The Lada Riva - the Soviet "Tank" that Invaded Britain
My enduring image of the Lada Riva from the late 1980s is an old-fashioned car that people bought because it was cheap. With it being the butt of many jokes, it was about as exciting as Steve Davis. But this is like judging a film you’ve missed the start of, that’s in a foreign language. The Riva was the first car for many Soviets, and over a 40-year history sold more than Ford’s Model T. So just where did this car come from? And why was the USSR hawking it for all it was worth in the UK in the 1980s?
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Erratum: Smirnoff vodka is a western product, not Russian.
That wasn't your only mistake. The LADA Riva is a rugged car that has decent fuel economy and can survive abuse that would kill a Fiat 124. So if you were a taxi driver who couldn't afford a Chevy Impalla / Caprice Clasic or a Mercedes 300D / 300TD, the RIva was the best choice. Granted it only lasted 2/3 as long as the Chevy, it was still more durable than most European & Japanese cars of the era. Durablity was a major factor in the export sales of the Riva, just like the Niva, which is why they sold well in developing nations, as well as the west... If I could get a Riva Estate in good condition and if there was a decent parts supply in the US, I would strongly consider replacing my daily driver, a 1984 Audi 4000 Quattro...
stolishnaya is more like it
It was Stolichnaya (and Moskovskaya) what I did drink 1984 in Leningrad and many times after that. But because of the bad aftermath after vodka and Pepsi cola, I can't drink vodka cola anymore. Cognac cola is better choice.
Smirnoff was founded in Moscow in 1864.
@@raftonpounder6696 Yes it was but wasn't anymore in Soviet time. Socialists took factory and Smirnov fled to Turkey.
I had a Lada in the 1980s because it was the only car I could afford to buy new. 12 years and 150 thousand miles later it was still going strong. Unfortunately it then became impossible to find spare parts so I bid it a tearful farewell. Every car I have had since has never been as reliable as my Riva. Yes, it was like a tank to drive and (as a small woman) I got some impressive biceps! But I always felt very safe. I'm 65 now and I still miss my old tank.
Somebody talked you out of a great car, under the pretext of something that is a flagrant lie. How naieve are you exactly? You gave away a great car. They really screwed you. Never go there again!
You can always buy yourself a Riva from Russia for about $ 250-300
In Russia, they are called the index 2101 and up to 2107. There are models with an injection engine. We produced them until 2012.
Lots of people loved them here but road salt didn't.
I'm not sure why people buy new cars, you lose thousands as soon as you drive a car off the forecourt. Always best to buy something 3 years old, coming off the end of a lease, you'll save £10k in exchange for what? not having the latest iphone linkage? Daily driver for me is a Mazda Tribute with 140k on the clock, I love the reliability. I would never buy a new car because they break easily and when they do, it's expensive.
A Lada was our first car when we got married, it was a fantastic little car, we went camping all over UK in it and it never let us down once. In winter it was bulletproof just ploughed through the snow.
I hope you liked this car... In Russia, lada 2105 (the same as riva, but much worse) can easily cost $200. But riva was very nice car.
And how, in Russia, Lada riva is an expensive rarity
The new LADA are the same bulletproof in winter, here kzhead.info/sun/bMewm6ykgoeYhn0/bejne.html a video where the guys bought LADA VESTA CROSS SV for fun in winter at a regular VAZ dealership in Yakutia in Yakutsk and at minus 50 degrees Celsius they went to ride it in Yakutia and through Siberia, the Urals through half the continent of EurAsia to their hometown of Krasnodar, which is not far (180 km) from the Black Sea
fantastic. It sounds, like it is not about our russian zhigulY ' i will retell it here, to Russians :)
I always remember back to the early 90's my snooty next door neighbour had a brand new Sierra and the guy next to him had a Lada. I think it was a Riva 1300, he had a few problems and was always tinkering under the bonnet. The Sierra guy used to come and jump in and turn the key and smile thinking it was funny that his car started and the Lada was stuck there. A year or so later we had a bad winter with deep snow and really cold weather, the Sierra guy came out and the car just went clunk and wouldn't start (flat battery i guess) but the Lada just started as usual and he gave the Sierra guy a BIG smile. I never laughed so much in all my days. I will take that image to my grave.
In 1996, a friend from Germany brought a used 2.7-liter Ford Scorpio Ghia V6. Not broken , not painted, with a mileage of 100,000 km. A friend enjoyed this car like a child - even if the rear seats lowered the backs on electric motors. But not for long - in the first winter in the cold at just minus 20 degrees, the oil seal of the front crankshaft failed, then the gas pump died in the spring and rust appeared on the body in the same spring. He threw this Ford to another fool out of harm's way and bought himself a new VAZ 21083 without any whistles and beautiful light bulbs. Quietly left for 10 years on this 21083
I have a similar story. The coldest temperature I ever saw was one morning in, I think, January 1999 it was -52C in Ayer's Cliff, Quebec. I remember this incident because the neighbour across the road had a Cadillac STS and he was always saying that I should stop being so lazy and get a real job so that I didn't have to drive "pieces of crap". He said that I wasn't sincere when I said that I liked old cars better than the new ones and had no interest in a new Cadillac. Well when I saw that he couldn't get his STS to start that morning, although I didn't have to go anywhere, I bundled up and went out and started my 1978 Olds Toronado and turned it around in the yard so that he'd notice that it started. I'm sure I took 10 years off the engine life that morning but it was worth it just to teach him one.
wow, replace flat battery once a year VS every day tinkering under the bonnet. you're laughing at strange things, mate.
stop stop stop... (^_^) You first say "he was always tinkering under the bonnet". But then you say "in cold weather the Lada just started as usual" You are muddling something
@@peterlittlehorse5695 And you , in the West, probably can not live without your holy wars... while it was funny though :)
People used to joke back in the 80's how good Lada was: you buy a new car, completely disassemble it and then put it all back together properly, throw away what's not needed too. Those Ladas were fantastic cars, totally repairable with almost no tools, like AK! And it was so wobbly with such a smooth far late action steering,, it's amazing, such a soft enjoyable car. Very warm memories
My dad took our family of 4 on 10 hour journeys across mountains and in winters multiple times a year and back, sometimes on 3 day trips to the sea on cratered Russian roads nd over 11 years the only things that I remember breaking was a flat tire and the 5th gear one time. A shop had replaced the gear within like an hour or two and it was fine afterwards.
@@peterl3417 long story short, EVERY exporting LADA car - were built to be MUCH better, than ANY domestic car. And by saying this, i mean - REALLY EVERY aspect. From the distance between gaps - straight up to engine materials quality, gearbox bearings, better oil, better tubes, better interior, ANYTHING better. Literally. You want a Powerful 1.6L engine - no shit, wanna A\C - no shit. Wanna 1+2 + wash front lamps - EASY bro. At the same time, for Domestic market, all you can buy is: 1.1l, 1.2l, 1.3l, and it can broke very soon, like 2 weeks or even just in a month. So buying a LADA - were kinda playing a roulette, God knows - how badly it were made, and WHICH connection is not tightened at all...
