VAZ-2122 Reka

The VAZ-2122 Reka ("River") was an amphibious car based on the VAZ-2121 Niva. Work began while the second Niva prototype was being tested, first as a vehicle for anglers and hunters, but the Soviet Ministry of Defence soon became interested.

Design

The Niva's engine, drivetrain and floor pan were kept almost unchanged; the watertight floor came from the Niva cabriolet, with a new four-seat body, a removable soft top and a windscreen that folds flat. Overhangs were shorter than on the standard Niva so the car could drive into and out of water almost anywhere, and the exhaust exits under the front bumper. There is no separate water drive: the Reka swims by turning its wheels, reaching about 4 to 4.3 km/h, and turns as tightly afloat as on land.

Development

Designer A. D. Eremeev's scale models led to the first two E2122 prototypes in summer 1976. Trials showed that the engine and the transmission units, which sat inside the body, overheated. The second series, two grey-blue 2E2122s of autumn 1978 with a double floor for cooling air, was tested through 1979 without solving the problem. Under V. I. Domansky, a former UAZ engineer, the wheels and final-drive ratios were revised, the front differential was moved out of the engine bay, and the body was rebuilt. A 1980 car tested successfully in the heat and shifting sands of Turkmenia.

The third series (3E2122) of 1982, more compact and with a properly sealed cabin, was tested in Turkmenia and the Pamirs. In 1983 an interdepartmental commission tested it alongside two "400" series cars and made 120 observations. Ten "500" series cars and three bodies followed in early 1985 for military trials at Minsk, Kizyl-Arvat and Chita. A final "600" series of three cars was built in 1987, and production was approved, but the customer could not afford to buy in quantity and the project was shelved. Of the last three cars, one went to a transport museum in Kaunas, one to the military automobile museum at Ryazan, and one was given to Domansky.