Description
The neon sign on the Hotel Moskvich (Москвич) is sitting on top of a 16-storey building in the southeastern part of Moscow, capital of Russia. Dating back to Soviet times, the hotel got its name from the most famous product by a neighbouring factory. Here the state-controlled enterprise AZLK would manufacture the classic Soviet car, Moskvich (Moskovit), during the period between 1939 and 1991. The factory, whose abbreviated name stood for the Lenin Communist Youth League Automobile Factory, was assigned the task of producing small durable cars for the average Russian as well as for export markets. Domestic demand, however, nearly always exceeded the supply, so waiting lists to get a Moskvich were long.