@@nikostalk5730 This was in the ural mountains in Russia in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. We were never left stranded on the road. I’ll ask my dad what other stuff broke but we always made the journey safely and without problems. Yeah we had no ac and the cheap plastic interior smelled like a chemical factory but the cheap car def did its job well.
@@peterl3417 some people are very lucky to get such a reliable components. Most of rear axle LADA's - very often starts to fall apart. You can't really say which one, because it is kinda manual assembly and really fluctuates from car to car. A friend of mine owning a LADA 2107, from probably 1994-1997, and his rear driveshaft bearing totaled at 280.000km. At the same time - he replaced a ball joint and control arm - SEVERAL times, cause it is just want to die RANDOMLY. Thank God - it was crancked at a very low speed. He got engine issues (lead to an engine replacement), the gearbox lost 2nd and 4th gear, and everything happened BEFORE 200.000km, the car owned very carefully and at short distances, like 20-40km\day. Ladas are not so reliable as most of people say, here in Russia - everybody knows this. FWD series (2108-2115) - the more reliable than RWD (2101-2107), and this is true.
I have a friend in Brasil, he was a rally driver for Lada there. All other teams arrived with trucks and motorhomes. he and the Lada Team mechanics would arrive driving their Ladas, run the Rally and at the end drive the same car going back home in Sao Paulo....LEGEND!!!
rodrigo paes .....they couldn't afford trucks and motorhomes cuz they never won, hence they never won any money, and that's "legend"?! Maybe in Brazil it is, but nowhere else is that anything but lame....
Summin' up: The Lada begun its sells on Brazilian market in the early 90's (if I sure) with just 4 models avaible: - Riva - Riva estate - Samara (3 and 5 drs) - Niva (3drs only) In the late 1995 they leave the Brazillian market, 'cause its sells were pretty low in five years. In fact, the Brazillians preferred an Ford Escort, Chevrolet Vectra, Kadett/Astra, Fiat Tipo and Tempra, VW Santana (aka. Passat Mk2) The Riva isn't a bad car, but its weren't a best seller over Brazil, sorry mate!
@@branon6565, yes, sure! In the country of Fittipaldi, Piquet and Senna it is pretty easy to be a legend! And, as you seems to know nothing about Brazil and Brazilian motorsports, how do you know Lada was a flop in Brazilian rally championships? You don't even know what were the regulations and how much of the car could be modified and still feel you are in position to discredit what he said.
@@branon6565 Loser
O niva e muito bom O laika e um lixo
The lada has an anti-theft system: they made the logo bigger
lol
you can also get 10hp more by adding a "Turbo" sticker on the camcover!
I will buy a Lada and I will put an alarm because I don’t want my Lada to be damaged. If I have a BMW I will not even bother locking it.
@@vanyasphonecollection4074 get the one with rotary engine!
It has a manual xD
As a Russian, Moscovit, I was born in 1980. We have never had Lada in 80s. Not affordable for family with 6 kids. Thank you for such a deep history tour. I was involved in new Lada history, worked for international producer of stainless tubes and rolled steel for production of exhaust systems for Russian Ladas Kalina, Granta (also as Datsun on-do and mi-do), XRay, plus Ford Focus, Explorer, Volga Siber(ex-Chrisler Sebring), UAZ Patriot, Lada branded Dacia, Renault Logan and Sandero, GM Chevrolet Niva(shown in your video shortly), Skoda Octavia, VW Polo and Tiguan, Mercedes Viano 2007-2015. It was intense and interesting period of my life. All these plants and their Tier 2 suppliers were built in Russia, had nice business even after 2014... Half of us, employees were cut in 2015 and I worked for company produced additional equipment for cars 2016-2020. Unfortunately, all closed now. Poor workers of these car plants, I do not know where they work now.
I'd imagine, especially as you grew up during the Gorbachev years, it became less affordable.
You forgot to mention the primary reason why the exterior remained pretty much the same throughout the years - you cannot improve upon perfection!
My dad grew up with a Lada. It never let him down. Cheap reliable
My dad enjoyed every winter in the early 80's While everyone had to leave early, because there was always the chance they would be killing their battery starting in the cold My dad could leave on the last moment, crank in hand, go down, walk to the front of his Lada, gave it 2 swings, start and he was away
Yup, as a 12year old, I was listening to the car radio out in our orchard while dad worked away pruning apple trees . Long story short, battery dead. Out comes the crank! Vrrrrmmm!
My dad had two, the first one the rear axle failed and he sold it to a Russian sailor who was taking it back to the mother country, the second he sold cos it was getting difficult to find parts. The only really advantage I remember is being so cheap you could have a much newer Lada, he went from '95/'96 Rivas to 80's Cavaliers for example.
Thought Crimes It could be human and animal hair they used to stuff the seats
@@honestguy7764 Early ones had straw filling. Later ones had sheep woll. Also believed there where ones with some kind of synthetic fibers
My dad bought a used '81 Lada 1500S, as a second car when he retired in '82. It was an odd little car from the start and seemed particularly plagued with electrical issues, flaky switches, dim and burnt out light bulbs, blown fuses, failure to charge the battery etc. Dad grew tired of it's 'personality' after a year or two and replaced it with a Chevy. The Lada's ownership fell to me, perhaps as market value was slim to none at the time. I took it on as a (second car for the wife) project. I found various service facilities offering Lada expertise. I took it to several. One quoted me more than the car was worth for some fix or other. When I pointed out the value proposition and said that I'd scrap the car instead, he phoned me back a half hour later with a "revised", lower by half, quote. None of the "Lada" shops seemed to have any good handle on the endemic electrical issues. New replacement Lada brand parts like alternators showed little sign of being any better than those they replaced. On about the third alternator replacement, instead of trying yet another OEM part, I took the old part to a one man band alternator / starter re-builder and asked "what can you do with one of these?" He told me that he could likely reverse engineer and rebuild it as a custom order but recommended instead that it would be cheaper to buy and adapt one of his bread and butter rebuilt GM alternators. He explained that the electronics he used in the rebuild worked so well that there was usually enough residual magnetism in the rotor itself so that the excitation connection could be left disconnected and yet the alternator would still work just fine. He did a quick demo on his test bench which seemed convincing. Nothing much to loose, so I did as he suggested. It took a bit of work, and a few favours called in, to fabricate a special bracket and a shoe horn to get the larger unit mounted up, but all was soon in place. When I started the car, initial disappointment as the ammeter showed battery not charging at all and I thought it was all for naught but when I revved up past 1500 rpm, I guess the "residual magnetism" effect reached some critical threshold and the alternator suddenly jumped to life showing charging current on the ammeter like I had never seen before! Once it came to life it kept on charging well, even when back at idle. That 1500 rpm kick was only needed once to get going each time you started the engine. Thereafter, headlights & lighting were brighter, the mysterious switch & fuse issues cleared up, the engine just ran better, even the horn sounded more manly and the car became fun to drive and super reliable, summer or winter. That rebuilt GM alt breathed life into that car that it never had before. It always retained that characteristic no charge till you revved up idiosyncrasy, but WTF, I could live with that. It became a useful second car from then on. I used the old thing into the '90's to commute to work an hour each way, my wife used it to go shopping and to ferry the kids about winter & summer the old Lada handled it all from then on. Boxy and straight up and down as it was, I enjoyed driving it and it had a very forgiving transmission, which I learned to shift w/o clutch both up and down the gears (never quite mastered that so well in any of my subsequent Japanese cars). Body rust eventually killed the poor old thing. By the end, the drivers door panel was flapping in the breeze, trunk floor holed in several places and she had a few bruises underneath where a shop had tried to lift the car on a hoist, only to have the frame members collapse under the stress due to weakening by rust. I drove her to the scrapers at speed, still full of piss and vinegar, still up for anything & ready and willing to go anywhere do anything. I think I got $40 for her. I have to admit, it brought (& still brings) a tear to my eye. All things considered, I liked the old thing. Hope this is of interest. Cheers from Canada.
