Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR
Test Drive

Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR

Work on this car began half a century ago, it left the Union roads two years before the appearance of the VAZ-2108 and since then has covered more than a million kilometers

JNA is the creation of Yuri Ivanovich Algebraistov's entire life, and we managed to ride this unique coupe, assembled with golden hands literally in the garage.

“Yes, I was invited to work at NAMI, I went, looked - and did not agree. I'm not a designer, so I can do something with my hands, that's all. " Yuri Ivanovich's modesty does not fit into the mind when you look at this "something". In terms of the quality of performance, JNA is not inferior to the factory machines of the Union, if not superior to them, and most of all, the level of elaboration of small details is striking. Ventilation deflectors, decorative covers, nameplates, mirror housings - all this is incredibly skillful manual work. Even the lanterns cut from the Opel Rekord shades make you scratch your head: you can't understand from the rounding of the plastic edges what was made by a German factory and what was made by a Soviet Lefty.

Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR

He is also in no hurry to boast about the design of the Algebraists - they say that the original look of the car was invented by other Soviet self-builders, the Shcherbinin brothers, and he only modified it to his own taste. And in general, the front end with rising headlights is a deliberate imitation of the British Lotus Esprit. Be that as it may, the JNA looks like an absolutely complete, one-piece car, where every detail is in harmony with the rest. Today she is simply beautiful, but in the early eighties, among the Zhiguli and Muscovites, this swift scarlet silhouette looked like a mirage. Where did it come from? How? It can't be true!

At the end of 1969, the Shcherbinins decided to make a new car, the heir to the acclaimed GTShch. Anatoly and Vladimir took up the design themselves, and invited other brothers, Stanislav and Yuri Algebraistov, to participate in the implementation. The first took out scarce parts and materials, and the second turned them into a car. The characteristics of the steel space frame were calculated with the help of AZLK engineers, and the production was given to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant: an incredible approach for homemade products! And they made a small batch of frames at once - five pieces.

Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR

The first copy was collected, so to speak, according to the method of Uncle Fyodor's father: in a three-room apartment on the seventh (!) Floor of an ordinary residential building. There they spliced ​​the frame with the spars from the GAZ-24, made a model of the body, removed the matrices from it, glued the body panels, installed the suspension elements - and only then the coupe, which had finally gotten onto the wheels, went down to the asphalt with the help of a crane. It was not yet a JNA, but a machine named "Satan" intended for the Shcherbinins themselves.

The Algebraists moved to their own workshop, where they first assembled a copy for Stanislav, and only then - 12 years after the start of the design - for Yuri. Moreover, there is only one JNA in the world, because this abbreviation is an encrypted dedication of the designer to his wife. Yuri and Natalya Algebraistov, that's what the car is actually called. So they are three and have been living for almost 40 years.

During this time, Yuri Ivanovich refined the design several times, altered the interior, changed the power units - and everything happened already in an ordinary garage in Shchukino. He even took out the engines and put them on alone! Today, there are almost no parts left in the car from the "Volga" - except perhaps the front axle, and the same new, pivotless, from the late model.

31105. The rear axle is borrowed from the Volvo 940, and the six-cylinder 3.5 engine together with an automatic transmission from the BMW 5 Series in the E34 body. Of course, it was impossible to simply buy and deliver all this: the suspension mounts had to be adapted, and some units, such as the oil pan or the universal joint, were made anew.

But the interior surprises most of all. JNA has excellent ergonomics: you sit in a sporty way, with your legs extended forward, the steering column is adjustable in height, the windows are equipped with electric drives, and there are many drawers for storing small items all over the cabin - even on the ceiling! “Well, how else? I did it for myself, so I tried to make everything comfortable and smart, ”says Yuri Ivanovich. And then he presses the button, and the color monitor of the multimedia system comes out of the panel. “There have been a lot of traffic jams in recent years, but you can even watch TV. And I also put an automatic transmission due to congestion, otherwise my legs get tired ... ".

The transmission, it must be admitted, is rather thoughtful by modern standards: it hesitates for a long time with the transition to a lower stage, and even "up" switches slowly. But the rest of the JNA rides surprisingly nice! Two hundred-odd forces are enough for her for more than vigorous acceleration, the chassis copes well with the capital's irregularities and speed bumps, the brakes (disc on all wheels) hold perfectly - and most importantly, everything here works well, in concert.

Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR

This is not a scattering of spare parts that were put together and somehow forced to go, but a full-fledged car with its own solid character. However, it is not at all sports car, but rather from the category of gran turismo: on the suspensions from the old imposing sedans you can't really play with it. The JNA responds to steering turns smoothly, with delays - but everything happens very logically and naturally, and if you go faster, it turns out that the balance here is cool: the initial pause is followed by an understandable, linear reaction, and then the coupe rests on both outer wheels and is surprisingly strong holds on to the trajectory. Algebraistov recalls that at one time the testers at the Dmitrov test site were notably surprised at the stability of the machine and its unwillingness to go neither into demolition nor into a skid.

But everything can be even more interesting! The new electric power steering is almost ready - but it will probably have to be installed by the next owner. The clarity of mind and energy of Yuri Ivanovich will envy many of the young, but the years take their toll, and this amazing man decided to part with his brainchild, with the only car of his life. But JNA will not get on sites with ads and will definitely not go anywhere except in the skillful and caring hands of someone who understands its full significance. Because the story must go on.

Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR

At the end of the shooting day, it turns out that I was the third person in 40 years who drove this coupe alone. For the third time in 40 years, the creator looked at his creation from the outside - and in his eyes one can read satisfaction and pride. It gets dark on the street, Yuri Ivanovich asks to get behind the wheel again to take them home with the car. The eternal bustle of Moscow roads remains somewhere outside the cocoon of complex, sadly enthusiastic emotions. We parted in a quiet Shchukin courtyard, and after 10 minutes - a call: “Mikhail, I didn't have time to say goodbye to the guys from the film crew. Please do it for me. "

I can only say thank you to Yuri Ivanovich. For the car that I saw as a child in the pages of magazines. For skill, dedication and dedication. But the main thing is for humanity, which can be found less and less in the modern world, and at the same time it is so important to preserve.

Test drive the best home-made car in the USSR
 

 

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