The Moskvitch 402 is a 4-door sedan (car) / sedan / 5-door Station wagon / estate / 3-door sedan delivery from Moskvitch, built from 1956 to 1965, at the height of the post-war boom. Under the bonnet: 1.2L MZMA-402 Straight-four engine.
The story
The Moskvitch 402 is a compact car manufactured by the former Soviet automobile maker MZMA, first time introduced in 1956 as a second generation of the Moskvitch series. In comparison with its predecessor, the Moskvitch-401, the M-402 model featured many improvements which included independent suspension with double wishbones, telescopic shock absorbers, 12-volt electrics, more solid and comfortable car body, more modern trunk, heater, standard car radio, wider viewing range for the driver, etc.
What is underneath
Power comes from 1.2L MZMA-402 Straight-four engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 910 kg. It shifts through a 3-speed manual (1956–1960) / 4-speed manual (1960–1965). The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2370 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Moskvitch 400-420; its successor was the Moskvitch 408 (for 402/407) / Moskvitch 412 (for 403); assembly was at Moscow. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Fiat 500, the Nissan Skyline, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Moskvitch catalogue sit the AZLK-2139 and the AZLK-2144.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Moskvitch 402 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.