It's probably a grounding issue
It’s a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing your experience
Funny how a tough Russian car can easily be roughed up from a few years of Canadian winters. Also kinda sad, since you never see them anymore. Cheers, also from Canada.
@@thestarlightalchemist7333 i think the reason these things survive in Russia is because they don't salt the roads...
A really great story, thank you for sharing, I enjoyed reading about your experience!
Our family had several, very popular in Britain for a while. I had a Riva, my parents had an older model. Very tough cars. People mock them but for the Siberian potholed roads they were designed for they could go places other cars wouldn't last. They had worm and peg steering, too, not rack and pinion, so heavy steering feel but the wheel would never get snatched out of your hands if you hit a pothole or kerb. Bodywork was so thick I never had any rust problems despite heavy road salt use, and 42 amp alternator meant it started in even the coldest weather no problem. Mine even had wipers and water squirters on the headlights, which was almost unheard of then ( and still rare now ). I could park it in even the roughest council estates and it would never be stolen or vandalised. It would do a ton on the motorway, though admittedly it took a long time to get there, and the 0..60 time needed a calendar, not a stopwatch. It was also really simple to do basic maintenance on, you could almost get into the engine compartment and shut the bonnet on top of you, there was enough room around the engine. Mine only let me down once, which turned out to be simple electric connection problem to the starter, which was fixed with a simple piece of wire and a switch ( also made it even more thief proof if you didn't know where I'd put that switch to turn the car on ). Oh, and the heater was incredible - far better than my weak 2020 Honda heater, it was hot enough to burn yourself on if you wanted, obviously designed for Russian winters. You could probably cook with it. Ran on the cheapest fuel, too. The only real problem I had ( apart from that one electric issue ) was the glue on the window winders was rubbish, and the glass dropped down into the doors. So I pulled them up with pliers, then hammered wedges in on the inside to chock them in place permanently - worked for me, and the driver's window still worked for winding down to pay tolls etc, so the other 3 didn't matter to me. Then years later a bunch of guys started buying up every Lada in Britain to take back to Russia for profit, I like to think my car is out there somewhere still providing transport for someone...
LADA Rivas must server as Renault Logan 1 (2004-2008), but served more like a BMW.
I have seen exactly two right-hand-drive Zhigulis in Russia since 2007. They are not common, but they do exist, and they were very sought-after because they were export quality and often better equipped than domestic models.
They are simple and tough. A friend of mine in Egypt has one. He bought it as a student in Belgium 25 yesrs ago and then shipped it back to Egypt. He still uses it as his daily runner on the atrocious roads there.
I think these were built under license in Egypt after the Russians ended production.
Anyone who can make the Lada Riva story so interesting is a genius in my book!
I like hearing/reading about older, rare (in the US) cars and economy/crappy cars more than supercars. Often economy cars are more interesting because of how much they had to do with so little.
Really interesting and well researched video. I loved all the archive film. I had a friend who had one in the early 90s and it was a good car, solidly made, warm and reliable in the north east winter.
He'z had a LADA practice...📉😎📈
Philip Rodney well said 😁
Brad Lemmond I agree. 📻🙂
My dad had 6 or 7 of these before as well as a Samara. It's a tank. This car holds a special place in my heart ❤️
YES SIR, IT'S A TANK. TIRE EATER LIKE NO OTHER XD. GREAT MEMORY.
Same thing here :D I sold my Samara several years ago, but I did not like it as much, too much plastic for my taste, probably the worst generation of Lada's ever...
Lada solved the rust problem by just making the steel thicker!😀
Hmmmm. The earliest Lada appeared 1977. So that, with 7 cars, is a replacement every 7 years, probably a lot less, Sounds like it wasn't very durable. I've got an average of 15 years out of the cars I've had over 60 years of daily commuter driving - all GM or Japanese cars.
If it was a tank then why did he need seven of them??
Very good summary. I still have my 1988 Riva. It now has 200,000 miles and is mostly original. Still does 8000rpm without complaint, still can be driven flat out for hours on end. Oil consumption negligible, fuel consumption very respectable. Maintenance costs almost nil, breakdowns unheard of and just occasionally, I have to chase it round the workshop with a MIG welder.
One of the best cars ever made!
i can not translate this "I have to chase it round the workshop with a MIG welder"...
@@jwserge A little joke: it means that 'occasionally I have to do some small repairs by welding'.
@@tavriadriver thx. Got your idea and humor.
@@tavriadriver мля. по-ходу, два русских пообщались :)))
"When I was a lad around here, all the rich people who could afford four wheels on the car, all had Ladas, La-de-da's we called them. And you didn't want to hit one of them, I'll tell you that now, they were built like tanks!" Jeremy Clarkson
YEEEEEEEEES!
As a Russian I'm pretty impressed by the amount of sources you've found. Still, there are some mistakes: - You completely forgot to mention another important soviet car - Moskvitch, that filled the gap between Lada and Volga. BTW, there was a serious competition between Moskvitch and Lada factories on getting new equipment with Lada winning the "administrative war" in 1974. - As far as I know there were no serious intents to produce VW cars. The Renault history was much more difficult: NAMI (car researching institute) was voting for this car being the best but political reasons finally won. - The Wankel engin WAS actually mass-produced since the mid-90's to 2006.
Thanks for the additional information!
Moskvich was much smaller then Lada and couldn't be between Lada and Volga. Максим, ну куда Москвичу между Волгой и Жигой? Он же на много меньше - уже и короче. Но на экспорт он шёл весьма успешно и в Британию в том числе. Хорошо помню, как сам впал в ступор, увидев праворульный. Как он попал на территорию Союза - не понятно, говорили, что некондиционный был. Теперь уже не выяснишь
@@edwa407 are you nuts? Moskvitch Elite was equal if not bigger then Lada 2101.
