Vintage Thing No. 31.4 - the UAZ-452 is now the YAZ--2206

Or it could be a UAZ-3303, a UAZ-3741, a UAZ-4909 Farmer, a UAZ-39094 or a UAZ-39265. It could even be an SBA-2M-1S with armoured protection. I’ll try to explain.

The UAZ-2206 is a sexed up version of the venerable UAZ-452, Russia's interpretation of a four-wheel-drive Ford Transit. The most noticeable difference is the revised front-end styling and the addition of a “kengurin.”

I can't be sure but I'm fairly certain that a “kengurin” is the Russian equivalent of a roo bar. Roo bars were originally an Australian invention designed to keep kangaroos from spoiling the paintwork of your and yer mate’s utes down under, kangaroos have notoriously poor traffic sense. Obviously kangaroos are not much of a problem in Outer Mongolia but there's probably plenty of other big wild things that could damage the front of your UAZ.

Peter Tuthill has sent me a copy of the UAZ-2206 brochure and although I don't speak or read Russian, I found it extremely interesting.

The basic specification of the UAZ-2206 hasn't changed much - it still has drum brakes (albeit servo assisted nowadays) and a separate chassis. The standard version retains the (92bhp or 69kW) 2445cc petrol engine. There are two versions of this, either by Zavolzhsky Motorny Zavod (ZMZ-402) or by Volzhskiye Motory (UMZ-4178). However, there is now a bigger optional engine, a 2.89 litre displacement lump (98bhp) – the UMZ-4218 by Volzhskiye Motory – that allows a higher top speed of 117 km/h, compared to 110 km/h for the smaller unit.

According to the Roscotrade website, this bigger engine is a new design that offers other advantages in addition to the increased capacity. By using an aluminium cylinder block and cast iron liners, internal friction has been reduced significantly. The weight saving has also enhanced the off-road performance and handling characteristics. The new engine takes 3 to 4 times less well and uses 1.5 litres less fuel in typical use.

It strikes me that the reduced oil capacity must make starting the thing a lot easier frozen steppes. I've heard stories of Russians and Mongolians having to light fires under the sumps of these things before the starter motor can persuade the engine to turnover because the oil has become so thick with the cold.

There is also a redesigned heater, an improved interior, more noise insulation and updated seats and upholstery. There is a greater range of colours and the charming option of “appliqué work”, which I interpret to mean the go faster stripe (graphic device) on the cab.

The old UAZ-452 still soldiers on as the UAZ-3303 pickup truck or the UAZ-3741 cargo van. The UAZ-4909 Farmer carries six passengers and 450 kg of freight in a separate compartment. It has a powerful heater and a table inside and is described as a truly universal machine combining cross-country capacity, universality and “cosiness”, and “an irreplaceable companion in trips for hunt, fishing and simply to the open country (sic).” The UAZ-39265 is a minibus version of the UAZ-4909 Farmer that can in standard form fold away its eats and take cargo. It also serves as a base for ambulance conversions. The UAZ-39094 is a crew-cab pickup version of the newer UAZ-2206. It seats 5 but isn’t quite as cosy as the UAZ-4909 Farmer, a vehicle to which I find myself rapidly warming, probably due to mention of all that cosiness, a most welcome optional extra when one is traversing the tundra. The armoured variant looks just like an ordinary cargo van but apparently it's quite difficult to get into if you've lost the keys.

It's a bit like not seeing the wood for the trees - when it comes to the products of the Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod plant at Ulyanovsk you’re almost spoilt for choice. The commercial vehicles share their running year with Russia's answer to the Land Rover, the UAZ-31512, the Jeep that has its origins in the old GAZ-69 but, like the old UAZ-452, this has involved over the last 48 years since the original UAZ-469 appeared in prototype form.

During that time, the engine size has grown steadily, beginning with a 2120cc (82mm x 100mm bore and stroke) 55 bhp unit that developed via a 70 bhp 88mm x100mm 2430cc motor into the “square” 2445cc (92mm x 92mm) version that also found a home in the GAZ-21 that was known as the Volga in Western export markets. According to my 1967 World Cars catalogue, the 2445cc engines used in the Volgas had aluminium blocks as well as aluminium cylinder heads whereas iron was used for the blocks in the jeeps and commercial vehicles.

Maybe the new ally block is not such an innovation. However, I suspect that development work over the years has reduced the capacity for oil and petrol consumption.

In the Volga, on a 7.6 to 1 compression ratio, maximum power is 95 bhp at 4,000 rpm using a K-105 carburettor – dontcha just love the anonymity of Russian brand names?

