I would like to bring to your attention an amazing Soviet-made exhibit - the SMZ S3D motorized stroller. And also talk about your general impressions of this rather rare car. Rare due to the fact that at one time they "went to scrap" and, unfortunately, there are very few of them left, especially in good external and working condition.
So, to begin with, a little general history. The production of this S3D model began already 44 years ago, in 1970 in the Russian city of Serpukhov. Produced until 1997. I found in one source that 223,051 models rolled off the assembly line. However, until our time, their number has clearly decreased significantly, because it was issued to people with disabilities for only 5 years, after which it “went under pressure”. Previously, a category A license was required to drive this model.
As for the filling of the car, everything is very simple here. A single-cylinder engine from Izh, which produces 12 horsepower and accelerates the car to 65 km / h - my personal record! But this is very difficult for a motorized carriage, because, despite its small dimensions, it weighs half a ton. Her normal speed is 40 km/h. What is necessary for the city - it will not be possible to break the speed limit! The engine is located at the rear, and jokingly feels similar to sports cars. The volume of the tank is 18 liters. And he eats a "box", I want to say, not bad! I fill in the 92nd mixed with semi-synthetics. The main thing is not to overdo it with oil, otherwise it smokes in a terrible way.
I have a 1988 copy. Above the body, however, I had to “poshamanit” a little. A bit of putty, painting... The color was reproduced to the original. The rest was lucky - everything was in its place. Removable seats, spare tire in the luggage compartment...
Most of all, I was struck by the fact that there were native Prostor wheels - made in USSR. They are over 20 years old and are like new. Here is a sign of quality!
The motorcycle is equipped with a four-speed manual transmission. The gear shifts like a motorcycle. There is also a reverse, thanks to which you go the same way both forward and backward.
The suspension is very soft: it swallows holes and bumps so well that you are amazed. At the same time, you don’t worry at all that you will “ditch” this very suspension. This unit is definitely made for bad roads.
Before her father "found" her, he had never met SMZ anywhere. Only ZAZs, Volga, Moskvichs of different years and editions caught my eye, but there was not even a mention of such an exhibit. I remember my first impression - it was shocking, it is difficult to describe it in words. Just think, such a miracle and now it's mine! Although the car is clumsy, it is still so beautiful and in a bright orange color.
Sitting in a motorized carriage, you understand that you obviously did not sit behind the wheel of something like that. For starters, you have no idea how to start it, where is the brake pedal and where is the gas pedal, how to squeeze the clutch and where, after all, is the gear lever? All this has its own zest. When you still find the engine start button (why don’t you need a modern car?), you press it and ... you hear a whole series of cannon shots, and you, in turn, sit, smile with the most sincere smile, that you managed to breathe life into a rarity with just a touch.
Appearance for an amateur, but how much it causes emotions! Pass or drive indifferent past such a car will not work. It leaves a lot of impressions on people of all ages.
The engine is a bit tired, like many parts of the car, so you can hardly risk going long distances. The motorized stroller sometimes works like a Swiss watch, sometimes like a “clunker” - sometimes it goes, sometimes it doesn’t. In a word, a very wayward car. Today it works perfectly and is in no way inferior to a modern car - tomorrow you already have to push your shoulder back home. Therefore, it makes no sense to pass inspection. You can leave, run in, take a couple of videos or photos, and back to the garage, for a well-deserved rest.
At the end of the last century, the characteristic rumble of this unusual vehicle could be heard in the most remote corners of a vast country. "Invalidka" - just such a nickname literally stuck to a motorized stroller manufactured by the Serpukhov Motor Plant. The tiny machine really liked the boys of about ten years of age, because in terms of physical dimensions it seemed to them an almost ideal children's car. However, SMZ-S3D, despite its modest size and unpretentious appearance, performed a much more important task, being a vehicle for the movement of people with disabilities.
Perhaps for this reason, ordinary motorists were not very aware of the technical intricacies of this “machine”, and other nuances for many residents of the USSR remained “behind the scenes”. That is why healthy citizens were often mistaken about the device, the real shortcomings and features of the operation of the "invalid". Today we will recall the facts and debunk the myths associated with the SMZ-S3D.
A bit of history
From 1952 to 1958, a three-wheeled motorized carriage S-1L was produced in Serpukhov, which received the designation S3L at the end of production. Then, the three-wheeled microcar was replaced by the C3A model - the very famous “morgunovka” with an open body and a tarpaulin top, which differed from its predecessor by the presence of four wheels.
In the photo: SZD-S3A - the famous "morgunovka"
However, for a number of parameters, the C3A did not meet the requirements that were imposed on such cars - primarily due to the lack of a hard top. That is why in the early sixties in Serpukhov they started designing a new generation car, and at the early stages specialists from NAMI, ZIL and MZMA joined the work. However, the Sputnik concept prototype with the SMZ-NAMI-086 index was never put into production, and the four-wheeled Morgunovka was still being produced in Serpukhov. in 1970 it got on the conveyor under the symbol SMZ-S3D.