Максим Сахаров oh eh, you can name me what ever you want, but I, not like you, was owner of VAZ 2103 at the same time as my father in law had Moskvich 2140. And had an opportunity to compare
@@edwa407 my family also had a Lada 2103, our neighbour had a Moskvitch 412. Comparable in the size cars, maybe Moskvitch was a bit cramped in the rear.
I remember Lada cars as a kid in the 80's and 90's, my parents threatened to buy one to wind us up. Looking back though, I do not think Lada deserved all the jokes considering the price. They were tough no nonsense cars that suited the needs of many people, cheap to buy, cheap to maintain and cheap to run. A few western car models at the time were probably on a par for rust and reliability in the 80's.
They were total rubbish. Rubbish to drive. Rubbish build quality.
@@raftonpounder6696 That must be why there's so many left of them... They're VERY rugged and reliable.
kristoffer3000 I didn’t say they were unreliable. They’re just horrible.
@@raftonpounder6696 Did you not experience a Marina, especially at speed ? Yes Ladas did about 4000 rpm at 70mph and 22mpg was not what you hoped for, but mine had exciting brown body stripes on the hearing aid beige paint and surely the best starting handle on any car on sale in the 1980's.
Phil Healey no we never owned a Marina thankfully. I did, however, have the misfortune to drive a Lada quite a few times. It was my cousin’s farm car. Hearing aid beige as well. Someone had written Chemy on the boot lid.
A work colleague back in the 90s drove us from the North down to London and back in his Lada Riva. Excluding rest breaks and Birmingham gridlock it was 90mph all the way. My feelings were a mixture of fear at how safe that might be and impressed surprise that the Riva could do it.
I guess nobody would believe it could do more than 70 so police ignored it
no pun intended but every car can run at top speed pretty much indefinetly, is the start-stop cold-hot cycles that worn the engines
@@gillespriod5509 Maybe today, but most older cars certainly would not run flat out for very long without overheating or something breaking.
@@michaeltb1358 Anyone is scared of anything russian ))) Even police )))
Ziguli was many years top 1 in car sales here in Finland. Cheap reliable easy to maintain. It just needed new steering wheel and western tires :) With 1.2L OHC chaindrive engine it was real winter car too :) 7:47 picture is from Helsinki :)
in serbia this one guy made a Lada Riva review and basically said this: this is a car that drove on piss poor smuggled romanian gasoline sold by the bottle on the roadside, which got by with an oil change every 50.000km. they did spend a bit fuel but you could overload them, it didnt matter they went all the same. if you did this with any modern car, you'd be looking at an engine rebuild at least. my friends father (afghan) still wants one. and he lives in Netherlands. and then there's curious case of my parents, driving a Lada flat out 150km/hour to another side of then Yugoslavia to pick me up from my grandparents just as war was starting. if Lada was shit, it wouldn't have survived being driven 150 for 6-8 hours straight, and same back. ladas are good.
What is this BS with 6-8 hours driving 150 km/h ?? 1) Yougoslavia didn't have that long highways to drive that long on that speed! 2) Fastest spec Riva had max speed 154 km/h. Doubt it could drive 150 with 3 persons, luggage and full tank!
@Josh Richie There are so many accounts of anything if you search for it to fit your personal view
Ja imam 28 godina i otkad znam za sebe moja tetka vozi Ladu do dan danas. Neunistiv auto i legenda auto industrije.
@@2tomana7ue - Ja imam 40 godina i otkad znam za sebe moj susjed vozi Ladu do dan danas. Neuništiv čovjek i legenda radničke klase koja nikada nije imala novca za nešto kvalitetnije.
@@ag2smal I have lada 2105 with 1300 in it, in papers it can do 138km/h, in reality it can do 145km/h on straight and 160km/h when big car is in front of you on highway. I have to say faces of drivers I pass are funny!
Please do a Lada Niva post in the future! It was the only Lada we got in South Africa
Sime of the Lada Riva parts live on in the Niva, for example the engine, the gear box, the door handles and the rear axle.
I had a Lads Nova Cossack about 12 years ago. It was a very cool car
I’d rock a Niva! Those things are like mountain goats 🐐 when off-road. Inexpensive, reliable, and easy to fix.
They are still producing them since 1977 with minor changes.
Are you sure you only had the Niva? Asking because I’ve seen some marketing photos of 2101s and 2102s with giraffes in the background, and the jumping 2103 in this video was also a South African commercial as I remember.
You have to respect something that even though a bit crude (by modern standards), is tough, reliable and unpretentious. Maybe not one for those who somehow feel it's important to impress others with their "image", but great for those just looking for transport. A mate had one and he loved it because he could rely on it - and he used to leave it parked with the keys in the ignition; it never got stolen.
My grandma will agree:) still drives 89' Lada 2105, one owner, all repairs done by herself. No major issues, if you know how to maintain it properly, she knows, so the car is just fine. Even refused dad's offer to buy a new car, because she wouldn't be able to fix anything by herself in her garage, and Lada is built so tough, that it will outast even grandma herself, if cared about it properly. And for my grandma it is not a part of image: just a car, it drives, it does what it should, grandma doesn't need to impress anybody. This car was not impressive even than it was brand new, just basic family sedan.
Just like a Toyota Land Cruiser 70 and 76 series. Basic reliable transportation that never breaks down for petty reasons, and almost anyone can fix it. If only all of these vehicles were available today for purchase-as-new in the US.
Why nobody have stolen it??? Are everybody so scared of russians? ))))
We had one in the 80's. It even came with a tin of paint.
That tin of paint is worth more than the lada
Yeap, first car in our soviet family. Dad had to actually go to Tolyatti to pick up his Lada. That was 2000km.
I got the scariest car ride ever in a Lada, when the alternator of my Nissan Cherry broke down in the middle of the Finnish winter. A local car mechanic in his 60s(!) drove the Lada at 100 kph down a narrow and very snowy country road 20 km to the parts shop, all four wheels sliding at every bend of the road. Boy, did I ever grip the panic handle, I'm sure I left marks. The Lada appeared eminently drivable in winter, in capable hands. We got the alternator, the Nissan got fixed and I survived to tell the tale!
Takumi's grandfather
Winter tyres. Something most UK drivers unfortunately appear to be unaware of.
Carrying a sandbag in the trunk helps to keep those rear drive cars on road in winters.
Whent several times to Finland for my work. Everything that has an engine and 4 wheels is used as a rally car by the locals Snow, ice , gravel and mud skidding to your destination its just a standard daily Finnish commute. No wonder Finland produces so many worldfamous rallydrivers.
@@raftonpounder6696 Agreed
My dad had one of those it was indestructible, I remember it went everywhere regardless of the wether and landsacap. I remember once he push it up to 145 kilometers, It felt like we were going at speed of sound, that car holds a espcial place in my heart.
