MeMZ-965

The MeMZ-965 was a Soviet automobile engine, built by the Melitopolski Motor Plant (MeMZ).

Originally known as the NAMI-G (for the Soviet National Automotive Institute), the MeMZ-965 was designed for use in the LuAZ-967. It was a air-cooled 90° V4, producing . It had had characteristics not common for automobile engines, including a magnesium alloy engine block, accessories mounted high (to assist in case of crossing rivers), and a rear-mounted oil cooler.

When the initial MD-65 engine proposed for the ZAZ-965 proved inadequate, the MeMZ engine was selected, thanks in part to it being air-cooled, like the successful VW Type 1's boxer engine. It would be developed into the MeMZ-966 and the MeMZ-968.

The MeMZ-968 was offered in the ZAZ-968M in three performance levels:

• MeMZ-968E (, carbureted, low-compression for 76-octane fuel);
• MeMZ-968GE (, dual carburettor); or
• MeMZ-968BE (, 8.4:1 compression, for 93-octane).

In addition, the MeMZ-965 would serve as a prototype vee-twin (half an MeMZ-965), for the prototype NAMI 086.

Applications:

• LuAZ-967
• ZAZ-969
• ZAZ-965
• ZAZ-965A
• ZAZ-966
• ZAZ-968
• ZAZ-968M

Notes

Sources

• Thompson, Andy. Cars of the Soviet Union. Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing, 2008.
• ZAZ-965/965A, Avtolegendy SSSR Nr.17, DeAgostini 2009. ISSN 2071-095X.