// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Moskvitch 2140 say to its friend? "You can 'car'ry on without me.

Moskvich 2138/2140/1500 SL
Overview
Manufacturer	AZLK
Also called	Moskvitch 1360 Moskvitch 1500 Moskvitch 1500 SL Moskvitch 2140 SL
Production	1976–1988
Assembly	Soviet Union: Moscow
Body and chassis
Class	Small family car
Body style	4-door sedan 5-door station wagon 3-door van
Related	Izh 2125
Powertrain
Engine	1.5 L UZAM-412 I4
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,400 mm (94.5 in)
Length	4,250 mm (167.3 in)
Width	1,550 mm (61.0 in)
Height	1,480 mm (58.3 in)
Chronology
Predecessor	Moskvitch 408 Moskvitch 412
Successor	Moskvitch Aleko

The Moskvitch 2140 series (Russian: Москвич-2140) is a small family car produced by Soviet automotive maker AZLK from January 1976 to July 1988. It started first as Moskvitch 2138 and Moskvitch 2140 on a modified 412 platform. Pre-production models were shown during 1975. The Moskvitch 2140 SL/Moskvitch 1500 SL was an upmarket export variant, first publicly showcased in November 1980 for the 50th anniversary of AZLK, its production started in summer 1981; compared to the regular M-2140, it had large plastic bumpers with integrated side markers/turn signals, larger taillight units, plastic moldings on the door sides, and completely revised interior with new dashboard, steering wheel, and seats.

The Moskvitch-2140 line was facelifted throughout the second half of 1981 into the beginning of 1982, with the M-2140 SL already having all these features since its debut: the red shield logo with Kremlin towers silhouettes was changed to an "АЗЛК" wordmark in gray metallic font; the chrome trim around the grille, windows and rocker panels was removed; the black panel at the rear section between the headlights was now body-colored; the chrome hubcaps were discontinued and the cars were now delivered with plain steel wheels; the front doors now had single-piece windows without the quarter glass; the "Moskvich 1500/1360" fender badges and the "1500"/"1360" rear panel badge were removed; and the Latin "Moskvich" badge on the trunk lid was replaced with Cyrillic "Москвич", though the M-2140 SL retained the Latin badging even for its domestic variant. The 408-engined line, at this point consisting solely of the M-2138 sedan, was discontinued soon thereafter in December 1982, and the few 2138s built during the facelift era became visually indistinguishable from the 412-engined 2140-series sedans due to the removal of the engine displacement badges. The station wagon variant Moskvitch-2137 was the last of the Soviet cars to still feature taillight fins, which remained unchanged until the model was discontinued in February 1985.

Although originally designed and often referred to as the "fourth generation", the series was, in fact, only an improved variant of the third generation of Moskvitches, the M-408/412. The brand-new fourth generation entered in production with the Moskvitch-2141 Aleko starting in 1986 and remaining at a low scale, until the M-2140 was eventually discontinued in July 1988 and the M-2141 took its place at AZLK's main assembly line.