Aviation World - about russian car ))) thx )))
My husband and I had a Lada estate in the 1980's. It was built like a tank, had instructions for starting it in very cold weather and a starting handle clipped under the bonnet.
I bought a brand new Riva Estate Wagon in 1990, in Canada. The first surprise was that it was cheaper to insure than my 5 yr old VW. Being rear wheel drive, it was much more entertaining than a front wheel drive to drive, especially in bad weather. I figured if it lasted thru it's warranty, I was ahead of the game. I got 10 yrs out of it before it rusted too badly. A great car.
Rear wheel drive, just like Soviet tanks
My father owned one of these in the 70's. I always remember him demonstrating it's robustness during a holiday , to a fellow camper ,by hitting it with a wooden mallet. There was no damage much to my mother's relief
The year my father got his first company car, my uncle bought a Lada. My father was teased because back up lights looked like headlights on the back of the car but no one noticed that the Lada had a hole in the front bumper. The gap was there so that the owner could crank start the vehicle. The next Lada I remember was owned by a coworker in 1980. Brown inside and out and THICK steel. Good enough, goes, stops, and started in any western Canadian weather. The T-34 of cars!
I had one and it was exciting and fun to drive. Soft springs, rear wheel drive, big steering wheel, felt as if I was driving a big sedan from the 60s or 70s
My family owned a 1300S 1983 model until 2017. Actually in 1987 Lada 1200 even reached second place in sellings here in Greece. I miss this car with all those memories... The engine was very reliable, the car being down by the electrical system. Nowadays you can see few left in the roads... In mid 90's that car also hit high places in the second hand market...
As a US citizen that loves really weird cars the Lada 1200/Riva (or any Lada model at this point) is my #1 oddity dream car to this day next to the 90s Citroen XM.
Citröen was far of a more refined oddity car.....
If you love weird cars you should check out the Trabant 601 and the Wartburg 353 from the former East Germany. Those were funny and odd cars as well
When I was trading cars years ago I bought one as a main dealer px and paid £70 for it, it had 10 months mot and the tax left on it was worth about £80 so decided to use it as a banger run around. It was brilliant, not sure exactly what model it was but it didn't go too badly but despite what people say about the interior this one had high back velour seats that were incredibly comfortable. I loved running around in it as I could leave it anywhere and just didn't care, it always started, never broke down. When the mot ran out I advertised it for £100 and sold it the same day, bought by a Russian to ship back there, so whilst compared to the competition at the time they were really agricultural when they got older they were brilliant value.
I remember being out in the Hebrides and one of the old boys out there had the classic red Riva. He liked it because he could fix it in his shed, and he felt some connection to the worker's ethos which produced it. There's a lot to be said for simple and reliable cars.
I had one Lada Riva (in Brazil called Lada Laika) in 90's and I loved its inside smell. Sweet and strange interior smell. Ladas were good car, cheap and strong.
Lada Laika? I'll bet it was a dog with loads of space.
@Silvio Goulart I think it was an 1.6 in Brazil, wasn't it?
@@user-ql5yc3fz7z Acctualy came 1.5 and 1.6 litters engine but 70% of the Rivas was 1.6 engine here. Lada exported to Brazil between 1990/1995 (by Panama dealer) 35,000 units of the Rivas, Nivas (urban 4x4) and Samaras
Laikas were quite common in Brazil in the 90's, but the Nivas are still going strong, even today. Of course, most of them had engine swaps...
@@sq1rlsqu4d :P
I got a used Samara just after I got married, as money was tight then. It cost me $500.00 Can dollars for a 7 year old car with under 60,000km. I kept it for 5 years and added about 140,000km. I can't say I had any more repairs with that Lada than any other car from that time. The only quirk I remember well was that it started easily in cold winters, but it always took 3-4 cranks in the hot summer. lol
I drove two Lada Rivas as taxis, back in the 1980s. Turn the key, and they started. MOT time, they usually passed, and if they didn't, they did not require much work. Great cars. Cheap and reliable. I wish they still sold them.
wait a bit and they might make them again,they have restarted production of another old favorite.
@@alanolley7286 It would be interesting to learn more about this- can you provide info? Cheers!
I own an '82 Lada 2101 here in the UK, I bought it in Hungary and imported it, its not a particularly nice car to drive but it was amazing on the harsher roads in Eastern Europe :)
Another interesting change from the Fiat was that cars produced for some regions in the USSR were equipped with 'oiling holes' in the bodywork so one could insert some oil for example in the sills, so it wouldnt rust that easy. Being born in the USSR this video brings back so many memories. I've owned like 5 of these and even now, 25 years later than i previously owned one i still remember pretty much all the quirks you had to know to keep it running and working.
It was a great car! Very reliable, though thirsty! Our Lada 21011 (1300 cc engine) stayed with us 25 years from 1978 to 2003. A 4500km trip to Ukraine was a final chapter in the ownership of the car.
I discovered your channel a few days ago and since then I'm always around. Congratulations on your wonderful work. Marcos, from Brazil.
Thank you very much!
Hey! You found really cool old videos. I enjoyed it very much, thanks! :)
I'm from Hungary, in our country this car was a respected car, my father had 2102 and 2104 , I still love them and I want to have these once I will have enough money to buy nice condition one :D
Do you want it as collectable item or as an car enthusiast's vehicle ?
In the GDR you had to have connections to get a Lada. It had all the luxury of a four-stroke engine, imagine that.
@@dittikke I heard that you had to wait ten years for delivery
@@frankdenardo8684 That was early on. It got longer.
@@dittikke Trabant and Wartburg were good enough for the Aussies.
Brilliant. I didn't know a thing about these, thanks for all the info!
I just love your factual video's. You narrate in a very easy way, in a manner that is relaxing, but full of technical facts.
Thanks John!
My parents in Hungary bought one Zhiguli 1200...they had to wait 4 years for delivery! When it arrived, they had to go to the Soviet-Hungarian border to pick it up from the train. They couldn’t even choose the color previously, so my mother prayed all the way to the border: please God, not dark green! ...and it was dark green:-) My mother was crying a bit, but they were happy to have such a “ modern and luxurious” car in the socialism...
My father had '84, 2105 Lada, that so called "car" all the time needed some small, some major repairs, in the end major engine overhaul, which we, as teens were excited to help with! But we were happy then with that we had a car, since so many couldn't. Many comments above say about it's reliability, I guess when it was made for export, the quality was much better than that for the inside market. Ours was ugly reddish-orange color which mom hated as well! :)))) P.S. ...and it also rusted like hell!
All the Hungry people have now is 100 billions of euro's debt as a part of EU.Good job you Hungry people!
@@Pfirtzer Take your medication and go to bed!
Mi libafos zöld Wartburgot kaptunk. De!! Legalább elhozták Pestre!!!