THIS MODEL WAS A DEEP MODERNIZATION OF MORGUNOVKA. Mif
In the USSR, many car models appeared in an evolutionary way - for example, the VAZ "six" grew out of the VAZ-2103, and the "fortieth" Moskvich was created on the basis of the AZLK M-412.
However, the third generation of the Serpukhov motorized carriage differed significantly from the previous "microbes". Firstly, the impetus for the creation of the SMZ-S3D was the new motorcycle power unit IZH-P2 of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, around which they began to “build” a new model. Secondly, the car finally got a closed body, which, in addition, was all-metal, although in the early stages fiberglass was also considered as a material for its manufacture. Finally, instead of springs in the rear suspension, as in the front, torsion bars with trailing arms were used.
In terms of dimensions, the SMZ-S3D was inferior to any Soviet car. But at the same time, the length of the body exceeded the dimensions of the Smart City Coupe by 30 cm!
SMZ-S3D WAS A PRIMITIVE DESIGN FOR ITS TIME. Myth
Most motorists of the Soviet era perceived the "invalid" as a wretched and technically backward product. Of course, a single-cylinder two-stroke engine, an extremely simplified but functional body design with flat windows, overhead door hinges and a practically absent interior did not allow treating a motorized stroller as a modern and perfect product of the Soviet automobile industry. However, for a number of design solutions, the SMZ-S3D was a very progressive vehicle.
Plane-parallel design by the standards of its time was very relevant
TRANSVERSAL ENGINE, INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION OF ALL WHEELS, RAISE STEERING, CABLE CLUTCH - THIS IS ALL ABOUT "DISCABLED"!
Independent front suspension has been combined with rack and pinion steering into a single unit
In addition, the motorized stroller received hydraulic brakes on all wheels, 12-volt electrical equipment and "car" optics.
THE MOTORCYCLE ENGINE IS TOO WEAK FOR THE S3D. Is it true
Soviet drivers did not like "disabled women" on the road, because a motorized carriage with a leisurely disabled person at the wheel slowed down even a rare by today's standards flow of cars.
The dynamic performance of the SMZ-S3D turned out to be not outstanding, since it was derated to 12 hp. the IZH-P2 motor for a 500-kilogram microcar turned out to be frankly weak. That is why in the fall of 1971 - that is, already a year and a half after the start of production of the new model - they began to install a more powerful version of the engine with the IZH-P3 index on motorized strollers. But even 14 "horses" did not solve the problem - even a serviceable "invalid" was loud, but at the same time extremely slow-moving. With a driver and a passenger on board and 10 kilograms of “cargo”, she was able to accelerate to only 55 km / h - and in addition she did it extremely slowly. Of course, in Soviet times, another tipsy owner of a Serpukhov car could boast that he was gaining all 70 kilometers on the speedometer, but ...
Alas, OPTIONS FOR INSTALLING A MORE POWERFUL ENGINE (FROM IZH-PS) WERE NOT CONSIDERED BY THE MANUFACTURER.
"DISABLED" WAS GIVEN TO ANY DISABLED PERSON FOR FREE AND FOREVER. Myth
SMZ-S3D at the end of the eighties cost 1,100 rubles. Motorized carriages were distributed through social security agencies among disabled people of various categories, and the option of partial and even full payment was also provided. It was given free of charge to disabled people of the first group - first of all, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, pensioners, as well as those who received a disability at work or while serving in the Armed Forces. Disabled people of the third group could purchase it for about 20% of the cost (220 rubles), but for this it was necessary to wait in line for about 5-7 years.
Early modifications used round "UAZ" lights, while later ones used larger optics from trucks and agricultural machinery
They issued a motorized stroller for use for five years with one free overhaul two and a half years after the start of operation. Then the disabled person had to hand over the motorized wheelchair to the Social Security authorities, and after that he could apply for a new copy. In practice, individual disabled people "rolled back" 2-3 cars! Often, the car received for free was not used at all or they drove it only a couple of times a year, not experiencing a special need for a “disabled person”, because in times of shortage, people with disabilities in the USSR never refused such “gifts” from the state.
If the driver was driving a car before the injury or illness of his legs, but his state of health no longer allowed him to continue driving a regular car, all categories were crossed out in his rights and the mark “motorcycle” was marked. Disabled people who did not previously have a driver's license completed special courses for driving a motorized wheelchair, and they received a certificate of a separate category (not A, as for motorcycles, and not B, as for cars), which allowed driving exclusively "disabled". In practice, the traffic police practically did not stop such vehicles to check documents.
