Soviet cars: LADA

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About Soviet cars: LADA

LADA- VAZ cars photos

www.flickr.com/groups/lada/

About:

Lada is the trademark of AvtoVAZ, a Russian car manufacturer in Togliatti, (Samara Oblast or province). The name replaced the original Zhiguli brand, because of phonetic resemblance of Zhiguli to Gigolo, which hampered exports. Though in Sweden, the early models were sold under the name "VAZ" because lada is the swedish word for "barn". Lada made its name in Western Europe selling the Fiat 124-based VAZ-2101 and its many derivatives as an economy car in large quantities during the 1980s, but subsequent models have not enjoyed the same success.

The common Lada sedan/estate, sometimes known as the Classic in the west (Signet in Canada), was partly based on the 1966 Fiat 124 sedan, and has become one of the most successful cars in history. The keys to its success were: competitive price as an export, simple DIY friendly mechanics, unpretentious functionality, and lack of competition on its USSR home market. Since 1980 over 13.5 million Ladas have been badged as 'Rivas', (re-styled to resemble the well-regarded Volvo 200 series), with another 5 million made from 1969 - 1979 (badged as 2101-2107 depending on engine size/interior specs) for a total of over 18.5 million. Lada terminated the Classic series in the 1990s but production of the model with uprated specifications still continues in significant numbers elsewhere. The car was built under licence in several other countries.

Being exported worldwide in the 1980s and '90s, the Lada was a big earner of foreign hard currency for the hard pressed Soviet economy, and was also used in barter arrangements in some countries. Over 3/5ths of Lada production was exported, mainly to \american+ western countries (the US was the only large market not to have imported Ladas, probably for political reasons) and Lada is unique in being the only car brand found on every continent of the world, including Antarctica (where the Russian research base used Lada Nivas). The rugged design of the Lada Classic, built with heavier gauge steel bodywork, to cope with extreme Siberian climates[citation needed], poor roads and few service facilities in many parts of Siberia, meant that high mileages (300,000 mls [480,000 km]) were possible under less extreme operating conditions. Because of their very competitive pricing and ease of service, Ladas are common as police cars, taxis, and a range of public service/civil defence vehicles in many parts of Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.