The VA 0.40 cc Micro Diesel mini-replica from the 1990's is a miniature reproduction of the 1947 Micro Diesel from Detroit, USA. It was manufactured in small numbers in St. Petersburg, Russia by Valentin Aloshkin under his VA brand name.

Aloshkin also manufactured mini replicas of a number of other classic diesels such as the Mills .75, the E.D. Bee, the Elfin 1.8, the Elfin 50, the E.D. Baby, the FROG 50 and the Kalper .32. These engines were effectively promoted and marketed by Dave Banks of England, hence often being referred to on eBay and elsewhere as “Dave Banks engines”. However, they are all VA products.

As supplied, the VA mini-Micro model was somewhat down on power by comparison with other similar engines in Aloshkin's miniature replica series. Thinking about the possible reasons for this, Maris Dislers noted that the VA mini-replica incorporated the same rather odd-ball port timing figures as the original Micro Diesel from 1947. Since the timing figures for the original engine may well have come about through an uncorrected manufacturing error, Maris decided to experiment with changes to the port timing of the VA mini-replica. These experiments were crowned with considerable success!

A full report on Maris's experiments with the VA mini-Micro Diesel replica may be found elsewhere on this website.