When Ippolit W. Romanov began with the development of an automobile in 1899 in the city of St. Petersburg/Russia, he was way ahead of his time. His cars under the name Romanov were powered by an electronic engine. They reached a top speed of 38 km/h and had enough power to travel a distance of 60 km. In 1901, the company had to give up, as the internal combustion engine had proven to be more efficient. No, the real reason was Ippo being a very busy designer, but a very bad businessman, as he designed a car first and not a year later he built a bus.
The brand Romanov disappeard along with the models and was never heard of again.
That is, until the two young engineers Kikimov and Simonov who had just graduated from St. Petersburg university, found a Romanov forgotten in an old barn in 1953, while they were on vacation with their incredibly hot russian girlfriends.
It was in terrible condition, covered in dust and spider webs, the car was practically immovable, but the two young graduates were nonetheless fascinated. They first believed they had found a car built for the last russian Tzar Nikolai II of the Romanov dynasty, who had been murdered in 1918 after the October Revolution in Russia.
After a bit of research, they learned about the history of the old automobile they had found and even though the original company had ceased, an idea was born in the minds of the two engineers.
Together with a few friends, they began developing a prototype with the intention to serve as a car for everyone alike, suitable for the most common situations on the road. During development, Kikimov and Simonov were looking across the border and the ocean. Cars like the Chevrolet Bel Air were considered to be the top-notch design of the era and offered great inspiration for the design of the first Romanov named “Odin” (one). At the same time, the engineers admired the efficiency and reliability of the “people’s car” from Germany, the Volkswagen Beetle and were aiming for a comparable efficiency, while they secretly laughed about the design.
The concept of Romanov Avtomobili was introduced to the grim-faced commitee in Moscow, responsible for allowing new factories to be build in the Sovietunuion. Their luck was the the high demand of motor cars at the time and the solid concept. When asked about the origin of the name Romanov, the two soon to be car producers denied any connection to the last Tzar, which was crucial, a wrong word could have easily gotten them a one-way ticket to Siberia.
After a few glasses of vodka, all doubts were sorted out and the first factory for the “Piterschskii Avtomobilni Zavod” (St. Petersburg automobile factory) was built, with capacities for building about 500 units per year.
After lots of debating, cursing and drawing concepts, in January 1954 the first engine saw the light of day. The ROM 52 1.6 litre engine was a straight four cylinder, with focus on leightweight, durability and economy.
Equipped with a two barrel carburettor and an overhead camshaft, it produced 64 hp, while being cheap and fast to produce. Some wondered about the number 52, Kikimov stated it was the middle measurement of his girlfriend at the time.
The first task given by the committee was to deliver 18 cars by April 1955 to be used as taxi in the hometown St. Petersburg. Another 26 cars were supposed to go to the capitol Moscow by beginning of September 1955. The moral in the factory was good and everyone worked hard to complete the task, and yet they had to work long nights, in order to stay within the given deadline.
Every Romanov Odin was painted in black metallic “because it was cheaper”, as Kikimov and Simonov stated. Rumours say they were Rock’n’Roll fans and preferred black. Another decision driven by the wish to produce as cheap as possible, was to build a frontwheel driven car, a big difference to most cars on the soviet market at the time.
A little flaw in the early design was the amount of passenger doors,as there were only two. This resulted in taxi passengers having to climb past the bad breath of the driver in order to pay for the ride in advance. Once inside the car, the comfortable seats and amount of space in the back made up for the rather complicated entrance, which is why most babushkas kept walking.
The Odin in its first revision was built until 1964 and was until then equipped with a 3 gear transmission, allowing for a maximum speed of 138 km/h. The Romanov Odin needed about 22 seconds to reach 100 km/h, enough time to eat “butterbrot”, the russian equivalent of a sandwich.
One great advantage was the fuel economy, as cars of comparable sizes needed at least 3 litres more fuel for every 100 km driven. At the time however, fuel usage was not a great concern of people, so marketing used another argument to attract potential buyers…
Roughly translated: New! Romanov Odin - When others have to stop and get gas, you’re still driving!
Last but not least, the rear of the Odin was not only easy on the eye, it offered a lot of space for passenger’s luggage and could fit as many as two grown capitalist-pigs or 350 bottles of vodka. (Experiments were succesfully conducted with emptied bottles)
In 1956 the car was finally made available for public buyers who had shown interest ever since the car was seen on the streets.
At the time 198 Odins were suffering on the bad roads of the soviet union as taxis, official committee member cars and police cars. The engine proved to be a little too weak for the need of the milita and was overhauled in 1964. In eight years roundabout 2800 cars were produced and the brand Romanov Avtomobili became known even outside the territory of the Soviet Union.
To be continued…
