The worst car ever? How bad is a Lada?

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[matthewmuellner]

Lada - the star of millions of Russian car crash compilations.

[j_mars_cars]

That ending: I think everyone should be driving the same car.
Every manufacturer making nearly identical electric/hybrid couches with an hd tv console 🗿

[CoolTI-Daniel]

LOL
I love the ending... if you said that during the 70's or 80's... you would get in so much trouble.
Here in Montreal the Lada's are also ultra rare. they were laughed at by anyone who didn't own one, but those who owned one loved them because of how reliable they are.
Sadly we salt our roads quite extensively in the winter... all cars from Montreal rust to death. Specially those from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's.
The best of the best is the Niva... that little Russian 4x4 just works.

[nicostenfors]

I drive a Lada every day, 1000km per week. 1997 Lada 2107 1700i, the 1700i was a bit special European export model. It is fitted with a GM single point TBI and a catalytic converter. It is a great car in the cold Finnish winters. I haven't had massive problems with it other than a wire under the dash that caught fire at a traffic light.
I've had it 6 months and before it i had a 2000 Audi A4 1.8T which i traded in for the Lada. I love the Lada and other people love it too.

[eddiewillers]

My old man had a Moskvich 412, in the UK of the very early 70s. The differential grenaded one day while we were out food shopping - off to the scrapper it went.

[raveonum]

Роберт, спасибо за интересную историю! Удивительно что машина 91года не прогнила на сквозь. Видимо сказался климат.

[RobinLikeABoss]

"It's mechanically... almost perfect". Don't even try to get it perfect. As someone that owned a (2121) Lada Niva and have seen my fair share of ladas, the saying for them goes here locally (especially the older ones) "Always half broken, never broken down".
I got mine driving with only some new fuel and a new battery after it not having run for a decade (10 years), outside, in a pretty rainy, humid climate. It died a couple years ago due to terminal rust (USSR steel likes to rust) and it didn't make sense to repair it to get it through the MOT.

[ShoelessJP]

Robert is an amazing guy with very quirky taste, I always love seeing him featured on this channel. Long time fan of his work.

[aldenfloyd]

I had a 1983 Lada that I bought in 1986 from a Ford dealership for $1, 600 Canadian, it had only a little over 57, 000 km on it and was in perfect condition. The car was in baby blue with a dark blue vinyl landau roof. It was the Signet version which came with the larger engine of 1, 500 cc's, the surprising thing was that it was capable of about 100 mph. The car had 2 design flaws that were irritating, the wheel and brake drum had to be removed to adjust the rear brakes, and after removing the rear wheels several times the wheel bolts (it didn't have wheel studs) would stretch and then needed their tips ground down or they butted up against the backing plates, therefore not tightening down, I found this out the hard way when one day a rear wheel fell off and passed me as I was going through an intersection. The best thing I can say about Ladas is that they were very simple and easy to work on.

[vspencer]

I bought a Lada Riva back in the early 90s when a was skint and it was a three year old example and cost me the equivalent of $100… I was expecting disappointment coming from an XR3i but in reality it was pure joy.

It never went wrong and was as solid as a T34, In fact my mate borrowed it and liked it so much that he bought an FSO for $50 which was quite hilarious as every time we saw each other driving along we would play destruction derby by hitting each other’s car lol.

My favourite feature was the manual prime fuel pump and the little Lada tool kit in the boot which could basically strip the car down if ever needed.

A little fact is have a look at the handbrake handle as it’s the same item as the Ferrari 308 and actually it was the only thing I broke on mine when doing handbrake turns lol

I didn’t even check the oil in my years ownership and sold it for $75 to some gypsies who put it through an auction at a profit.

[robertdominiczak]

I’m a Brit living in Bulgaria. You have to think, if you’re travelling across Siberia and you brake down they’re easy to repair, also if you run out of fuel you can use vodka rakia diesel or lpg. All you need to do is reset the ignition timeing, it’s one of the reasons that the military prefers petrol engines.

[LEGIOXIIIG]

My uncle and my grandfather had Ladas. I remember them vividly. My Grandfather had a Lada 2101, the softest and most comfortable rear seats imaginable and my uncle had a Lada 2107 yellow. This was all in former Yugoslavia. My father had a Red Yugo. Great times.

[georgec]

Piles of years ago I bought a 1984 Pokski-Fiat 125P, the basic model with the 1300 engine and only four gears. Little go, plenty of body roll-but for only £75 it was in my price range-! No rot, twin lamps and lots of space. Good, solid basic transport. Never missed a beat.

[obelic]

We had a 1979 Lada 2101 (Looks 99.99% like the Fiat 124) as a family car.
They had some typical Russian options.
- Powerstearing nope, just install a bigger steeringwheel, grow some muscels comrade.
- Tubeless tyres nope, they all had innertubes and you had standard tyre irons for fixing leaks.
- Safety options, just use thicker steel and cut off the innerring of the horn activation on the steeringwheel.
- Cold wheater options.
1 aditional steel plate and shielding for starting a fire beneath the engine to heat up the engine.
2 removable fueltank in the boot.
3 BIG heather you can drive one in a T shirt in Siberian / Alaskan blizzard.
- Multiple fuel adjuster. yes just select the correct octane number on your ignition distrubitor.

My advise if you ever want a 2nd Lada go for the 2101 estate.

[RandR]

We had a brown one with headlights wipers, my parents bought it to replace fiat 126p when they learned mom was pregnant with me and my brother, although I was only 5 when they sold it I very clearly remember those headlight wipers

[hugonubario]

despite their bad reputation I want one just for fun!
in canada good luck to find one!
1- they are in terrible shape (they aged very badly)
2- too expensive for what they are if you find one 5k and up

[jon-paulfilkins]

Bering a warmed over Fiat and kept in production way beyond when it should of been replaced, does not make a bad car. I mean, as a Brit I can point to MG in the late 70's and even 80's, that's 50's tech warmed over and kept going. Again, not bad, but very outdated.

[cristianpasquali]

Crazy to see them in rallying too, in Eastern Europe they are widely used

[neilmustow]

These cars were everywhere in the UK in the 70's till the 90'sback in the day they were so cheap to buy

[mrozthemotorheadallotmentm]

They all rotted away here in the UK and the better ones was sent back home to Russia