View source for Aleko

{{About|the Russian car}}
{{Infobox automobile
| image = ALEKO M-2141S (front view).jpg
| caption = Moskvitch 2141S "Aleko"
| name = Moskvitch 2141 Aleko
| manufacturer = [[Moskvitch|Moskvitch Stock Company]]
| aka = Lada Aleko (for cars exported by [[AvtoVAZ]])
| assembly = {{ubl
  | Soviet Union/Russia: [[Moscow]]
  | Bulgaria: [[Lovech]] (Balkancar)
  }}
| production = 1986–1997 (1998–2002 for the more advanced M-2141-02/-45/-00/-22 versions)
| predecessor = [[Moskvitch 2140]]
| successor = [[Moskvitch 2142]]
| class = [[Mid-size]]/[[Large family car]] ([[D-segment|D]])
| body_style = 5-door [[hatchback]]
| layout = [[FF layout|Longitudinal front-engine, front-wheel drive]]
| engine = {{ubl
  | '''[[Petrol engine|petrol]]:'''
  | 1.5&nbsp;L ''UZAM-331.10'' [[Straight-four engine|I4]]
  | 1.6&nbsp;L ''VAZ-2106-70'' I4
  | 1.7&nbsp;L ''VAZ-21213-70'' I4
  | 1.7&nbsp;L ''UZAM-3317'' I4
  | 1.8&nbsp;L ''UZAM-3318'' I4
  | 2.0&nbsp;L ''[[Renault F-Type engine#F3x|Renault F3R]]'' I4
  | '''[[Diesel engine|diesel]]:'''
  | 1.8&nbsp;L ''[[Ford Endura-D engine|Ford XLD418]]'' I4
  | 1.9&nbsp;L ''[[PSA XUD engine#XUD9|Peugeot XUD9]]'' I4<ref name="histomobile.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.histomobile.com/1/Moskvitch/1989/Aleko_%282141%29.htm?lan=1|title=Moskvitch Aleko (2141)|accessdate=22 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223123010/http://www.histomobile.com/1/Moskvitch/1989/Aleko_%282141%29.htm?lan=1|archive-date=2008-02-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
  }}
| transmission = 5-speed [[Manual transmission|Manual]]
| wheelbase = {{convert|2580|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| length = {{convert|4.35|m|in|1|abbr=on}}<ref name="histomobile.com"/>
| width = {{convert|1.69|m|in|1|abbr=on}}<ref name="histomobile.com"/>
| height = {{convert|1.4|m|in|1|abbr=on}}<ref name="histomobile.com"/>
| weight = {{convert|1070|-|1080|kg|lb|1|abbr=on}}
| related = [[Simca 1307]]/[[Simca 1308|1308]]<br />[[Moskvitch 2142]]<br />[[Lada Samara]]<br />[[ZAZ Tavria]]
}}

The '''Moskvitch-2141''', also known under the trade name '''Aleko''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: "АЛЕКО", derivative from the name of the automaker "'''А'''втомобильный завод имени '''Ле'''нинского '''Ко'''мсомола", '''''A'''vtomobilnyj zavod imeni '''Le'''ninskogo '''Ko'''msomola'', meaning "Automotive Factory of Lenin's [[Komsomol]]"), is a Russian [[mid-size car]] that was first announced in 1985 and sold in the [[Soviet Union]] and its successor states between 1986 and 1997 by the [[Moskvitch|Moskvitch Company]], based in [[Moscow]], Russia. It was replaced by the modernised M-2141-02 '''Svyatogor''' and its [[Sedan (automobile)|sedan]] body version, the [[Moskvitch 2142|M-2142]], in 1997–2002.

The Aleko was a huge improvement over previous Moskvitch models, which were durable but old-fashioned [[sedans]] (saloons) and [[station wagon]]s (estates) with [[rear-wheel drive]] and a solid rear axle, and had no common parts with them apart from the engine and some other minor details.

