LuAZ-Proto was a single prototype built in 1990, designed by a Leningrad-based NAMI group led by G. Khainov and D. Parfyonov, with A. Kostevich and A. Suiteyev as designers. The work was commissioned by Minavtoselkhozmash, formerly Minavtoprom, and ran in parallel with a comparable project underway in Lutsk.
Its body used a steel frame fitted with easily removable fiberglass panels, and the rear section of the roof could also be taken off. The transmission was unusual: drive to the front wheels came through a power take-off unit connected to the secondary shaft of the gearbox. LuAZ-Proto turned out to be the final vehicle produced by NAMI's Leningrad branch, after which some of its staff went on to form their own organization, the Stil center.
The car measured 3,400 mm long, 1,570 mm wide and 1,570 mm tall on a 2,300 mm wheelbase, built as a station wagon with a removable rear roof section and drive to both front and rear wheels from a front-mounted engine. It used the MeMZ-245 inline four-cylinder gasoline engine of 1,091 cc with 8 overhead valves, producing 53 hp (39 kW) at 5,300 to 5,500 rpm, paired with a six-speed manual gearbox in which first and second gears served as reduction ratios. Front suspension was independent, spring-based and of MacPherson type, while the rear used a dependent De Dion-type spring setup. Brakes were hydraulic with a vacuum booster, discs at the front and drums at the rear, with a 12-volt electrical system and 175/80R16 tires.
