The Moskvitch 404 Sport is one of the Moskvitch entries the open record knows by name, and by little else. That is not nothing: a name in the catalogue is where a car's story starts to be recoverable. The shape is credited to Igor A. Gladilin.
The background
The Moskvitch 404 Sport was a prototype sports car from Soviet manufacturer Moskvitch introduced in 1954. It was based on the Moskvitch 400/420 and used a new, experimental overhead valve hemi engine, with a compression ratio of 9.2:1, which produced 58 hp (43 kW; 59 PS). Fitted with four sidedraft carburettors, the 404's top speed was 91 mph (146 km/h). The car was quite successful in racing and won three Soviet Championships.
The engineering
the output is 58-70 hp @ 4,800-4,860 rpm. On the scales it comes to 902 kg. That is roughly 64 horsepower per tonne: unhurried — enough for the job, not for the bragging. The wheelbase is 2340 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its Moskvitch stablemates include the AZLK-2139 and the AZLK-2144.