Management was carried out by a whole system of levers. Gear Shift - Sequential
THE SERPUKHOV MOTOKOLASKA COMBINED PARADOXICAL QUALITIES IN ITSELF - BEING A SOCIAL PHENOMENON, IT, NEVER, PERFORMED A COMPLETE PERSONAL TRANSPORT. OF COURSE, WITH THE AMENDMENT FOR THE THAT SOBES ISSUED IT.
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO RIDE IN THE WINTER IN THE WINTER. Both myth and truth
SMZ-S3D was equipped with a motorcycle engine. As you know, he did not have a liquid cooling system, so there was no “stove” familiar to ordinary cars in a motorized carriage. However, as in the Zaporozhets, which had air-cooled engines, the designers provided an autonomous gasoline heater for driving in the cold season. He was quite capricious, but he allowed to create an acceptable air temperature in the passenger compartment of the disabled woman - at least positive.
In addition, the absence of a traditional cooling system was not a disadvantage, but an advantage of the car, because the owners of motorized strollers were spared the painful daily procedure for filling and draining water. After all, in the seventies, rare lucky people who owned Zhiguli drove the antifreeze familiar to us, and all the rest of Soviet equipment used ordinary water as a coolant, which, as you know, froze in winter.
In addition, the “planetary” engine started easily even in cold weather, so potentially the “disabled person” was even better suited for operation in winter than Muscovites and Volga. But ... in practice, in the frosty season, condensate settled inside the diaphragm fuel pump, which immediately froze, after which the engine stalled right on the go and refused to start. That is why the majority of disabled people (especially the elderly) preferred not to use their own transport during the frosty period.
S3D WAS THE MOST MASS PRODUCTION OF THE SERPUKHOV MOTOR PLANT. Is it true
As at other Soviet factories, in the seventies in Serpukhov they increased the pace of production, improved quantitative indicators and exceeded the plan. That is why the plant soon reached a new level for itself, producing over 10,000 motorized wheelchairs annually, and during peak periods (mid-seventies) over 20,000 wheelchairs were produced per year! In total, over 27 years of production, from 1970 to 1997, about 230 thousand SMZ-S3D and SMZ-S3E (modification for controlling one hand and one foot) were produced.
Neither before nor after, not a single car for people with disabilities was produced in such quantities in the CIS. And thanks to a tiny and funny car from Serpukhov, hundreds of thousands of Soviet and Russian disabled people acquired one of the most important freedoms - the ability to move around.
Possibly, for this reason, ordinary motorists were not very aware of the technical intricacies of this “machine”, and other nuances for many residents of the USSR remained “behind the scenes”. That is why healthy citizens were often mistaken about the device, the real shortcomings and features of the operation of the "invalid". Today we will recall the facts and debunk the myths associated with the SMZ-S3D.
A bit of history
From 1952 to 1958, a three-wheeled motorized carriage S-1L was produced in Serpukhov, which received the designation S3L at the end of production. Then the three-wheeled microcar was replaced by the C3A model - the very famous "morgunovka" with an open body and a canvas top, which differed from its predecessor by the presence of four wheels.
However, for a number of parameters, the C3A did not meet the requirements that were imposed on such cars - primarily due to the lack of a hard top. That is why in the early sixties in Serpukhov they started designing a new generation car, and at the early stages specialists from NAMI, ZIL and MZMA joined the work. However, the conceptual prototype "Sputnik" with the index SMZ-NAMI-086 was never put into production, and in Serpukhov they still produced a four-wheeled "morgunovka".
Only at the end of the sixties, the department of the chief designer of SMZ began to work on a new generation of motorized carriages, which in 1970 entered the conveyor under the symbol SMZ-S3D.
This model was a deep modernization of the "blinker"
In the USSR, many car models appeared in an evolutionary way - for example, it grew out of, and was created on the basis of the AZLK M-412.
However, the third generation of the Serpukhov motorized carriage differed significantly from the previous "microbes". Firstly, the impetus for the creation of the SMZ-S3D was the new motorcycle power unit IZH-P2 of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, around which they began to “build” a new model. Secondly, the car finally got a closed body, which, in addition, was all-metal, although in the early stages fiberglass was also considered as a material for its manufacture. Finally, instead of springs in the rear suspension, as in the front, torsion bars with trailing arms were used.
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SMZ-S3D was a primitive design for its time
Most motorists of the Soviet era perceived the "invalid" as a wretched and technically backward product. Of course, a single-cylinder two-stroke engine, an extremely simplified but functional body design with flat windows, overhead door hinges and a practically absent interior did not allow treating a motorized stroller as a modern and perfect product of the Soviet automobile industry. However, for a number of design solutions, the SMZ-S3D was a very progressive vehicle.
Transverse engine, independent suspension of all wheels, rack and pinion steering, clutch cable drive - it's all about the "disability"!
In addition, the motorized stroller received hydraulic brakes on all wheels, 12-volt electrical equipment and "car" optics.
