Lada 1300 SL (VAZ 2106/Riva) - Soviet Car In The US (Mountain Loop Car Barn)

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On this episode of Mountain Loop Car Barn, we have a pretty oddball car. The Lada 1300 SL (also known by many other names: VAZ 2106, Riva, Nova, Zhiguli) is a soviet era car. It is actually based on the almost identical Fiat 124 Sedan but with some modifications made to better suit Russia and other Eastern European countries. Though the car was sold in much of Europe, it was never officially brought to the US for fairly obvious reasons. However, we have a pretty rare example of a nice one imported here.

[realdamageboy]

About the first aid kit - Yes, they go with the car, but crash research showed, that at 100 km/h crash, the flying first aid kit is the one that kills the driver after stering wheel column puncture lungs.

[joeydepalmer]

Thats why I love the Soviet Lada. It was built as simple as possable and as cheap as possable, while not sacraficing quality. They did not add a bunch of stuff to jack up the price or make it harder for the individual owner to repair it. No fancy leather seats, when good quality cloth will do; no power windows when manual windows works just as fine; no power locks when the basic push/pull lock will do; no air conditioning when a vent window in each front door will do the same job; and so on. Than when they designed the inside of the car, they made it even. Gauges evenly placed on the driver side with out sliding into the middle of the dash; the glove box evenly placed on the passanger side of the dash; and vents/clock/radio all evenly placed in the middle of the dash; over all the dash looks uniformed and pleasing to the eyes. Body is boxy but with smooth lines and everything on it was placed in an even smooth manner. And I love the dual head lights (personal like). The only thing I would have changed in design would be the door mirrors (one on each side and designed more like the classic American cars from the 1970s, just smaller) and an automatc transmission so anyone can just get in and drive it 50' (actually so I could just get in and drive around the city or country with out shifting it as needed). Any other work is not really needed but just to add more style. Like spoked wheels, wood grain gauge pannel, leather seats, nicer back window and cieling cloth, and custom engine work as needed (custom grinding, better parts what ever it takes to make it run smoother, cooler and with better fuel consumption). For me, I love the Lada and would love to own 1. No matter what anyone said or could say bad about the Soviet Union, 1 thing is for sure, thier state own companies and other companies when not looking out for the all mighty buck, made quality items.

[hungryforsky]

As a russian, when I saw it in the collection review video, I had two questions - how and why? Since I got the answers to those questions, I'll just say - thank you for the video.

[andregonsalvez]

Great review ! We got these in Canada 🍁 in the 80s and 90s . These were pretty common here @ the time and seemed to hold up well for the Canadian winters .

[SamAero]

They were sold new in Canada up until the mid 1990's. We had a dealership In my small city. I had a red 1982 1500 sedan, 1.5 L. for my first car. It was cheap to run, and fairly reliable. Good city car, not a car to take on the highway, anywhere..The only time it would chirp the tires is in the wet..It was kinda fun to drive, if you drove it flat out everywhere Handled pretty good..Mine was a 9 year old, car, I bought for $650 from the original owner.

[RetraCast]

It's refreshing to make another normal non vlog video finally. I'm excited to film more of these. The next car review will be on our new Fiat X1/9 (essentially the original Italian MR2). And I also have a vintage review I'm writing on my 80s CRT TV that I hope to finish and start filming this week. For those waiting on MR2 content, the cinematic comes out next month and the engine rebuild series starts filming next month as well.

[BrightStar]

My dad had the same generation Lada. It originally had a navy blue interior. However, he had a custom made cloth interior done. Soviet Union was an era of deficit, and things were hard to come by. So my dad had to pull a few strings, to get the job done.

[cheesusslice]

Honestly I would love to have one of these cars it would make a good daily driver i could save my mr2 for the weekends

[logoed]

This was honestly more fun to drive than both of my 16v mr2s I've owned lol. I need one someday.

[horeageorgian]

No, they were not really cheap. It cost the wage of many years and often it was the only car you had in your lifetime.
Yes, they were cheap in western Europe as the SU needed convertible valuta. But in the SU and the eastern block these were upper middle class cars. Or even upper class cars, as you had nothing above.

[pottasium]

Im from east eu/baltics so this car has some interesting historical things going for it. I remember stories about when my gramps had to waited 5 years for it to be made after purchase (he bricked the engine after a week of use due not knowing that you had to replace oil via putting new oil in, yes im serious. He thought that you only let the old oil out and ran the engine) It was pretty much the "5 series bmw", not quite an "s class" (which would be a gaz, but those were mostly for goverment officials) but comparated to "exec sedan" class of cars.

But i have to say, you love-hate relationship you've described in my country was pretty accurate. After the country became independant everyone started hating them and switched over to audi 80, audi 100 and passats. Nowadays you see them and have that nostalgic feeling, even if youre not old enough to have primarily lived in the period.

[jans.]

It's a bit sad that this video has after 9 days only 329 views after you put so much effort in it.
I like the Car and the video, i like your style, keep going.

[oasisauto]

I wish I can share live video here with you to show you how much Lada here in Egypt 🇪🇬 work like a horse as a Taxi 🚕 special in Alexandria….you cannot kill this car

[danil]

Love the video, greetings from Belgium 🇧🇪

[lolocps]

Mon grand-père a eu 2 lada, et mon père en a eu 4.... J'ai appris à conduire vers l'âge de 13 ans avec une Lada 2107... Très chouette vidéo. Amitiés de Belgique 🇧🇪

[TinLeadHammer]

Soviet, not Russian. The proper 2106 should have 1600 cc engine, this one is 21063. Non-paved roads were NOT supposed to be the natural element for Ladas, they were civilized cars, Fiat-based, remember? The video is very well made, your camera work is pro-level.

[liutauraslr]

Cool ! :D my father had this car, exactly same yellow colour, brown interior. Just engine was 1.6. 80hp.
And yes you could enjoy driving, sort of.. :))
father tought me to drive on it when I was 9-10 years old..
great video!
I would have thought I am halucinating- to see this exact car on road when I was in USA :))

[RodisJohn]

I have own many cars, Volks Wagen, Mercedes Benz, Jeep, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Fiat an Lada, The best cheap cars I have driven were the Volks Wagens (I had 2 beetles and a Brazilia) and one of the Ladas the 2107 which was the luxury model similar to the one in your video, The only thing I changed (I bought it used with 70K kilometres) was the relay for the electric fan, nothing more. I travelled to the west and east of Venezuela where I live without any problems, once in a highway 4 very fat thugs in a order me to stop, no way I jus pushed the pedal to the metal to its highest speed, the only car I couldn't pass was Toyota Land Cruiser, I arrived at the nearest too station no signs of the thugs, checked the car and the radiator was empty but it did not over heat. I sold it but I was I was sad as I got used to the little Soviet car and bought the only Lads in the market a 2105 the cheaper version, It is (I still have it) the worst car I ever bought, I have changed everything, clutch, cylinder clutch, brake pads, brake booster, brake pump, radiator, alternator, starting motor, the list is more and recently the pilot's chair broke. I hope after I change the chair and the front suspension this Lada will allow me to drive it again

[unprofessionalreviews]

I just took of few pics next to one here in Brooklyn, NY. Similar Lada 1300 SL, same color, Ukrainian plates. I was like, wtf, VAZ 2106 with 1300 cc engine instead of regular 1600, but then I Googled it. Vaz 21063. When you grew up in USSR, they were NOT cheap, they were mostly well kept and cared for, because most alternatives were unattainable or worse, and in 1970-80s even used for few years cars went for as much as new ones, due to shortage of supply.

[Livermor]

Вау не ожидал увидеть жигу на этом канале