‘Kolobok’ Home Built Microcar

The Kolobok was created in 1985 in the USSR by Victor Gorbunov, engineer of AvtoVAZ. Victor Gorbunov worked alone on this project, in his free time. He had managed to present the concept of a small city car before the ‘Oka’, which enter production a few years later, in 1987.

Externally, the Kolobok was a mix of different Soviet-built cars. The tiny wheels were taken from SMZ-S3D, and the windshield was borrowed from ‘Zaporozhets’. The engineer installed a Ural motorcycle four-stroke flat-twin engine under the hood that produced just 36 horsepower. But this power was sufficient since the Kolobok hardly exceeded 700 kg.

This allowed the self-built microcar to reach 100 km/h and consume only 6 l/100 km. The engine was so well integrated in the engine compartment that there was even a space for the spare wheel. The gearbox came from Lada and was coupled to the engine by an intermediate shaft. A carefully considered solution had been adopted for better weight distribution.

The suspension was independent on all corners with hydraulic shock absorbers from Lada. The worm gear steering came from ZAZ-968 ‘Zaporozhets’. The Kolobok was quite difficult to distinguish from a real production car. At first glance, you could hardly believe this was a self-built construction.

The dashboard was borrowed from VAZ-2103, shortened and modernized. The body consisted of a metal cage frame with all mechanical parts and body panels attached to. The car could easily accommodate four adults, despite being just over three meters in length. The rear seat could also be folded down to form a flat floor, very practical for transporting large loads.