The motorcycle engine was too weak for S3D
Soviet drivers did not like "disabled women" on the road, because a motorized carriage with a leisurely disabled person at the wheel slowed down even a rare by today's standards flow of cars.
The dynamic performance of the SMZ-S3D turned out to be not outstanding, since it was derated to 12 hp. the IZH-P2 motor for a 500-kilogram microcar turned out to be frankly weak. That is why in the fall of 1971 - that is, already a year and a half after the start of production of the new model - they began to install a more powerful version of the engine with the IZH-P3 index on motorized strollers. But even 14 "horses" did not solve the problem - even a serviceable "invalid" was loud, but at the same time extremely slow-moving. With a driver and a passenger on board and 10 kilograms of “cargo”, she was able to accelerate to only 55 km / h - and in addition she did it extremely slowly. Of course, in Soviet times, another tipsy owner of a Serpukhov car could boast that he was gaining all 70 kilometers on the speedometer, but ...
Alas, the options for installing a more powerful engine (for example, from IZH-PS) were not considered by the manufacturer.
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"Invalidka" was issued to any disabled person for free and forever
SMZ-S3D at the end of the eighties cost 1,100 rubles. Motorized carriages were distributed through social security agencies among disabled people of various categories, and the option of partial and even full payment was also provided. It was given free of charge to disabled people of the first group - first of all, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, pensioners, as well as those who received a disability at work or while serving in the Armed Forces. Disabled people of the third group could purchase it for about 20% of the cost (220 rubles), but for this it was necessary to wait in line for about 5-7 years.
They issued a motorized stroller for use for five years with one free overhaul two and a half years after the start of operation. Then the disabled person had to hand over the motorized wheelchair to the Social Security authorities, and after that he could apply for a new copy. In practice, individual disabled people "rolled back" 2-3 cars! Often, the car received for free was not used at all or they drove it only a couple of times a year, not experiencing a special need for a “disabled person”, because in times of shortage, people with disabilities in the USSR never refused such “gifts” from the state.
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If the driver was driving a car before the injury or illness of his legs, but his state of health no longer allowed him to continue driving a regular car, all categories were crossed out in his rights and the mark “motorcycle” was marked. Disabled people who did not previously have a driver's license completed special courses for driving a motorized wheelchair, and they received a certificate of a separate category (not A, as for motorcycles, and not B, as for cars), which allowed driving exclusively "disabled". In practice, the traffic police practically did not stop such vehicles to check documents.
The Serpukhov motorcycle stroller combined paradoxical qualities - being a social phenomenon, it, nevertheless, acted as a full-fledged personal transport. Of course, adjusted for the fact that it was issued by the Social Security.
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In addition, the absence of a traditional cooling system was not a disadvantage, but an advantage of the car, because the owners of motorized strollers were spared the painful daily procedure for filling and draining water. After all, in the seventies, rare lucky people who owned Zhiguli drove the antifreeze familiar to us, and all the rest of Soviet equipment used ordinary water as a coolant, which, as you know, froze in winter.
In addition, the “planetary” engine started easily even in cold weather, so potentially the “disabled person” was even better suited for operation in winter than Muscovites and Volga. But ... in practice, in the frosty season, condensate settled inside the diaphragm fuel pump, which immediately froze, after which the engine stalled right on the go and refused to start. That is why the majority of disabled people (especially the elderly) preferred not to use their own transport during the frosty period.
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Neither before nor after, not a single car for people with disabilities was produced in such quantities in the CIS. And thanks to a tiny and funny car from Serpukhov, hundreds of thousands of Soviet and Russian disabled people acquired one of the most important freedoms - the ability to move around.
It was the idea of creating a car for the disabled, distributed to all those in need through SOBES.
Since the Soviet automobile industry was just emerging before the Second World War, and immediately after it, the leader of the world proletariat was simply not up to it, the idea of creating the first disabled car appeared only in 1950, when Nikolai Yushmanov (he is also the chief designer of the GAZ-12 Zim and GAZ-13 "Seagull") created a prototype of the first disabled woman. And it was not a motorcycle, but a full-fledged car. This miniature car became the GAZ-M18 (at first, the letter M remained in the index of the car, from old memory - from the “Molotov Plant”).
The closed all-metal body, stylistically reminiscent of the Pobeda, looked a little ridiculous, but it had full-fledged seats that were not cramped, full-fledged controls with several options (designed even for disabled people without one arm and both legs). The designers did not go for the use of weak motorcycle engines. By the way, according to the terms of reference, the power should have been about 10 liters. With. Gorky "cut" the "Moskvich" engine in half, having received a two-cylinder, but quite efficient, quite powerful and reliable unit. It was installed at the back. It had an independent torsion bar suspension, and a box was installed (ho-ho!) Automatic, from the GAZ-21. There, one checkpoint is larger than the motor :) The car was successfully prepared for serial production. In the literal sense, this car was brought on a silver platter to Serpukhov, where, on the instructions of the party, this car was to be produced, because GAZ did not have enough capacity to produce a new model ... 