Considering that at the time VW cars produced and sold in Yugoslavia... damn how times have changed
In my childhood, Lada was always the Mercedes of the East and out of reach for many, including us. Waiting times of up to 15 years were normal. The prices were very high: at least 23,000 MDN (Mark of the German Central Banks, GDR Mark) on the used car market even double to triple! In the GDR the cars were called Lada VAZ 2101-2109. Thanks for the great video. Kind regards from Pulsnitz / Germany HD Petschel
Out of curiosity what would a Wartburg have cost, as a point of comparison?
@@kenon6968 The base price of the Wartburg 353 (2-stroke) was around 18,000 marks, the real sales price between 20,000 and 21,000 marks. The base price of the Wartburg 1.3 (with VW Golf 4-stroke, license VW) was increased to over 33,000 marks. The development costs for the 1.3 were 7 billion GDR marks. The joke, however, was that we had developed several of our own engines, a 4 cylinder with 75 HP and 1.4 l and a 3 cylinder with 60 HP of the basic form and connection technology the same as the 3 cylinder 2 stroke. The installation would have gone into any normal W353, but was not wanted and was forbidden. The costs including a new car would have been considerably cheaper at 4 billion GDR marks. Well planned economy ...... and again a de javue for today .....
The Mercedes of the East should have been the Volga, while Lada was just a Volkswagen ;)
@La Verdad There were many reasons why the wall fell. Cars, travel and food (e.g. bananas) are certainly part of it. Many people have somehow ignored the fact that you also need money. And many have not seen the not so nice things like unemployment, crime, high rents etc. Today, after 32 years I can say: It couldn't go on as it was, but many things didn't have to destroy. And luckily, many things survived the fall of the Wall. Bautzner mustard, but also a vehicle brand: Multicar from Wahltershausen is still around today.
15 years waiting list.... you also had to ask them morning or afternoon since in the morning you would have an appointment with the plumber.
Came across this on my youtube feed - My first car in 1990. Solid, with fuel consumption to match. Liked the out-takes, informative video. Thanks.
This is very well researched and presented. It makes me want a Riva. Thank you
They came in a wave to Ireland in the late eighties, I remember one in a garage in a village near us in a bright red. I was tempted because it was so new but bought an ageing Bluebird instead. I was sorry after i didn't take a chance on it.
was the Bluebird reliable ?
@@nicealloys It was but it was not that exciting, when I got a proper job I bought a Granada Ghia, equally as old but a completely different beast!
You made a lucky escape! They were awful.
Michael J. Keogh I think you bought the right car so,I’d love a Lada now but as a daily car I think ultimately you made the right choice at the time 👍
Good!, bluebirds are amazing anyway!
In Chile, they are still the cheapest 2nd hand car that "still runs", along with the Samara. Nivas have increased in price in the last decade though. Maybe it has to do that they did a comeback selling the Niva 4x4 again in 2015. Yes. This is a request for a Niva video lol
I have to do a Niva video at some point. It's been suggested by several people.
Yes you're totally right we should hava a Lada niva or samara video soon!!!
In my home town in South Africa I see a guy drives his Niva daily. Always thought it might be an interesting classic to own.
@@BigCar2 what about zaz 1102? Here is a creative ad kzhead.info/sun/e9JvorebmJeClI0/bejne.html
They Niva get stolen♨📉😂📈♨
I had a mate who bought one in the late seventies. Always remember him showing me the huge toolkit which came with the car. Was not very long before he found out why it had such an extensive toolkit. LOL.
Thanks for making this video. Very educational and cool.
Got to be one of the most successful design's of all time, transport for the masses at a affordable price kinda miss the one I had in the 90's.
The bodybuilder who fixed the dents and broken bits in our car loaned us a Lada 1200. The steering was a bit wobbly but it just drank petrol. He replaced it with a Lada 1500. It had a sort of normal fuel consumption but it was a rainy time of year. The wipers went back and forth sounding like the march of the Red Army. Great bodybuilder, though.
Nobody told garage 54 they are boring. They make lada more exciting than almost every new car on a regular basis
Top draw research and presentation. Love this channel.
I like your videos. Your dry British sense of humor really makes the story enjoyable.
A classic car you could buy brand new. Thinking of It like that, I sort of wish It was still around.
I think that the Lada Riva type saloon was manufacutured until recently; I saw many in Cuba as the official police vehicle.
@@judithread1247 I've aleays liked finding out about old cars that kept on being made somewhere in the world Like the Rootes Arrow series in Iran, or the mark one Golf in South Africa. Might be' a good topic for a video - classics you could still buy new somewhere - and not counting Morgan, Vicarage,, modernized MGBs, and things like that.
There was a Lada dealership in my neighborhood in Prague, which was closed about 2 years ago, they only sold the Niva 4x4s. They had a classic 1200 zsiguli on display, however it was not for sale...:( No more Lada dealerships i know of. Only the boring capitalist stuff...:)
I had a Lada back in the early 80's. It had the optional heated rear window fitted which was great for keeping your hands warm when you were push starting it in the cold weather.
Loving this one thanks for sharing very information blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲
What a terrific insight into the history of Lada cars! Obviously lots of research and work for you to produce such a thoroughly fascinating video, many thanks indeed.
Glad you enjoyed it Kim!
I really enjoyed this. I never realised that Fiat adopted some of Lada's improvements and as for the rotary engine - I'm amazed about this. However, you missed the most important point about these - that Maureen from "driving school" had one 😂
I'd forgotten Maureen!
Forget Maureen, you forgot the Lotus Lada that Top Gear did. A Riva modified & improved by Lotus themselves
I'm still trying to get my head around the Russians modifying it to improve durability - and then fitting a rotary engine to some models
Fiat adopted good improvements if license holders made any, for example FSO had symilar problem as Lada with all around disc brakes, but instead of changing to drums, they added shields that sealed the brakes inside rims completely and let cooling air only through rim vents. This was adopted by Fiat too.
A good quantity of Ladas were imported in Argentina during the 1990's, mostly Rivas and some Samaras as well. The Niva suv was very popular here too, however tended to suffer crankshaft breakdown in high torque situations. Many Nivas found a sudden crankshaft death on the dunes of Villa Gesell and Pinamar in the times of Carlos Menem regime...
i'm a russian - i first time hear about such fault ... surprised and can't believe
@@jwserge Hi, failures of that kind use to be caused by severe mistreatment by the drivers, not necessarily Lada's fault. My father was a mechanic and he saw lots of broken engines and transmission and bent chassis after vacations during decades (I mean old jeeps, sand buggies, meharis, not specifically Ladas). So if you put a car that is faster and more agile than an old jeep in the hands of a "young-heavy-footed-son-of-a-mid-class-guy" on the dunes, something is going to break. Apologies if I was misunderstood. English is not my language so sometimes I can express myself in the clunky way 🙃
@@DIY-valvular a-ha-h ))) Nice explanation )) )
Loved the outtakes!