==Features==

The new car had such innovative features as [[front-wheel drive]], a [[hatchback]] body style, [[MacPherson strut]] front suspension and [[torsion beam|torsion-crank]] rear [[Suspension (vehicle)|suspension]]. It had rack-and-pinion steering and a collapsible [[steering column]]. The spare tyre was located underneath the boot and was accessible from outside, in the tradition of French cars. The [[wheelbase]] went up almost {{convert|20|cm|in}}, the body got {{convert|14|cm|in}} wider, the wheel size went up one inch (14&nbsp;inches). The car became more spacious, comfortable and safe. For the first time in the history of Soviet and Russian car making, the car's profile was optimized for [[automotive aerodynamics|aerodynamics]], with the help of Russian and, partially, [[France|French]] [[engineer]]s, who shortly cooperated with them at the final stage of the development process. The officially reported [[drag coefficient]] was 0.35.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://alekohistory.narod.ru/m2141aero.htm | title=The history of the Aleko |language=ru}}</ref>

==History==

Before the development of the M-2141 started, Moskvitch engineers had been working on a new series of rear-wheel drive cars and had developed it to the stage of pre-production prototypes. However, surprisingly for them, the Minister of Automobile Industry required them to cease all work on the unfinished project and instead create a front-wheel drive car with its upper part identical to that of the French [[Simca 1307]], which was favoured by him. While this decision helped to cut the development costs, it came as an insult to the engineers and designers, who had their own mock-ups of the future car ready.<ref name="autoreview.ru">{{cite web|url=http://autoreview.ru/new_site/year2002/n05/azlk/1.htm?phrase_id=5104930 |title=Interview with Igor Zaytsev, former chief designer for AZLK |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014628/http://autoreview.ru/new_site/year2002/n05/azlk/1.htm?phrase_id=5104930 |archivedate=2015-11-17 |language=ru}}</ref> Designer Igor Zaytsev recalled that it took more than a month to motivate his disappointed colleagues to get involved in the new project.<ref name="autoreview.ru"/>

However, besides the fact that the AZLK designers considered it "insulting and humiliating" to copy an existing car,<ref name="autoreview.ru"/> it came out that the new powertrain and chassis required a different bodyshell, and despite the two cars having similar shapes, the only parts of the French car that were borrowed to the Moskvitch-2141 were some constructive elements of the roof and the form of the window seals. As the company's chief designer Yuri Tkachenko stated in 1992, the differences between the Simca and the M-2141 were so numerous and significant that it was more correct to say what details were borrowed from the Simca rather than what was added to its design.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} "Auto", № 26, 1992</ref> It is only the top of the body that these models have in common.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ах, Алеко: вспоминаем факты и развенчиваем мифы про Москвич-2141|url=https://www.kolesa.ru/article/ah-aleko-vspominaem-fakty-i-razvenchivaem-mify-pro-moskvich-2141|website=Kolesa.ru|publisher= Kolesa magazine|accessdate=10 August 2018}}</ref> The existing engine was too long for transverse placement, so it was placed longitudinally, like on the [[Renault 20/30]] or [[Audi 80]]/[[Audi 100|100]] series.

[[File:Салон_Москвич_2141.JPG|thumb|left|Aleko interior]]

The Aleko turned out to be quite a breakthrough for the [[Automotive industry in the Soviet Union|Soviet automotive industry]] of its time. It almost became the first front-wheel drive hatchback of the Soviet Union, but due to the fact that its development took a further two years for Moskvitch to set up the manufacturing, the [[Lada Samara]] arrived first.
Although the M-2141 had a more comfortable design than the Samara, the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 followed by an economic crisis, [[financial mismanagement]] and disruptions in the work of the company caused a decline in assembling quality in the 1990s and damaged the reputation of this car in the markets. Nonetheless, even then, it was still praised for a high level of [[automobile safety|passive safety]], robustness of construction, good [[off-roading|off-road]] capabilities, and ease of repair. In 2001 the aging M-2141, designed in the late 1970s and early 1980s and lacking modern airbags and seatbelts with pretensioners, was awarded zero stars out of a possible four by the new Russian [[ARCAP]] safety assessment program, but the reviewers pointed out that for a 20-year-old car it showed an "excellent" crash-test result. The steering column and the A-pillar were displaced less than in the Citroën Xantia and early Audi A4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Москвич Святогор|url=https://autoreview.ru/arcap/cars/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87/%D0%A1%D0%B2%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80|website=Авторевю|accessdate=1 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Москвич Святогор|url=http://www.carpedia.ru/crush/34707/|website=Авторевю|accessdate=10 August 2018}}</ref>

Before 1991, AZLK designers also created the [[four-wheel-drive]] [http://i.wheelsage.org/pictures/azlk/2141/azlk_moskvich_21416_se_opytnyj_1.jpg Moskvich-21416SE] and a [http://www.cardesign.ru/viewimage/?img=/files/gallery/photo/part_22/221575/file/se0152.jpg sedan version] of the M-2141 equipped with a [http://www.cardesign.ru/viewimage/?img=/files/gallery/photo/part_22/221518/file/m2-2061.jpg different steering wheel] and an [[electronic instrument cluster]] that was publicly demonstrated in 1990,<ref>[http://www.denisovets.ru/azlk/azlkpages/m2142.html АО "Москвич" "Москвич-2142"]</ref> but none of these cars were put into series production due to the hardships brought by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although AZLK had designed and fully tested a new and more powerful generation of four-cylinder gasoline and [[diesel engine]]s for the M-2141, the construction of the company's engine production plant was stopped and never resumed.

