Izh 2125
Izh 2125/21251 Kombi | |
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Overview | |
Manufacturer | IZh |
Also called | Moskvitch 1500 Kombi, Pozdniy IZh (Late IZh) |
Production | 1973—1997 |
Body and chassis | |
Class | Compact car |
Body style | 5-door hatchback |
Related |
Izh 412 Izh 2715 |
Powertrain | |
Engine | UZAM 412 |
Chronology | |
Successor | Izh 2126 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to IZH Kombi. |
The IZh 2125 "Kombi" (Russian: ИЖ-2125 Комби, short for "combination") is a compact car produced by the Soviet automobile maker IZh from 1973 to 1997.[1] It was based on an Izhevsk-modified Moskvitch 412, with the first prototype released in 1972 as a small family car. It was considered to be the first Soviet hatchback (released about a decade before the well-known Lada Samara), though the car actually possesses a station wagon body wherein the "D" pillar has its own support and does not gain from weight reduction (which would position the model more in the liftback family). In Russian literature the car is referred to as liftback.[1] For the same reason, the car was given the "Kombi" nickname, which in a way alludes to the Combi coupé (the word kombi itself meaning "station wagon" in German and Polish, while in Russian a station wagon is called universal).
The Kombi had a notable success in sales within the USSR between 1974 and 1980 due in large part to limited competition - station wagon variants of the Lada, Moscow-built Moskvitch and Volga were not easy to buy, however, due to absence of upmarket components export models were never produced and the car did not sell outside the country. In 1982, the Kombi received a facelift, along with the IZh-produced Moskvitch 412 and IZh 2715 panel van and was then rebranded as a 21251.[1] Among notable features, the car borrowed the dashboard from the Moskvitch 2140 and featured improved seats and headrests.
The IZh 2125 sold into the 1990s. As the Soviet Union collapsed, IZh was first privatized as "OAO Izhevsk" and slowly started converting their automotive production lines to other kinds of manufacture, such as firearms. In 1995—96, when AZLK's revenue decreased drastically, the company was partially reacquired by AutoVAZ and renamed "IZhAuto". Vaz then discontinued all of IZh's previous models and run their own ones into production. A new hatchback version was branded IZh 2126 "Oda" and ultimately replaced the Kombi.
Gallery
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Pre-1982 Izh 2125, showing a metallic grille similar to the 412
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Post-1982 (21251) grille, where the outline has been removed completely and the metal elements painted black
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A rare grille variant briefly used on the Kombi
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The rear was identical in looks on all models
References
- IZh-2125, "Avtolegendy SSSR" Nr.54, DeAgostini 2011, ISSN 2071-095X (Russian)