But at SeAZ they simply would not have coped - the Serpukhov plant was not able to produce anything more complicated than motorized strollers. And there were not enough workers, and those that were, were, to put it mildly, not the best spill, and there was no equipment. All the same, the proposals to transfer the production to GAZ received a tough and decisive refusal "from above". Which is extremely embarrassing. It was an advanced disabled woman at that time, in fact, for the whole world. 
This is how the Serpukhov plant mastered the production of miserable motorized strollers, which were proudly called "cars for the disabled."
1) The first in the list of squalor was SMZ S-1L. 
The chosen three-wheel scheme made it possible to use extremely simple motorcycle steering, and at the same time save on wheels. As a bearing base, a welded space frame made of pipes was proposed. Having sheathed the frame with steel sheets, they received the necessary closed volume for the driver, passenger, engine and controls. Under the ingenuous panels of the roadster (it was decided to make the two-door body open, with a folding awning), a relatively spacious double cabin and a two-stroke single-cylinder engine located behind the seat back were hidden. The main node of the front "engine compartment" space was the steering and suspension of a single front wheel. The rear suspension was made independent, on wishbones. Each wheel was “served” by one spring and one friction damper.
Both brakes, both main and parking, were manual. Leading, of course, were the rear wheels. The electric starter was considered a luxury, the engine started with a manual “kick”, a single headlight nestled on the nose of the body. The cyclopean appearance was slightly brightened up by two flashlights on the rounded sidewalls of the front end, which simultaneously performed the functions of sidelights and turn signals. The motorcycle did not have a trunk. The overall picture of rationality bordering on asceticism was completed by doors, which were metal frames sheathed with awning fabric. The car turned out to be relatively light - 275 kg, which allowed it to accelerate to 30 km / h. The consumption of "66th" gasoline was 4-4.5 liters per 100 km. The undoubted advantages are the simplicity and maintainability of the design, however, the S1L could hardly overcome even not very serious climbs, it was practically unsuitable for off-road. But the main achievement is the very fact of the appearance of the country's first specialized vehicle for the disabled, which gave the impression of a simple, but a car. 
Specifications:
dimensions, mm length x width x height: 2650x1388x1330
base1600
phaeton body
engine-rear
driving wheels - rear
maximum speed-30 km/h
engine "Moscow-M1A", carburetor.two-stroke
number of cylinders-1
working volume-123 cm3
power-2.9 hp / kW4 / at 4500 rpm
gearbox-manual three-speed
suspension: front-spring; rear-independent, spring
brakes-mechanical (front-no, rear-drum)
electrical equipment-6 V
tire size-4.50-19 
SMZ-S1L was produced from 1952 to 1957. A total of 19,128 wheelchairs were produced during this time. Of course, against the background of the need for hundreds of thousands of our disabled people in a specialized vehicle, this number looks insignificant. But in Serpukhov, they worked in three shifts.
Since the SMZ-S1L was at first the only vehicle in the USSR accessible to disabled people, and the capacities of the SMZ were not enough to produce motorized wheelchairs in sufficient quantities, all the efforts of the factory OGK were directed only at improving the already created design. No experiments were carried out with the aim of obtaining something else from a motorized carriage. 
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The only two modifications of the "invalid" (SMZ-S1L-O and SMZ-S1L-OL) differed from the base model by the controls. The "basic" version of the SMZ-S1L was designed for two-handed control. The right, rotating handle of the motorcycle steering wheel controlled the "gas". On the left side of the steering wheel was the clutch lever, headlight switch and signal button. In front of the cab, to the right of the driver, there were levers for starting the engine (manual kick starter), gear shifting, reverse gear, main and parking brakes - 5 levers!
When creating modifications of SMZ-S1L-O and SMZ-S1L-OL, they clearly looked at the GAZ-M18. After all, these strollers were designed to be controlled with just one hand - respectively, the right or left. All wheelchair control mechanisms were located in the middle of the cab and were a swing arm mounted on a vertical steering shaft. Accordingly, turning the lever to the right and left, the driver changed the direction of movement. By moving the lever up and down, it was possible to change gears. To slow down, it was necessary to pull the “steering wheel” towards you. This “joystick” was crowned with a motorcycle “gas” handle, a clutch control lever, a left turn signal switch, a headlight switch and a horn button. 
On the right on the central tube of the frame were the kick-starter, parking brake and reverse gear levers. So that the hand does not get tired, the seat was equipped with an armrest. The difference between the modifications SMZ-S1L-O and SMZ-S1L-OL was only that the first was designed for drivers with a valid right hand, the driver was sitting in a “legal” place for right-hand traffic, that is, on the left, and, accordingly, all controls were slightly shifted towards him; SMZ-S1L-OL was a “mirror” in relation to the described version: it was designed for a driver with only one left hand, and he was located on the right in the cockpit. Such intricate modifications in management were produced from 1957 to 1958 inclusive. 
