies became the main type of competition. In those years, autodromes were not yet built, and competitions were held on ordinary roads over long distances. Race cars were also often based on production models. The first racing car in Russia can be called the Russo-Balt C24, which existed in several versions.
And if the first modifications looked like ordinary two-seat cars, then the C24 / 58 became the first special prototype. A large, streamlined green car was nicknamed the "Russian Cucumber". Its 4.9-liter engine developed a record 58 hp for that time. The maximum speed of the car is 120 -130 km/h.
Auto prepared for racing one verst. The acetylene lights, fenders, bumpers, running boards, spare tanks, canvas convertible top were removed from the car, and the weight was almost halved.
Cars Russo-Balt adequately performed at competitions both in Russia and abroad. After particularly successful races, sales of new cars grew noticeably.
The first Soviet racing cars
For many years there was a situation in the country when there was no time for motorsport. And then amateurs took over the cars. In the late 1930s, several enthusiasts put together their own versions of racing cars. In 1937, on the Zhytomyr highway near Kiev, they staged a race for a kilometer, where GAZ-A Girel, GAZ-TSAKS Tsypulin, GAZ-A Zharov and GAZ-A Kleshchev met. These were all cars on outdated GAZ-A chassis, with old 4-cylinder engines. As a result, the All-Union speed records set by them did not even reach the record of Tsarist Russia: 142.5 km / h.
ZIS-101A-Sport
In 1938, in the experimental workshop of the Moscow Stalin Plant, three young workers began the initiative development of a sports car. They took the best Soviet limousine ZIS-101 as a basis. True, this is not the best base for a sports car - after all, it weighs 2.5 tons, but Komsomol members can’t do that.
The inline 8-cylinder ZIS-101 engine was boosted. With an increase in the working volume from 5.8 to 6.1 liters, the power increased one and a half times - from 90 to 141 hp.
The car was shown to I.V. Stalin. He, like other members of the Politburo, liked the car. ZIS-101A-Sport was tested on the track, its maximum speed is 168 km/h.
Pobeda-Sport (GAZ-SG1)
The design of his own, Soviet car for setting speed records was entrusted to aviation engineer A.A. Smolin. Under his leadership, the new Soviet car M20 Pobeda underwent a number of transformations. The new body was made of duralumin, the roof was lowered, the tail was made pointed. On the hood cover appeared "nostrils" for better air intake. The bottom of the car turned out completely flat. As a result, she came out very light - only 1200 kg.
A 2.5-liter "GAZ" engine was installed on the car. In the most productive version, with the Roots compressor, the maximum power increased to 105 hp, and the speed - up to 190 km / h.
In total, five cars were built, which set new all-Union speed records when driving long distances.
Star
Zvezda is the first car in the USSR built specifically for sports. A car with a motorcycle engine of 350 cc. cm accelerated to 139.6 km / h. Reasons for success: a lightweight aluminum body with very good aerodynamics and an unusual 30.6 hp Zoller engine. In the future, the car improved, the prototypes Zvezda -2, 3, 3M, M-NAMI, 5, 6 were created, which repeatedly set all-Union and world records in different classes.
Falcon-650
In the 1940s, immediately after the war, a Formula 2 racing car was developed at a joint Soviet-German enterprise. The engineers who created the Auto-Union racing cars that conquered European tracks before the war worked on it. The Sokol-650 model made its first trips in 1952. Vasily Stalin himself followed the development of the machine. Two completely finished cars were delivered to Moscow to participate in the race. But local mechanics were not able to service such complex equipment, and the Sokol-650 did not show itself on the track. Although the 12-cylinder 2-liter engine was able to accelerate a 790-kilogram car to 260 km / h.
GAZ Torpedo (1951)
After experiments on the creation of a sports car Pobeda-Sport, the next project of GAZovsky, engineer A. Smolin, was the Torpedo (SG2) - a car of a completely original design. The drop-shaped body, 6.3 meters long, was made of aviation materials: duralumin and aluminum. Thanks to this, the weight turned out to be small - only 1100 kg. From other sports cars of the 1950s, the Torpedo was distinguished by its ease of operation and maneuverability.
The engine was taken from the Pobeda M20: 4-cylinder, bored out to 2.5 liters of working volume. A Roots compressor was also installed on it. At a speed of 4000 rpm, the motor produced 105 hp. Thanks to good aerodynamics, the GAZ Torpedo car showed a maximum speed of 191 km/h.
