MOSKVICH 412/427

4-door 4-seater saloon/estate car.

The body style unchanged from the 408/426 series, with a new overhead-cam engine, clearly copied from BMW. With 80bhp, this dreadful machine could do nearly 90mph, and was sold at heavily-subsidised prices. Because of that price, could even win price-category British races (remember Tony Lanfranchi?). Even so, the steering and handling were perilous as independent tests confirmed. 412s were saloons, 427s were estates, and - as above - to be avoided. Same factory/importers went on to market Ladas - a much better idea which succeeded.