2) The second in the list of dull freaks (and I do not mean design) was the SMZ S-3A.
Produced from 1958 to 1970, 203,291 cars were produced. In fact, this is still the same S-1L, only 4-wheeled with a front torsion bar suspension and with a simple round (not a concept car) steering wheel.
The hopes placed by hundreds of thousands of post-war invalids on the appearance of the first motorized carriage in the USSR were soon replaced by bitter disappointment: the three-wheeled design of the SMZ S-1L, due to a number of objective reasons, turned out to be too imperfect. The engineers of the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant carried out a serious "work on the mistakes", as a result of which in 1958 the "disabled person" of the second generation, SMZ S-ZA, was released.
Despite the creation of its own design bureau in Serpukhov back in 1952, all further work on the creation, modernization and fine-tuning of sidecars at the plant took place from now on in close cooperation with the Scientific Automotive Institute (NAMI).
By 1957, under the leadership of Boris Mikhailovich Fitterman (until 1956 he developed off-road vehicles on the ZIS), NAMI designed a promising "invalid" NAMI-031. It was a car with a fiberglass three-volume double two-door body on a frame. The Irbit motorcycle engine (obviously, the M-52 version) with a working volume of 489 cm3 developed a power of 13.5 liters. With. This model, in addition to a two-cylinder engine, was distinguished from the Serpukhov motorized carriage by hydraulic brakes.
However, this option only demonstrated what a motorized stroller should ideally be, but in practice it all came down to modernizing an existing design. And so the touching four-wheeled car C-3A was born, the only source of pride for which was the disappointing: “And yet ours.” At the same time, the Serpukhov and Moscow designers cannot be blamed for the negligence: the flight of their engineering thought was regulated by the meager technical capabilities of the motorcycle factory located on the territory of the former monastery. 
It would probably be useful to recall that in 1957, when variants of primitive motorized strollers were being developed at one “pole” of the Soviet automobile industry, the representative ZIL-111 was mastered at the other ...
Note that the “work on the mistakes” could have gone in a completely different way, because there was also an alternative Gorky project for a wheelchair motorized wheelchair. It all started in 1955, when a group of veterans from Kharkov, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Victory, wrote a collective letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU about the need to produce a full-fledged car for the disabled. GAZ received the task to develop such a machine.
The creator of ZIM (and later Chaika) Nikolai Yushmanov undertook the design on his own initiative. Since he understood that at the Gorky plant the car, called the GAZ-18, would not be mastered anyway, he did not limit his imagination in any way. As a result, the prototype, which appeared at the end of 1957, looked like this: a closed all-metal double two-door body, stylistically reminiscent of the Pobeda. Two-cylinder engine with a capacity of about 10 liters. With. was a "half" of the power unit "Moskvich-402". The main thing in this development was the use of a gearbox torque converter, which makes it possible to do without a pedal or clutch lever, and to drastically reduce the number of shifts, which is especially important for the disabled. 
The practice of operating a three-wheeled motorized carriage showed that a two-stroke single-cylinder motorcycle engine IZH-49 with a working volume of 346 cm3 and a power of 8 liters. s, which since 1955 began to equip the modification "L", a car of this class is enough. Thus, the main drawback that had to be eliminated was precisely the three-wheeled scheme. Not only did the “insufficiency of limbs” affect the stability of the car, it negated its already low cross-country ability: it is much more difficult to lay three tracks off-road than two. "Four-wheeled" also entailed a number of inevitable changes.
The suspension, steering, brakes and bodywork had to be brought to mind. The independent suspension of all wheels and rack and pinion steering for the serial production model were nevertheless borrowed from the prototype NAMI-031. At "zero thirty-one", in turn, the design of the front suspension was developed under the influence of the Volkswagen Beetle suspension: lamellar torsion bars enclosed in transverse pipes. Both these pipes and the spring suspension of the rear wheels were attached to a welded space frame. According to some reports, this frame was made from chromonsil tubes, which at first, when production required a significant amount of manual labor, made the cost of a motorized carriage higher than the cost of the contemporary Moskvich! The vibrations were damped by the simplest friction dampers. 
The engine and transmission have not changed. The two-stroke "rumbler" Izh-49 was still located in the rear. The transmission of torque from the engine to the rear drive wheels through a four-speed gearbox was carried out by a bush-roller chain (like on a bicycle), since the final drive housing, which combines the bevel differential and the rear "speed", was located separately. Forced air cooling of a single cylinder with a fan has not gone away either. The electric starter inherited from its predecessor was low-power and therefore inefficient.