GAZ-TR
The SG3 car, also known as TR (“turbojet”), was built at the Gorky Automobile Plant in 1954. The development of engineer Smolin was aimed at setting a new world record for maximum speed among cars. With an engine from the MiG-17 fighter with a power of 1000 hp, GAZ TR, according to the project, could reach 700 km / h. The tests of the car ended in an accident due to the lack of tires with the necessary qualities in the USSR.
ZIS-112
Looking at the success of the sports cars of the Gorky Automobile Plant, in Moscow at the ZIS plant they also decided to make their own version. The resulting car amazed everyone. Made in the spirit of American dream cars, the six-meter car was dubbed the "Cyclops" for its characteristic appearance - a round radiator grille and a round headlight in its center. As in the case of the ZIS-101A-Sport, the car turned out to be very heavy, weighing as much as 2.5 tons.
Instead of the base 140-horsepower engine, engineers installed an experimental 8-cylinder in-line engine. Gradually refining it, by 1954 the power was increased to 192 hp. With this motor, the maximum speed of the car has increased to a phenomenal 210 km / h. The car that took part in the race turned out to be a complete failure: the weight distribution along the axes and handling were found to be unsatisfactory. The Soviet Union needed more maneuverable vehicles.
In 1957, the Moscow plant introduced new versions of its racing cars - ZIL-112/4 and 112/5. They had a body, glued from fiberglass, with a suspension from a ZIS-110 limousine. Engine from ZIS-111 with power up to 220 hp accelerated the car to 240 km / h. In 1957-1961. "Zilov" racers won many awards, including the championship and vice-championship of the country.
In the early 1960s, the ZIL-112S was manufactured. Its elegant fiberglass body followed the contours of the most modern European racing cars at that time. The 6-litre V8 carburetted engine developed 240 bhp, while the improved 7.0-litre version was boosted to 300 bhp. The car was equipped with modern disc brakes, which quickly slowed down a car weighing 1330 kg from a maximum speed of 260-270 km / h. In 1965, the racer Gennady Zharkov became the champion of the USSR driving a ZIL-112S.
One of the ZIL-112S cars has survived to this day and is now on display at the Automobile Museum in Riga.
Moskvich-404 Sport
Looking at the successes of sports GAZ and ZIS, the management of the Moscow plant of small cars could not stand aside. Their production cars, "Moskvich", were low-powered and rather heavy. But even sports prototypes were built on their basis. In 1954 Moskvich-404 Sport was created. The 1.1-liter engine with four carburetors produced a modest 58 hp, which accelerated the car to 150 km / h.
KD
A car called KD Sport 900 is not the work of Italian designers, but just a homemade product. In 1963, a team of enthusiasts began work on a series of five cars of their own design. The fiberglass body hid the units of the "humpbacked Zaporozhets" ZAZ-965. A 30-horsepower air-cooled engine accelerated the car to 120 km / h. This is a modest result by today's standards, but a considerable speed for a car of those years.
Automobiles of the Kharkov Automobile and Road Institute
In 1951-1952, a small group of HADI students took on the design of a sports car. The task was to build a car with the maximum use of the nodes of existing equipment. The car was made according to the model of "formulas" - open wheels, a body made of welded pipes, a 30-horsepower M-72 motorcycle engine. The first car of the famous Kharkov University developed a speed of 146 km/m.
In 1962, the HADI Fast Car Laboratory developed the smallest racing car in the world. In a car weighing only 180 kilograms, the pilot was placed lying down, which ensured very good streamlining. It was planned that a 500 cc engine with small dimensions and weight would allow it to accelerate to 220 km / h. Unfortunately, when testing a prototype on the plain of the Baskunchak salt lake (the Soviet analogue of Bonneville), the “maximum speed” was only 100 km / h. The new technology of tireless wheels turned out to be vicious.
Year after year, the HADI Sports Car Laboratory developed new experimental techniques. Some of the samples turned out to be successful and set republican and all-Union speed records, tests of others turned into the identification of deficiencies or accidents. The work of students and teachers of Kharkov University on new machines continues to this day.
Racing cars "Estonia"
The history of Soviet formula cars began with the Sokol-650 model of 1952. But those were piece samples, moreover, built to order in Germany. But already in 1958, at the Tallinn Experimental Car Repair Plant, they began to build their racing cars with open wheels from domestic components. Each subsequent model became better than the previous one, reliability increased, aerodynamics improved, the power and maximum speed of Estonia cars increased. The most successful machines were built in series of dozens, and even hundreds of copies.