Models and variants

• M-2140 (export name Moskvitch 1500): 4-door sedan model with standard UZAM-412 (75 hp) engine. The Moskvitch-2140 entered production in January 1976 and was discontinued in July 1988.
• M-2138 (export name Moskvitch 1360, produced in 1976–1982): 4-door sedan model with low-power MZMA-408 (50 hp) engine. Produced mainly for fleets due to using the lower-grade A-76 gasoline, though still available for retail consumers, it was phased out with the introduction of the UZAM-412D engine which used the same fuel, but shared the architecture with the standard UZAM-412.
• M-21381 (1976-1982): four-door medical dispatch sedan, successor of the M-408M. It was used purely as a house call transport for the doctors and did not have accommodations for the patients, differing from the retail M-2138 sedan only in standard medical livery and minor interior simplifications.
• M-21401 (1976-1988): four-door medical dispatch sedan, successor of the M-412M, same differences as the 21381 above.
• M-21402: four-door sedan export model with right-hand-drive steering. No evidence of mass production, as the UK ceased importing Moskvitch cars prior to the debut of the 2140 series, and AZLK didn't serve any other right-hand-drive markets.
• M-21406 (1978-1988): four-door sedan for rural usage, the first 2140-series Moskvitch model to use the UZAM-412D engine, derated for low-octane A-76 fuel (68 hp). Modifications included reinforced suspension, drum brakes on all four wheels, protected oil crankcase, towing eye underneath the rear bumper, and winter tires as a stock option. The only two immediately visible cosmetic differences from the regular 2140 sedan were the Cyrillic "Москвич" badges on the front fenders and the trunk lid and the absence of chrome hubcaps, but after the 1982 facelift both were incorporated into all 2140-series Moskvitch cars, making the 21406 undistinguishable from the outside.
• M-21403 (1979-1988): four-door sedan with hand controls for disabled drivers, also used the UZAM-412D engine, successor of the Moskvitch-408B (the 412B didn't exist). Unlike the SMZ microcars and the disability variants of the ZAZ Zaporozhets, which were leased for free, it was leased for a one-time payment.
• M-2140-117 (domestically marketed as Moskvitch-2140 SL, marketed outside of the USSR as Moskvitch 1500 SL, 1981–1988): luxury four-door sedan model with plastic bumpers, new taillights and completely revised upmarket interior.
• M-2140-121 (1985-1988): four-door taxi sedan equipped with UZAM-412D low compression engine, a taximeter, a "Taxi" roof sign, and easily cleanable seats upholstered with synthetic leather.
• M-2136 (1976-1977): station wagon with M-408 engine, successor of the Moskvitch-426. Very few manufactured, variously estimated at low double digits, as the increased UZAM-412 production output lowered the demand for a 408-engined wagon and made it unnecessary. After its official discontinuation, small runs of Moskvitch station wagons equipped with the M-408 engine were manufactured until 1982, mainly to satisfy the yearly production quotas, and distributed to state services; despite technically fitting the M-2136 definition and specifications, these cars were considered M-2137s from a legal point of view.
• M-2137 (1976-1985): station wagon with UZAM-412 engine, successor of the Moskvitch-427. It was the last of the station wagon Moskvitches with no actual successor besides the Izh-2125 Kombi hatchback, and its production line was repurposed for the Moskvitch-2141.
• M-2733/2734 (none/1976-1978): station wagon-based panel vans (M-408 and UZAM-412 respectively), successors of the Moskvitch-433/434 of the M-408/412 series, built for state institutions and banned from private ownership. The Moskvitch-2734 was discontinued in early 1978 after a brief run of approximately 4,000 units in favor of the Izh-2715 vans, which had more cargo space and were more convenient to use, though one-off units were still delivered until 1981. The Moskvitch-2733 appears to have never actually entered production, due to the low demand for underpowered vans rendering it unnecessary.
• M-27344: van-based light pickup, originally intended as an export variant, one right-hand-drive prototype built in mid-1970s. The decrease of AZLK's export presence, as well as its exit from the UK in 1976, led to the cancellation of the Moskvitch-27344, with AZLK never developing any actual pickups until the post-Soviet Aleko-based Moskvitch-2335.

From the moment of introduction of the UZAM-412D engine in 1978, a percentage of 2140-series Moskvitch cars of all variants, except for the M-2140 SL and those variants that already had it as standard powertrain, were equipped with said engine and distributed along with the regular UZAM-412-engined cars, with no differentiation in marketing or legal documentation. The regular M-2140 sedan with UZAM-412D is sometimes associated with the index "Moskvitch-2140D", which, despite its appearances in official Soviet state media and other press, is not an official AZLK index; it has never been featured in repair manuals, NIIAT handbooks or any other materials directly associated with AZLK. The earliest known mention of the "Moskvitch-2140D" in Soviet print is in the February 1983 issue of Za Rulem, where the "M-2140D" is included in a table with other Moskvitch variants in ongoing production that were available for ordinary citizens. Throughout the entire run of the M-2140 series, continuing a format that has already been established in mid-1960s with the M-408/412 family, a small number of light pickups was built by modifying defective bodies of sedans and station wagons, the bed structure and dimensions varied between different specimen, though some of them were based on the Moskvitch-27344 prototype body mold. These pickups were used mainly as internal factory transports, were never distributed to citizens or state services, and never had an official index; the "Moskvitch-2315" is a modern fabrication never attested until 2008.

Gallery

• 
  1976-1981 front end design
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  1982-1988 front end design, the chrome trim around the grille was removed and the badge was replaced with "АЗЛК" wordmark
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  Moskvitch 2140 (UK, grey market left-hand-drive import)
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  Rally version
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  Pre-1982 M-2140 with chrome hubcaps and chrome rocker panel trim
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  M-2140SL with plastic bumpers and plastic door moldings
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  M-2140 SL with plastic door moldings and front door windows without quarter glass vents. Being a Finnish-market export model, this M-2140 SL has turn signal repeaters on front fenders, absent on domestic AZLK-built Moskvitch models since 1973.
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  Moskvitch-2137 station wagon
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  Rear view of the M-2137 wagon, showing tailfins and taillights dating back to 1964