False start for the "Start": what was the fate of the most beautiful Soviet minibus

The plastic minibus "Start" is not known to every motorist. Although many probably saw him in the movies. This unique device has appeared in several films at once, and the most famous of them is "The Caucasian Captive, or the New Adventures of Shurik".

"Start" is a creation of the Ukrainian automotive industry, it was created at the Severodonetsk auto repair base, and the futuristic car was assembled at assembly plants in Lugansk and Donetsk. Unfortunately, it has remained an expensive toy that was not put into mass production.

Minibus "Start" few people have seen "live"

In the finale of The Caucasian Captive, Natalia Varley's heroine leaves in a futuristic-looking minibus. This is the very "Start"

"Start" was developed and manufactured in 1963 by the forces of the Severodonetsk Automobile Repair base and the Severodonetsk Production Association "Fiberglass" using components from GAZ-21. The shell-type body mounted on the frame chassis had a working fiberglass skin, which was glued inside a special six-detachable matrix in one technological step manually, by contact molding, after which wooden amplifiers of the sidewalls, roofs, window openings and doors were glued into it.

A modest note about the "Start" in the Soviet press

Yuri Andros (far left) at work on a large-scale (1:10) model of the "Start". Thank you, Maestro, for a beautiful car!

And here is a scale model. The design of the radiator grille is slightly different from the serial version

For comparison, here is the Corvair Greenbrier…

...and here is the "Start". There is something in common, but the "Start" is cooler

To create a plastic body, a reference plaster model was originally created. Then a counterform was created directly on it, inside which the bus bodies were glued out of epoxy resin.

The process of creating a counterform, or matrix for body panels, was very time-consuming and expensive

Salon "Start"

I came to Moscow and immediately conquered everyone!

"Start" after a thorough restoration

Mindfulness test. Find the differences between this "Start"…

...and like this. At first glance, everything is the same, but if you look closely, you can notice a different design of the central roof pillar. All because in this picture is a car made in Lugansk at the LASZ plant

Unlike most minibuses, the "Start" had a protruding sedan-type trunk

Drawing by Alexander Zakharov from Lev Shugurov's book "Cars of Russia"

The plastic body is not afraid of corrosion. A good option for restoration

"Start" will forever remain in people's memory as a bus from the "Caucasian captive"

The restored "Start" can be seen at various exhibitions in Russia