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Photo by Hendi Kaf, in Cambodia

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Hendi Kaf,
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  • 1 Post By kingtom
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  #1  
Old 19 Jul 2015
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Lada 2121
I rented a Lada 2121 (Niva) whilst in Armenia last week, what an amusing vehicle.



It's so totally abysmal and rubbish as a car that initially it's funny but after a while it actually starts to become quite endearing and I was actually quite happy with it. The lack of acceleration wasn't a problem since it meant I had longer to admire the amazing scenery that Armenia has to offer, everyone else is driving equally slow old sheds so you don't feel like you're ever holding anyone up.

It overheated in the mountains, think it was the thermostat stuck either open or closed. A man turned up with a spare part and about 3 tools and replaced it in minutes.

Was a fun experience with the Lada, not sure I'd want to spend 10 hours a day with one for several weeks on a proper long journey though. But for what they cost it's pretty good value.

Anyone else has any experience with these cars, or something similar that you wouldn't get back home?
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  #2  
Old 19 Jul 2015
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We bought a "cossack" version new in 89 for my sister , she ran it untill 2004 , apart from initial teething problems with driveline vibration , a common fault , that was eventually solved by the dealer , it was fault free and apart from servicing components didnt require any replacements during that time. It was used quite a lot in London , where it was hit by other cars 3 times , once whilst parked, all of which came off far worse. The ride is surprisingly good, acceleration , or rather increase in momentum , is not the greatest , and right from new the Fiat engine was very rattly. We replaced it with a 2 year old discovery , which came as quite a culture shock
for her , although she had become quite attached to the Niva
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Old 22 Jul 2015
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I did that the feeling that it was the sort of car that you could bang into stuff with and it would be fine.

A friend of mine said that he had one when he was living in Lebanon purely for when they had snow in the mountains, best vehicle for driving on snow apparently. I don't doubt him, skinny little tyres, good clearance and a proper locked four wheel drive system.

Shame there was a bigger version, same size as a Pajero 5 door for example.
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  #4  
Old 22 Jul 2015
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Nivas...
I've had 4...
very easy to fix, excellent off road & comfy coil spring ride. the steel on the ones I had in the 90's were thick enough to be welded with a stick..

Though the dash would pop out in extreme cross axles.

would i buy another? hell yes if it was diesel.

regards all
Gren
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Old 25 Jul 2015
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As stock vehicles go one of the best offroad Ive had. Hate to admit it but used to out perform Land Rovers frequently
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Old 25 Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by kingtom View Post
As stock vehicles go one of the best offroad Ive had. Hate to admit it but used to out perform Land Rovers frequently
IIRC the drive train design was licenced from the original range rover .
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  #7  
Old 17 Aug 2015
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Properly prepared lada's are grand cars basic / primitive by todays standards but still great for what they were and they were almost the cheapest cars in the uk. I had several many years ago - always a laughing stock to everyone - but in the winter they would get through everything and anything, came with excellent tool kits - not that i needed one much, also a stirrup pump, tyre levers and a starting handle as standard - for or if
the battery was low. Proper old school easy to work on cars. Basic slow but very very capable. I wish they still sold them i would have another one no problem. Compared to the old land rover 90 pre turbo the performance was much the same slow the land rover diesel being a lot more noisy inside the cab.
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Old 18 Aug 2015
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thousands of them around in Kazakhstan and Russia (well west and middle of russia) out in the east it seems that the majority of cars are right hand drive japanese vehicles.

Lada must still produce them as a lot of the ones I saw looked new


This one was actually in Tbilisi - but representative of lots that I have seen
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Old 18 Aug 2015
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In Australia .. the importer replaced the electrics with Bosh .. and then sold them. Must have been cheaper to replace the electrics first rather than have warranty deal with it. You could buy several Ladas for the same price as a Land Rover. Stopped selling them here in 1998.

It was updated in August 2014 the 37th year of production... still the same 1.7l motor.
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/592...-37th-birthday
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Old 18 Aug 2015
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Just found them back in UK but only left hand drive £13,000 new. Here is one in action in Greece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LvMSCyJxYA
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Old 19 Aug 2015
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A mate of mine here in the UK had one back in the late 80's/early 90's, was really good off road, better at times,than my 200Tdi 90 that I had at the time. His was totally standard apart from a set of 6.50x15 Firestone SAT's.


It had a wicked heater in it!
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  #12  
Old 16 Sep 2020
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We had those in Canada when I was a kid.

Thye were called Niva's, we also got the cars that were called Samara.

I havent seen a Niva in person in over 5 years, they all rusted away and no cared to save any of them.
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Old 17 Sep 2020
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Ah yes, the Niva! The original crossover - world's first unibody full-time AWD passenger vehicle! It was genuinely groundbreaking back when it came out in the late 70s, and it wouldn't be until the first RAV4 in the mid-90s, I think, that another manufacturer made something that was both good enough for bad roads, AND handled like a passenger car (for the standards of its time).

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Originally Posted by James Rothwell View Post
Shame there was a bigger version, same size as a Pajero 5 door for example.
There absolutely was and still is a five-door Niva, the VAZ 2131. You can buy one brand new off the showroom floor today, in Russia, for under 6k EUR.

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Originally Posted by gren_t View Post
would i buy another? hell yes if it was diesel.
That would be the VAZ 21215. Featuring a Peugeot 1.9 turbodiesel. Always intended as an export model, never became very popular - the fuel efficiency was not THAT much better, and it was a lot more expensive and difficult to keep running.
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Old 17 Sep 2020
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Originally Posted by AnTyx View Post
Ah yes, the Niva! The original crossover - world's first unibody full-time AWD passenger vehicle! It was genuinely groundbreaking back when it came out in the late 70s, and it wouldn't be until the first RAV4 in the mid-90s, I think, that another manufacturer made something that was both good enough for bad roads, AND handled like a passenger car (for the standards of its time).

There was also the AMC eagle but it may have had a selectable transfer case - not sure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Eagle
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Old 17 Sep 2020
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Niva beat the Eagle to market by two years, it seems.
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