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Putin becomes the latest car salesman-in-chief.
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Obama will need to follow suit in a Patriot or Nitro or equally appalling Jeep product.
The involuntary look of disgust on his face as he steps into a Caliber would be priceless.
That Lada, while decent looking, looks to be of the same vintage as a 1997 Pathfinder that I drove into the ground.
Is this a 2009 vehicle?
2009? Hell it looks just like the first Lada I ever saw with my own eyeballs – which was in Ansbach, Germany, when I was stationed there in the late 80’s.
Though I understand many car manufacturers don’t do the “annual refresh” thing and adopt a laudable if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it attitude towards model changes.
It probably is a 2009, though that doesn’t make it much different that a ’79.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada_Niva
When I lived in Russia, I really wanted one of these, just for the sheer novelty.
And if you read the Wikipedia article all the way down, you can read about Chevrolet Niva with 1.8L Ecotec engine. Mind boggles.
In production since 1977. And partly based on old Fiat components. Lots of luck, getting Russia’s import-SUV-loving buyers to ditch their rides for this ancient turd.
Vladimir Putin: the Russian Chunk Norris.
I guess it’s better than a Tuk-Tuk.
“I liked this car so much, I bought the country.”
Or…
“I’m ex-KGB, so I *KNOW* you want to buy one of these.”
Looks like they’ve done the right thing and added a bunch of equipment to make it easier to find and rescue the owners after this POS dies out in the forest somewhere. All that survival gear is actually useful on this vehicle.
Old Lada joke.
Q: What is the rear window defroster on a Lada Niva for?
A: Keep your hands warm while you push it after it breaks down in the snow.
Just kidding. It is a very basic car, more like a utility tool that does extremely well in arduous Russian off-road conditions. Goes everywhere, runs on bad fuel and easy to fix with a hammer and a pair of pliers. Did I mention that it is cheap as chips, to boot?
What is with the snorkel? Are the potholes that bad in Moscow that the water in them comes up past the doors?
I like the Lada. It was designed before many of us were born and it does its job well. It has a certain honestly and unpretensiousness.
If you could only say the same thing about the quasi non rubicon rated girly SUVs from the other side.
Special offer-ski:
Buy new SUV-ski, receiving one getting out of Gulag free card!
Lada’s were popular in Panama when I was there… and I wanted to buy a Niva too.
Same theory – easy to repair as a hammer. Parts are readily available wherever one or more is parked :-) No fussy electronics or warning bells.
Ain’t fancy and and very well made, but you can keep one running with a pocket knife, a tin can, and your belt.
Putin isn’t shirtless and holding a gun
It’s an actual utility vehicle (unlike various large SUVs made to shuttle kids to soccer practice and the mall) and I’m sure this one is maxed out with various offroading options, which is why it’s got a snorkel, a lift, larger wheels/tires, a ton of lights, etc. I don’t think there’s much Russian left in that particular car.
A plain ol’ Niva looks much simpler than this one, although it’s still a pretty cool car in many ways – small, light, AWD, pretty damn good offroad, and cheap as heck. Niva is pretty much the only “people’s car” that Soviet car industry got more or less right.
He’d look stylin’ in a Hummer. As a matter of fact, I bet he’d be so impressed, he’d buy the entire company.
Here are some specs on that Niva, the site is in Russian though: http://www.bronto-psa.ru/cars/car_info.php?car_id=34
Some pictures here: http://autorambler.ru/journal/events/20.04.2009/560949426/
It’s called a Niva BRONTO “Lynx” (BRONTO is the name of the company that upgrades them, pretty stupid name I guess). It uses a 1.6 I4 from a regular Niva, upgraded/lifted suspension, larger wheels, new front and rear differentials, new gearbox, a winch, and a bunch of cosmetic upgrades plus some more suspension stuff that I can’t figure out how to translate. Total cost with all upgrades and the camo paintjob: about $12.5K.
Niva would not be popular in America, since it’s too small and too slow. Think Bronco II. It’s smaller than the newer Wrangler, of which Jeep had to introduce a 4-door model. But it’s well suited to the requirements of Russian market and deserves its popularity, which various imports were only able to dent slightly.
Andy Carter,
yes, 2009 Niva looks just like 1977 (first year of production), but so does 2009 Merc G-Wagon looks like 1979 (also first year of production).
Niva is no frills 4×4, with locking front and rear differentials. They’ve had quite a following in Canada some time ago. And I’ve seen one on the road about two months ago. Not sure if it ever was sold in the US, though. But here it had 1.7 fuel injected engine.
Right now in Russia it can be had as 3- and 5-door model. You can order it with A/C, sunroof, power heated mirrors. Some models could be ordered armor protected. Others with package to go over sand, marshes and deep snow. When so equipped total height of the vehicle is over 86 inches and it can carry in total 1,000 lbs. With total vehicle weight of 4,185 lbs.
They were cheap. The New Zealand dairy board bought them with butter in the 1980s. I’m not sure of the details as I was only young, but I think the Russians were short of readies so a butter-for-Ladas exchange was done.
I can remember the TV ads: man in long leather coat bashes his fist on the bonnet and says in faux-russian accent “Lada! Built tough like Russssian.”
The Nivas were quite well regarded. Simple, but hungry on petrol.
cheers
Malcolm
putin should be fighting a bear
I understand that its an easy transplant to replace the motor with a 70’s era Fiat Twin Cam.
Vlad isn’t running away fast enough
This is the Niva SUV. Actually, for the most part it was an original Russian design. When it came out first in the 70s, it came with the 1.6L Fiat designed petrol engine. In the 90s a new 1.7L engine became available. A five-door version is also available. The car is being constantly improved. If you want to compare it to Western designs, you should compare it to something like Wrangler, also a great off-road vehicle, still based on basic design going back decades in time.
Despite of all the jokes on this board, many SUV buffs know that this is a tough vehicle. Unlike pretty much all “SUVs” you see on the roads in America, Niva was designed to be a capable, comfortable, and simple OFF-ROAD vehicle. In numerous off-road driving tests conducted by Russian journals, it has performed on par with Land Rovers, and certainly much better than more civilized SUVs like Honda Passport (forgot the Isuzu name of that thing). Russian roads are terrible and the winters are cold and snowy. This is a perfect car for Russian citizens, specially those who live in provinces or rural areas.
BTW, Putin bought this one specifically for fishing.