ZIS-101A Sport with canvas top

On 17 October 1938, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported on the ZIS-101A Sport project, prompting its move from the drawing board to the assembly shop. On 11 December, ZIS director Likhachev issued Order No. 79, setting out a clear timetable for building the car. The ZIS-101A Sport was shown publicly in 1939 at the Moscow Party Conference. Its construction was timed to mark the twentieth anniversary of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, or Komsomol.

However, the project went no further than presentation to the country’s top leadership, and the ZIS-101A Sport never entered series production. The experimental car later disappeared too; only the original drawings and photographs survive.