SeAZ factory specialized in building purpose-built vehicles for handicapped drivers and by the 1970s their offering was the S-3D, a spartan, boxy two-seat sedan powered by a motorcycle engine.

When engineers in Serpukhov under factory manager Alexander Popov (who told Minavtoprom (the automotive ministry) SeAZ needed a new product) conceived the Oka, they turned to their VAZ colleagues for help.

[2] The Soviet Ministry preferred the Oka over other three-door microcars designed by SeAZ and NAMI, as well as over a different, futuristic variant of the new car proposed by Vereschagin in 1984.

In the event, however, he was proven wrong, as the Oka's overall acceptable operating characteristics and low price resulted in some 700,000 examples rolling off the assembly line over a period of nearly two decades.

During test drives on roads and in the Caucasus Mountains, the car proved to have good handling, roadholding and, surprisingly for a vehicle of its size, excellent off-road capabilities.

Its small size and weight (635 kilograms), however, gave birth to a multitude of funny (and often true) stories involving several men carrying an Oka away from its parking place.

[9] Special modifications for disabled people (missing one or both legs or one arm) were being distributed for free through the Soviet Union's (and later Russia's) social service system.