The owners of SMZ S-ZA much more often used the kick-starter lever that went into the salon. The body, thanks to the appearance of the fourth wheel, naturally expanded in the front. There were two headlights, and since they were placed in their own cases and attached to the sidewalls of the hood on small brackets, the little car acquired a naive and stupid “facial expression”. There were still two places, including the driver's one. The frame was sheathed with stamped metal panels, the cloth top was folded, which, by the way, in combination with two doors, makes it possible to classify the body of a motorized stroller as a “roadster”. Here is the whole car. 
The car, started with the aim of improving the previous model, ridding its design of significant shortcomings, itself turned out to be stuffed with absurdities. The motorized stroller turned out to be heavy, which negatively affected its dynamics and fuel consumption, and small wheels (5.00 by 10 inches) did not contribute to improving cross-country ability.
Already in 1958, the first attempt at modernization was made. A modification of S-ZAB with rack and pinion steering appeared, and on the doors, instead of canvas sidewalls with transparent celluloid inserts, full-fledged glass appeared in frames. In 1962, the car underwent further improvements: friction shock absorbers gave way to telescopic hydraulic ones; rubber bushings of the axle shafts and a more perfect muffler appeared. Such a motorized stroller received the SMZ S-ZAM index and was subsequently produced without changes, since since 1965 the plant and NAMI began work on the third-generation "disabled" SMZ S-ZD, which seemed more promising. 
SMZ-S-3AM
SMZ S-ZA somehow didn’t work out with “variations” ... Versions with hydraulic shock absorbers SMZ S-ZAM and SMZ S-ZB adapted for control with one hand and one foot can hardly be considered independent modifications of the base model.
All attempts to improve the design came down to the creation of many prototypes, but none of them reached serial production for a banal reason: the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant lacked not only experience, but also funds, equipment, and production capacities to master the prototypes. 
Experimental modifications:
* C-4A (1959) - an experimental version with a hard top, did not go into production.
* C-4B (1960) - a prototype with a coupe body, did not go into production.
* S-5A (1960) - a prototype with fiberglass body panels, did not go into production.
* SMZ-NAMI-086 "Sputnik" (1962) - a prototype of a microcar with a closed body, developed by the designers of NAMI, ZIL and AZLK, did not go into series.
Due to its low weight (425 kilos, which, however, was extremely small for an 8-horsepower engine), the hero of Morgunov (hence the nickname "morgunovka") could easily move the car on the snow alone, taking it by the bumper. 
3) Closes the top three of the outsiders of the Soviet automotive industry, ugly both externally and technically, the FIRST disabled woman is NOT a convertible (non-spontaneous disabled woman ...).
It was produced right up to 1997! And it was a modified version of the C-3A with an 18-horsepower Izh-Planet-3 engine and more legroom 
The production of SMZ-SZD began in July 1970 and continued for more than a quarter of a century. The last motorized stroller rolled off the assembly line of the Serpukhov Automobile Plant (SeAZ) in the fall of 1997: after that, the company completely switched to assembling Oka cars. In total, 223,051 copies of the SZD motorized stroller were produced. Since 1971, a modification of the SMZ-SZE has been produced in small batches, equipped to control with one hand and one foot. Motorized carriages with an open top produced by the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant (SMZ) were outdated by the mid-60s: a modern microcar was supposed to replace the three-wheeled wheelchair. 
The state allowed not to save on the disabled, and the designers of the SMZ began to develop a motorized carriage with a closed body. The design of a third-generation motorized stroller by the Department of the Chief Designer of the SMZ began in 1967 and coincided in time with the reconstruction of the Serpukhov Motor Plant. But the reconstruction was aimed not at expanding the technological capabilities associated with the production of minicars, but at developing new types of products. In 1965, SMZ began to produce components for potato harvesters, and since 1970, children's bicycles "Motylok" began to be produced in Serpukhov. July 1, 1970 at the Serpukhov Motorcycle Plant began mass production of third-generation sidecars SZD. The design, created "under the dictation" of the economy, and not ergonomics, had a number of drawbacks. Almost 500-kilogram motorized carriage was heavy for its power unit. 
A year and a half after the start of production, from November 15, 1971, motorized strollers began to be equipped with a forced version of the Izhevsk IZH-PZ engine, but even its 14 horsepower was not always enough for a wheelchair that had grown almost 50 kilograms heavier. The control fuel consumption in comparison with the SZA model has increased by a liter, and the operational one by 2-3 liters. The “congenital” disadvantages of the FDD include increased noise emitted by a two-stroke engine and exhaust gases entering the passenger compartment. The diaphragm fuel pump, which was supposed to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel, became a source of headache for drivers in cold weather: the condensate that settled inside the pump froze and the engine “died”, nullifying the advantages of a cold start of an air-cooled engine. And yet, the SMZ-SZD motorized stroller can be considered a completely completed, "accomplished" microcar for the disabled. The USSR fell into the lethargy of stagnation. 