According to Peter's brochure, the 2.5 litre engine now puts out 92bhp and 159.8 Nm of torque. These figures rise to 98bhp and 189Nm for the 2.89 litre unit. If anyone knows the bore and stroke of the bigger motor, please drop me a line – I like to know these things. The latest versions of the bigger engine is rated at Euro 2 for emissions but the smaller, older unit is zero rated.

The ground clearance is 220mm and with such short front and rear overhangs a slope of 30° can be negotiated from the level without the bumpers grounding. Wading depth is 0.5m.

As you can probably tell, I have something of a soft spot for the game little UAZ 4x4 panel vans. Even the bigger engined variety probably wouldn't keep up with the traffic in Cornwall but their off-road reputation in Mongolia is formidable. The build quality of Russian vehicles under Communist rule was legendary for its inadequacy and, after such a long production run, panel fit is sure to have deteriorated even further by now.

These 4x4s can't have much of a future left but they have already passed into legend in their homeland and certain enthusiasts in the West, some of whom who have encountered these little beasts of burden in their natural environment, are already taking an interest in them.

Vintage Thing No.31 - UAZ-452

It was on the last day of a practice expedition for my Duke of Edinburgh award. I'd been out on Dartmoor for four days camping with my school friends when we began to make our way into Princetown. There was a tremendous sense of returning to civilisation. We'd been camping out in tents and had carried everything with us. At one stage something big came for our rubbish bag tucked under the flysheet of our tent and Hoppy Hopwood swore blind it was an ocelot. The Beast of Bodmin Moor was in the news even then - except this was Dartmoor. We probably smelt a bit and were a little foot sore but the sense of camaraderie was great. We'd not heard any radio let alone any TV, which was rare for a bunch of teenage boys, so felt completely cut off from the news and world events.

As we tramped across the moors, we began to catch glimpses of little 4x4 pick up trucks bouncing over the moors. This was nothing special and my friends didn't give them a passing thought. But I did. I knew straight away that they weren't just foreign but Russian and this was at the height of the Cold War. What could have happened while we'd been away in the wilderness, at one with nature and escaped exotic pets gone native?

I was at the age between Airfix kits and the real thing. I knew these little trucks were Russian because I had recently acquired The Observer's Military Vehicle Directory. It had been specially ordered for me by my mother from the SPCK Bookshop in Truro - that's Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. I don't think they stocked The Observer's Military Vehicle Directory as a matter of course but were quite happy to order it for me.

By the time my D of E expedition reached Princetown I was convinced we'd been invaded. It turned out that we had but peacefully. An enterprising soul had begun to import these 0.8ton 4x4s and they'd instantly found favour with moorland farmers since they were so much cheaper than Land Rovers. Some said they performed better, too. In fact as a cross between a Land-Rover and a Ford Transit, there was nothing else like them.

From my copy of The Observer's Military Vehicle Directory, I gleaned that they were introduced in 1966 and by the time I made their acquaintance featured 2430cc 4-cylinder engines with an 88mm x 100mm bore and stroke producing 70 bhp. These engines originated in the GAZ scout cars - the USSR's equivalent of a Jeep - and UAZ-450s, with the simpler grille design shown here, made do with a 2120cc (82x100) engine and 55 bhp. They all had three or four speed gearboxes with two speed transfer boxes. Later versions featured yet more powerful engines and UAZ-452s remained in production at the Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod plant at Ulyanovsk right up until 2004-5.

The wagons I saw on Dartmoor on that expedition in 1979 or 1980 were all pick ups but my favourite versions were the minibuses and vans. The UAZ-452 offered 4x4 traction at a budget price when 4x4s of any kind were still rare, quite unlike today. And the combination of Transit size carrying capacity and budget but effective four wheel drive was unique back then. The UAZ-452 could have been a kind of cult Russian microbus but factory photos show wandering shut lines and a kind of pre-dented build quality that VW Microbus owners would rarely have nightmares about. This didn't matter to the Dartmoor farmer, though. These were rough tough little trucks that must have been regarded as expendable by the Russian Army and probably didn't last long in Dartmoor's wet climate.

So do any survive in the UK? The UAZ-452 was a passing craze and I only ever saw them on that occasion in the late seventies (1979?), although at the time they seemed to be everywhere. Are there any microbus versions tucked up in old barns still? I'd love to see a UAZ-452 van at next year's Run To The Sun. It would be nice to think some still exist but frankly I doubt it. Wouldn't getting spares be a problem?