[[File:Simca Aleko.jpg|thumb|right|Comparison between the body design of the [[Simca 1307]] (black) and the Aleko (red)]]
The Aleko was sold mostly on the domestic market, but in the late 1980s it was exported too. In some export markets, including France and Germany, the cars were advertised as the [[Lada]] Aleko, and diesel engines from [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and [[Indenor]] could be delivered in addition to the standard petrol engines. The Ford diesel engine, manufactured in Dagenham, UK, made it onto the AZLK production lines in September 1991.<ref name="TV1891.19">{{cite magazine | title = Ryssar kör engelskt | trans-title = Russians drive English | language = sv | magazine = [[Teknikens Värld]] | publisher = Specialtidningsförlaget AB | location = Stockholm, Sweden | page = 19 | date = 1991-09-19 | issue = 18 | volume = 43 | first = Claes | last = Johansson }}</ref> Moskvitch had been negotiating the construction of an engine factory in the Soviet Union but the plans were scuppered by a lack of [[hard currency]].<ref name="TV1891.19"/> The Aleko was also assembled in Bulgaria under licence for a brief period in the late 1980s.

Some of the last Moskvitch models to be built were the upgraded and facelifted Alekos that were renamed Svyatogor (models 214122, 214100, 214145). A version with the wheelbase extended by {{cvt|20|cm|in|1}} called the Yury Dolgorukiy (2141Y2 ''Юрий Долгорукий''; 1997–2002, named after the historic [[Yuri Dolgorukiy|Grand Prince of Kiev]]) was also built, albeit only in small numbers. Still based on the design of the M-2141, the Dolgorukiy was built in two series: the first had the original, large, rectangular headlamps, while the second series received the Svyatogor's facelifted front treatment.

In 1990, the Aleko was involved in a fatal accident that saw the death of [[Viktor Tsoi]] of [[Kino (band)]].

==Derivatives and naming variants==
*''Aleko 141'' (for foreign market)
*''Moskvich-2141'' (for domestic market; Москвич-2141 in [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]])
*''AZLK-2141'' (for domestic market; АЗЛК-2141 in Cyrillic)
*''Svjatogor/Святогор'' (since 1997, for domestic market)
*''АЗЛК-214145'' (since 1997, Renault [[Renault F-Type engine|F3R]] 2.0 engine)

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=200 heights=140>
 File:ALEKO M-2141S (front view).jpg
 File:Moskvich_M-2141S_(AZLK-2141S,_ALEKO-2141S).jpg |M-21412 alias M-2141S
 File:AZLK(ALEKO)-2141S_(gulfstream_colored).jpg |M-21412 alias M-2141S
 File:AZLK (ALEKO) M-2141 (air view).jpg |M-21412 alias M-2141S
 File:УЗАМ_331.JPG |UZAM-331 engine (1989)
 File:Svatoor_red.JPG |Svyatogor (Aleko post-1996 facelift)
 File:Azlk 2142 moskvich opyitnyiy 1.jpg |
 File:Autowp.ru_azlk_2142_moskvich_opyitnyiy_1.jpg |Moskvitch-2142 with sedan body (prototype)
 File:Москвич_2901.jpg |M-2901
 File:AZLK(IZH)-2335.jpg | 2335
 File:Москвич 2141 Юрий Долгорукий модель 2141Y2.jpg|Moskvich 2141Y2 Dolgorukiy, with a slightly extended wheelbase
</gallery>

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cars of Russia]]
[[Category:Moskvitch]]
[[Category:Soviet automobiles]]
[[Category:1990s cars]]
[[Category:Cars introduced in 1986]]
[[Category:Hatchbacks]]
[[Category:Mid-size cars]]
[[Category:ARCAP large family cars]]
[[Category:Front-wheel-drive vehicles]]
[[Category:Cars discontinued in 2003]]