The Serpukhov Motor Plant did not escape stagnation either. SMZ "increased the pace of production", "increased volumes", "performed and exceeded the plan." The plant regularly produced motorized strollers in an unprecedented amount of 10-12 thousand per year, and in 1976-1977 production reached 22 thousand per year. But compared to the turbulent period of the late 50s and early 60s, when several promising models of motorized strollers were “invented” every year, the “technical creativity” at SMZ stopped. Everything that was created by the Department of the Chief Designer during this period, apparently, went to the table. And the reason for this was not the inertia of factory engineers, but the policy of the ministry. Only in 1979, officials gave the green light to the creation of a new passenger car of a special small class. The Serpukhov Motor Plant has entered a ten-year era of "extortion" by the Oka automobile industry. In Soviet times, components and assemblies of motorized carriages, due to their availability, cheapness and reliability, were widely used for the “garage” production of microcars, tricycles, walk-behind tractors, mini-tractors, all-terrain vehicles on pneumatics and other equipment. 
By the way, why are so few of these carriages preserved? Because they were issued to disabled people for five years. After two and a half years of operation, they were repaired for free, and after another 2.5 years they were issued new ones (mandatory), and the old ones were disposed of. Therefore, finding an S-1L in any condition is a great success!
An amazing Soviet-made exhibit is the SMZ S3D motorized stroller. Rare due to the fact that at one time they "went to scrap" and, unfortunately, there are very few of them left, especially in good external and working condition.
So, to begin with, a little general history. The production of this S3D model began already 44 years ago, in 1970 in the Russian city of Serpukhov. Produced until 1997. I found in one source that 223,051 models rolled off the assembly line. However, until our time, their number has clearly decreased significantly, because it was issued to people with disabilities for only 5 years, after which it “went under pressure”. Previously, a category A license was required to drive this model. 
As for the filling of the car, everything is very simple here. A single-cylinder engine from Izh, which produces 12 horsepower and accelerates the car to 65 km / h - my personal record! But this is very difficult for a motorized carriage, because, despite its small dimensions, it weighs half a ton. Her normal speed is 40 km/h. What is necessary for the city - it will not be possible to break the speed limit! The engine is located at the rear, and jokingly feels similar to sports cars. The volume of the tank is 18 liters. And he eats a "box", I want to say, not bad! I fill in the 92nd mixed with semi-synthetics. The main thing is not to overdo it with oil, otherwise it smokes in a terrible way. 
The motorcycle is equipped with a four-speed manual transmission. The gear shifts like a motorcycle. There is also a reverse, thanks to which you go the same way both forward and backward. 
I have a 1988 copy. Above the body, however, I had to “poshamanit” a little. A bit of putty, painting... The color was reproduced to the original. The rest was lucky - everything was in its place. Removable seats, spare tire in the luggage compartment ... 
The suspension is very soft: it swallows holes and bumps so well that you are amazed. At the same time, you don’t worry at all that you will “ditch” this very suspension. This unit is definitely made for bad roads. 
Before her father "found" her, he had never met SMZ anywhere. Only ZAZs, Volga, Moskvichs of different years and editions caught my eye, but there was not even a mention of such an exhibit. I remember my first impression - it was shocking, it is difficult to describe it in words. Just think, such a miracle and now it's mine! Although the car is clumsy, it is still so beautiful and in a bright orange color. 
Sitting in a motorized carriage, you understand that you obviously did not sit behind the wheel of something like that. For starters, you have no idea how to start it, where is the brake pedal and where is the gas pedal, how to squeeze the clutch and where, after all, is the gear lever? All this has its own zest. When you still find the engine start button (why don’t you need a modern car?), you press it and ... you hear a whole series of cannon shots, and you, in turn, sit, smile with the most sincere smile, that you managed to breathe life into a rarity with just a touch. 
Appearance for an amateur, but how much it causes emotions! Pass or drive indifferent past such a car will not work. It leaves a lot of impressions on people of all ages. 
The engine is a bit tired, like many parts of the car, so you can hardly risk going long distances. The motorized stroller sometimes works like a Swiss watch, sometimes like a “clunker” - sometimes it goes, sometimes it doesn’t. In a word, a very wayward car. Today it works perfectly and is in no way inferior to a modern car - tomorrow you already have to push your shoulder back home. Therefore, it makes no sense to pass inspection. You can leave, run in, take a couple of videos or photos, and back to the garage, for a well-deserved rest. 
I am not a supporter of bragging, I just would like to urge young people not to treat such things as something second-rate, but to really learn to appreciate what we pass on from previous generations. Indeed, often such things come to us for nothing, just like that - it means that they choose us. I would like to bring to your attention an amazing exhibit of Soviet production - the SMZ S3D motorized stroller. And also talk about your general impressions of this rather rare car. Rare due to the fact that at one time they "went to scrap" and, unfortunately, there are very few of them left, especially in good external and working condition. 