My first car in 1983 , when I passed my test Lada estate , built like a house brick, really hard core ,🤷♂️🇬🇧
That brought back a few memories, I used to work at the preperation centre in East Yorkshire. I had to carry out Warranty parts examinations with the Soviet Technicians based in the UK. Steve Davis won a 1500/1600 (cant remember which) they were never called Riva's, they came later. Russians had a larger car than the Lada for many years, the Moskvich. This was originally imported and sold by Thomson and Taylor Russian cars ltd, of Cobham. When Satra Motors was formed in the UK, originally based in Byfleet, before setting up the Preperation Centre in East Yorkshire. They imported the Moskvich for several years. I never got to Togliatti, but a close friend of mine did. They changed quite a lot of parts when the Lada was imported, tyres, spark plugs, some got different seats, alloy wheels, and many other things. They even had Janspeed fit a Turbo to a 1600, an Automatic gearbox was tried and rejected.
You're right about them getting everywhere. We went to Crete this Summer and I saw a few of them there too.
Our greatest loss has been the Belarus tractor. Reliable and easily maintained, it was sold in two finish levels for different markets. The hydraulics has power down pressure which was very useful.
My Favorite Lada joke Little Johnny is walking home from school one day, when car pulls slowly up beside him. Driver: “Hey there… I’ll give you some sweets if you get into my car.” Johnny : “Go away!” Driver: “how about some money?” Johnny : “Go away!” Driver: “How about a computer game?” Johnny : “Dad, for the last time, I’m NOT GETTING IN YOUR LADA!”
There is a Czech joke about the long waiting periods in the USSR: A guy walk into a dealership in Moscow to buy a Lada. He pays and the salesman tells him he can come pick the car up in ten years time. The man asks: "In the morning or afternoon?" The salesman responds: "What does it matter, it's in ten years?!" "Well, the plumber is scheduled to come fix my toilet that afternoon!" responds the man.
I'm crying lol 😂😂😂😂
@@TheDeadfast I heard Ronald Reagan tell that joke back in the 80s!!
@@TheDeadfast The thing is this is not really a joke, but the truth. My grandfather sold his Lada for more money than its price as new car, because of the long waiting lists. People were paying more for used cars because they could drive them right after purchase.
🤣🤣 good one
Thank you for the amusing outtakes
Glad you like them!
Brilliant! Would love to see a special on the Lada Niva development
Would love to see a special on all the Lada's in their natural habitat - The Scrap Yard...
My dad had a dark blue estate honestly one of the best cars I have driven ,for the fact that it was so basic it was as reliable as a dog ,started first time in all weathers ,loved it.🍀🇬🇧👍🏼
They sold the Zhiguli here in Canada in the 80's, a few friends in high school had one (it was so cheap a student working a weekend job could buy a brand new one). It did not agree with Canadian winters though, if you parked it in your garage at night you could almost hear it rust. :)
If you think Ladas rusted bad you should have seen the Polish version called the FSO 125p, they rusted at the mere hint of fog.
@@NeilD163 My dads Lada was a complete rust bucket at 10 years old, but looking back he never had it serviced (he thought an MOT was a service!), and I remember washing it with washing up liquid as a child. But it did give us 6 years motoring for £800, it was four years old when he bought it. I remember the FSOs, they were based on the FIAT 125 I think, I remember seeing virtually new ones with rust on them. I think they were also the only car in sold in the UK that was cheaper than the Lada, although the Yugo 45 may have also been cheaper.
Well it was made in RUSTia
As a wolf, the Lada is ment to stay outside in the cold. It is preferred by nature. ;) One of my neightbors had a 1500, and it stayed outside, by the road, for 5/6years. Didn't rust more than his landlords Volvo....
Just a wretched car... tough to an extent but the plastics had a toxic off gassing smell, it looked like a cheap 60's car in the inside and it was agricultural as hell in its driveline. But It seemed to thrive on abuse. We had one as a parts car at a Hyundai Dealer (they used to sell Ladas) . We abused that beast and it seemed to like it...
My parents had a Lada 1600 in the mid 80s from a local dealer called Munro. It had trim improvements and some minor upgrades made by the dealer themselves apparently, although the only thing I remember being better than my uncle's was a much better stereo system. It was labelled as a Munro 1600ES Special Edition. Despite the jokes it was solid, reliable and one bad winter's day it was the only car on the entire street that started first time, and even managed to be used to push a minibus up a slippery hill in Edinburgh with it's huge plastic bumpers.
Plastic bumpers? My 1980s Lada 1600 saloon had tough aluminium girder bumpers, with a slim rubber insert... invincible! Glad your family enjoyed the car.
Love the blooper out-takes :)
I ran a Riva Estate for 7 years . The only thing that let it down was an alternator replacement at 56000 miles .Apart from that , nothing ever went wrong with it . Unfortunately it was wrote off in an accident . It had 107000 miles on it when it had to be written off . Cheap to run and very roomy . A great car :)
These were ewerywhere in Finland now days teens pimp them up whit lots of sound horns on the roof and play loud folks music when drivning them
I bet they doo. Damn kids
Not at Tampere. Never seen something like that.
You crazy Finish people! 😁
Soviet made cars were common in Finland since WW2.
Hyvä on!
My dad owned an orange Lada. It was a brilliant and reliable car! We have fond memories of our Lada! Great car and hugely underestimated!
The most awful car ever!!!
@@Luraka1978 You??
I had an orange Lada 1500 in Canada during the 1980 and early 1990s. Bought it used off a friend for what the dealer was going to give her as a trade-in. Cost me almost as much over the years I owned it as a new one but boy I loved that car even in the middle of winter when I was trying to push start it myself up a hill so it would roll down again with me ready to pop the clutch. As for the "orange" colour, after I started doing my own body work (liberal amounts of body filler and stuffing) I was able to paint it with a spray primer paint close enough to the original colour. In the right light it almost passed for a "factory finish" if you were colour blind.
One clear memory I have as a kid is the Lada 5 Speed that lived just around the corner form me. The 5 Speed label always tickled and intrigued me. In a land of L GL GLS and GLX type model signifiers, 5 Speed always stood out.
I just discovered your channel. Thank you so much for including metric measurements in the subtitles 🙏🏻
Glad they help
I've had 25 and still own 4. They are all UK rhd too. Overall and excellent account of the Lada story, but a few date inaccuracies. The Lada was always called Lada in UK advertising, right from the 1974 import start. The Lada became the Riva, on UK shores in 1983. Before that they were known as 1200, 1300 etc. The Riva didn't ever get fuel injection in the UK, it got a troublesome regulated carburettor....that unfortunately caused a lot of damage to the reputation of Lada in the UK. Ok, there are a few other small inaccuracies, but an absolutely excellent job! Very very enjoyable video! Keep it up, Sir! Cants Lane Garage Ltd, Lada agent in Sussex from 1977-2001 (Last new cars sold in 1997). That's why I'm such a Lada anorak 😂
I think the fact they had a catalyst confuses a lot of people, but as far as I understand it they were just a computerised carburettor. I think the one Hubnut drove a few months ago was actually converted into a proper fuel injection system.
