It was inspired by the similar-sized four-door Ford Prefect and, despite its low price, equipped with such features as a mechanical clock and indicators of the level of oil and the temperature of water in the radiator.

[1] However, national priorities changed with the German invasion in summer 1941, and production of the car was halted and not resumed after the war.

[6] Development began in 1944, following a prewar plan to produce a domestically built car able to be used and maintained by citizens living outside major cities.

[2] The KIM factory was selected to build the car, with the prewar KIM-10-52 (not built due to the Second World War) as a basis, with production approved in May 1945 and prototypes intended to be ready in December.

[7][8] After KIM was renamed MZMA (Moscovskiy Zavod Malolitrazhnyh Avtomobiley, Moscow Factory for Making Small Cars) in August 1945,[4] the new car was ready for production before the end of 1946 (somewhat behind the planned June deadline): the first 400-420 was built 9 December,[4] "400" meant a type of engine,[citation needed] and "420" the (saloon) body style.

[4] In 1948, a woodie van, the 400-422, with an 800 kg (1,800 lb) payload, went into production[4] but the similar prototype 400-421 estate and a pick-up[4] never did.

[4] The 400 went on sale in Belgium in October 1950, making it a very early Soviet automotive export product, priced at £349: below the Ford Prefect and Anglia, and well below the Morris Minor.

Private users in Norway at the time needed a foreign exchange permit to buy a new imported car.