The ZIL-112 Sports is a car from ZiL, built from 1961, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Under the bonnet: 6.0L ZIL-111 V8. Vasily Rodionov drew it.
The story
The ZIL-112 Sports was a Soviet sports car made by ZIL car manufacturer in 1961 and competed in races from 1961 to 1969. Two cars were built. The ZIL-112S initiated a number of firsts for cars produced in the USSR such as controlled slip differential, disc brakes, radial-ply tires etc. One ZIL-112S was powered by a 6.0 L V8 with 230 hp (172 kW). A second ZIL-112S was equipped with a 270 hp (201 kW) 7.0 L V8. Both engines were developed from the ZIS-110 engine. Depending on the engine, the top speed was 260–270 km/h (160–170 mph). It could do 0–100 km/h in 9 seconds. The total weight was 1,330 kg (2,932 lb).
Steering and front suspension came from the GAZ-21 Volga. In the rear, it used De Dion suspension with triangular levers. The transmission, like the engine, was from the ZIS-110. In 1962, one ZIL-112S was rebuilt with a more aerodynamic body for an attempt at a Soviet land speed record. The ZIL-112RG was taken to the Baskunchak salt lake to attempt the record, but the weather was poor and the car topped out at 200–230 km/h (120–140 mph). A second attempt was made at the Dmitrovsky race track, however winter weather made the attempt impossible. Between 1963 and 1965 the car set five all-Union records in the racetracks. The 270 hp (201 kW) ZIL-112S, driven by Gennady Zharkov, won the USSR Championship in 1964 and 1965. One ZIL-112S is in the Riga Motor Museum and the other is owned by a Swedish collector.
What is underneath
Power comes from 6.0L ZIL-111 V8. It weighs 1330 kg. 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 2190 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 ZIL-112/5; its successor was the ZIL-412S. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Jaguar E-Type, the Volvo P1800, the Ferrari 250 GTO — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the ZiL catalogue sit the 9P138 Grad-1 and the AMO-2.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the ZIL-112 Sports 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.