I've only had one and I've still got it. Waiting for it to become tax exempt..........
@@nigeldowsett8560 Awesome! What have you got?
@@kierancurtis8545 1988 1.5 Estate. 33k miles. 5 speed ;)
My two Lada 1600 saloons in the mid-80s both had huge laluminium girder bumpers,and no over-riders. They are never depicted in classic Lada articles, and seem to have been adapted specially for the UK market. I had the 2nd one converted to LPG, which was successful.
Cheers from Egypt 😊 I do remember seeing Ladas at dealerships up till 2015 in deed. Another car we kept manufacturing or build for so long is Fiat 128. Also we still manufacture Daewoo Lanos for example which now is sold as Chevrolet Lanos.
I owned the Polski FIAT version in the mid '80s. I loved my FSO, vinal seats were a bit warm in the summer. The variable intermittent wipers were a feature you didn't see on regular cars for a few more years. All in all, it was a good car finally killed by a drunk driver in a transit.
Excellent work! L.
Nice one thank you. I had a Lada in 1987 a 1.2 est it would not pull the skin off a rice pudding but i was very fond of it, it was a tool and did what it said on the box, Bloody good heaters (:
"It would not pull the skin off a rice pudding" I don't know if that is a common expression where you are, but it's not here, and I'm going to use it cause it's hilarious! It's a little more polite than "couldn't pull a sick whore off a piss pot"
Now I want a 140hp dual rotor Lada! :P
You can get 230hp in line 4 with two turbos
Love the outtakes too😁👌🏽
This is a really good video. I'm from Bulgaria and the police in my town have a Lada Niva. My grandpa had 2 Ladas and my dad recently sold a 2104. Very reliable cars
A friend used to work at the UK importers, I think it was the early 90's when things were really going off the rails in Russia (have they ever been on?) Apparently, on one shipment most of the cars turned up sans bumpers - 'its OK, we'll send them when we have them.' Another favourite trick was when the dockers drove the cars onto the ship they would then drain the engine oil to sell for a few roubles, by the time they were driven off into the holding compound at the other end of the journey new engines were required... Also remember the time he had the loan of a Samara that a third party (I think possibly a Scandinavian company) was developing a fuel injection system for to meet emmision limits. That worked OK for the exhaust but what I distinctly recall is the emissions the plastic dashboard gave off, the pungent stench of diesel wouldn't be anyone's idea of a new car smell. Plastic is generally refined from oil - but it does need to be refined... The demise of the Lada on the UK roads was hastened by the Russians buying back all the ones they could find, starting out from the scrapyards and back streets around the docks in Hull the 'buyback' radiating out until the Lada quite quickly became a rarity in Britain. Towards the end, the boats were going back to Russia with more cars than they were bringing.
Not just back to Russia, but many went to the third world (mainly Africa). Exporters paid way above 'book' for sound used ladas, even MoT failures, for either use on the roads or as spares.
This has sold the Riva to me. I’m a petrol head owning m140 and Exige S formerly. Now I actually don’t laugh at Rivas. The estate almost fetching ? In a Volvo box way
I agree. I’m a wagon guy (e39). I want one of those wagons now.
@@KaptainKhaos1 All the stories from this video how Soviets made this car stronger and more reliable are most likely just lies invented by politburo to explain why they bought licence from Italy for this cheap western car and are not able to produce it as light and with proper brakes... Lada produced in USSR got opinion in Poland as more reliable than Fiat 125p produced in Poland but i never heard anyone in Poland claiming that it was on a par or more reliable than typical western counterpart. Also being more reliable than Polish Fiat was not a hard thing as in communist Poland it was very hard to lose your job even when you were incopetent worker in car factory that was doing his job as bad as it humanly possible... it was normal in communist country that a new thing out of factory was allready broken->including cars. Polish Fiat 125p got at the end of production controled quality, stuff made for internal marked did not have any control of quality...
„In the world!“ 😂 Brilliant JC impersonation!
I had the estate version. Always remember driving from Wales on the M4 on the hottest day of the year. We started counting breakdowns on the hard shoulder……we stopped at 100 after less than 75 miles. We had no trouble.
My dad used to say, that Ladas had a high fuel consumption, although it was was one of the few that had no problem to start in harsh winters, as well as the heating worked just right. In my personal opinion, it is one if the best looking soviet cars.
I remember these cars, but I haven’t seen one in years, apart from the crash compilation videos.
yes lol
Come to Bulgaria. They are still everywhere.
A lot were bought up & shipped back to Russia because of the lack of spares after the Soviet collapse.
@@fluffybadger9832 correct i remember the advertisments in the newspapers and leaflets in the mailbox where they asked for all Lada models. Overhere in the Netherlands only the Lada Niva (4x4)is still to be seen on the (of)road. All other models of Lada became extinct.
in Moscow they are still pretty common) Not the most popular car, but still there are a plenty of them. Even in taxi sometimes, seen a Riva taxicab near my subway station today, was very surprised: Rivas are too old, uncomfortable and unsafe to pass the taxi regulations, even the latest ones. In other areas of Russia they are even more common, because Rivas are very cheap, easy to maintain and you can buy parts for almost nothing. You can get a beat-up but running one for 25.000 roubles, equals 50$ , many ypung people buy and customize Rivas, we even have the movement "Youth On Zhiguli" One of my friends drives customized 75' Lada 2103, she spent a price of a new car to fully rebuild it and loves her Lada, because it is now a really cool vintage car) I want one too)
I bought one new in 1981. It was the 1200 Estate in Burnt orange with a vinyl roof. The alternator packed in within the first 1,000 miles but was rebuilt and never failed after that. The ignition switch was flaky, no relays and would burn out but easy to fix. I used the starting handle every time I had to adjust the timing chain. Slacken the slipper tensioner, crank the engine and tighten. Easy! I did all my own work on the car and travelled many miles. I also fitted a tow bar and towed a caravan from Leeds to Dover and on the ferry and toured France and Belgium. I later bought a used 1600 and it was rubbish, blew a head gasket. Three family members also drove Lada Estates. Good value and easy to work on. Just remembered. The factory carburettor was rubbish. I fitted a Weber replacement that the dealer sold as a replacement. It solved a flooding problem due to poor float level setting in the original.
Both my dad, my grandad, and my uncle had Ladas. It's a superbly reliable car - yes, it lacks creature comforts, but it just goes on and on and on. They were the Hondas of the CCCP. (And don't even get me started on the Niva - that shit is right up there with the Jeep in terms of offroad-worthiness.)
I drove a Lada to high school in the late 90'ies here in Denmark. The steering wheel was offset to one side, the gear lever looked like something out of a truck and radio had a distinct "whine" that kicked in during acceleration and made passengers think the thing was equipped with a turbo. It became a bit local legend in its own right. Hopelessly outdated. StiIl, I miss the old Lada =)