was in the ukraine a few weeks ago, at a flea market i found a kind of auto brouchure it had 30 11 x 17 photos of how these cars are built got it for $2.50 only about 10 photos are intresting rest just boring
It's a Zaparozhets or ZAZ-965 , ZAZ-968 - the Russian equivalent of a Corvair, by design and by quality. Cheap, mass produced and a pile of shit. Much like most Russian autos Everything needs a chop, right? ZAZ/ Corvair Crossover
see how the ruskies have the assembly lines side ways.. any color as long as its green...or..orange!!...
Funny this should come up. I'v been trying to get my hands on a Lada for some time. I dont know a damn thing about them... Never even seen one to be honest, but something about a car that Americans cant have,,, or totally odd-ball crap that turns me on. I'v heard stories about a Russian model of car that the entire body was made out of injection molded plastic. These cars would be in horrific wrecks, and would pop back into shape, but the human occupants would have been turned to jello... And how Russian junk yards are still full of them because they wont rust away, and they are not worth enough [as plastic] to be recycled... So they just sit there forever. Anybody know if these things are available in Canada?
I think you mean Trabants - they were made from some kind of resin injected plastic stuff - buy they were East German, not Russian. Come to Germany and take a few back with you. Please!!
Couple more East German cars - Wartburgs - not bad looking if you ask me. And a Trabant, since it came up...
See, now that shit right there makes me want one even more. Truth is, I'm a total odd-ball myself. That car would suit me to a T. Oh, I have no illusions of it being a quality automobile. I'm well aware that they are total junk piles... That's kina why I would want one. Just so you understand exactly how much of an odd ball I am, this was my daily for over a year. I bought it simply because it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen! Also I once tried to buy this car simply because I was totally fascinated with the fact that it was still driveable... No other reason in the world. And I was pissed when it got sold to someone else!
I had a Wartburg 2 door coupe like that orange and white one. Bought it sight unseen from a photo. The 2 doors are very nice cars to look at. I was thinking of fitting a straight six Opel engine + 5 speed in it. Lifted the hood for the first time and see the original two stroke 3 cylinder engine and front wheeldrive sitting on a crossmember that was big enough to carry a tank engine. My first reaction was " bugger " , sell it to a restorer. I did within a week.
I cuoldn't aggree more! My parents used to have one which I drove a few times. Slow as f***, non existant brakes and steering like a canal barge. The tape deck had one broken speaker so when Itrie listening The Beatles & such 60s early stereo recordings I could only hear drums and vocals andkept wondering when the guitar was going to come in! In the end they gaveit away to a guy who used it for banger racing (demolition derby to you guys in USA)
You like odd-ball things Pi8Darryl? I had a daily like yours. Still have it as a "shed". The only reason they were odd was where you sat. Other than that.. you gotta work harder at being odd. Now.. for the Lada. We had dealerships that imported the Lada around here. Take a Brit car.. one of their cheaper ones like an old Vauxhaul Viva. No offense to you guys across the pond but those where .. how do you say CRAP without being mean? I had one to drive and 5 to keep it going. Downgrade the wiring, brakes and engine (ok.. it would be hard to do but it was done for the Lada). Add some carbon slag to the body metal so it rusted while you watched. You just built yourself a Lada. The Trabant was another gem.
Lada's were basically Fiats made in Russia but made as cheap as possible. There were a lot of them imported to Jamaica in the 60's and most found there way to the scrap yards. They were as basic transportation as you could get back then.
Here is Bush getting into Putin's Volga. Russian stunt show ZIL limo Moskvich station wagon Pobeda sedan Soldier by Chez Tatra Ladies by Moskvic
You want odd? Mine was a 3 cylinder! Threw a rod a few month after I bought it and holed the block. Just for fun, I droped the pan to see how bad it was. I ended up pulling the shattered piston out from the bottom, wraping a piece or rad hose around the journal secured with hose clamps, removed 2 rockers and dis-connected one fuel injector, and the damn thing actually ran!!!!! I used a tomato sauce can out of the garbage and some JB Weld to patch the hole in the side of the block. It was the funniest joke in my whole family untill my parents had a car wreck in Tennessee on their way down to Florida. I borrowed a car-dolly and went down to rescue them. My Dad just about shit a brick when he saw me pull up drivin that "damn junk van"! Would you believe that 4 cylinder with only 3 pistons in it pulled a baby lincoln, 3 adults, and luggage OVER Mt. Eagle!!! Vibrated like a sex toy and would only go up the mountain @ 30 mph, but it made it home and got over 30 mpg to boot! Oh, yea, I forgot to add, when it threw the rod, it cracked the block into the coolant passage. I used a 15 gallon plastic barrel straped behind the drivers seat plumbed into the heater hose to keep it full. It would drink all 15 gallons every 500 miles. I finally abandoned it when the alternator went out in the middle of winter. Since it had the 15 gallon tank, the heater never got hot, and I could not justify a $275 alternator on a van with so many other issues. I drove it to the junk yard.... And have regreated it's loss to this day. So now am I odd enough for you?
The most exciting ride of my life (and I've had a few) was in Moskow at commuting hour in a Lada driven by a KGB body guard at only 70/80 KPH. Don't ask, it's a long story!
Ok ok.. I get it... "Vibrated like a sex toy and would only go up the mountain @ 30 mph, but it made it home and got over 30 mpg to boot!" Talk about torque! You ARE odd. I keep hearing Jeff Foxworthy.. You might be a redneck... Thanks for the chuckle. Heck of a story. Don't mean to hijack the thread further but I was towing "the shed" to a different spot when BANG.. the pitman arm broke. Snapped in two! Friggin cast part. Glad it wasn't on the road considering where you sit in those things. Ah.. KGB? Wow... you must be a dangerous and special person! The Lada 4x4 we had around here looked a lot like the early Suzuki units. Maybe same thing, I don't know.
Oh yes you do!!!!!!!! Best heaters in the world, and you can double its value if you fill it with shit..... Why do they have heated rear screens, so your hands keep warm when you push it in winter What do you call a convertable Lada? A skip (dumpster) etc, etc.
A Lada is a Licence built Fiat ( unless you want the 4X4 Lada Niva which was their own design ) So it would be a lot easyer to get a early Fiat 124 sedan, and hang the Lada badges on it. It probably be a better car too, and maybe old enough to be emissions exempt. I Swapped a Fiat Twincam 1800 engine in a Lada 1200 once, and it did pretty good burnouts for a Rusty Old Russian 4dr... ( it was almost a bolt-in...) Pic of a Lada ( or Fiat ) racer during a Hillclimb. Some have been turned into Rally Cars as well ( pretty good suspension...)
The Wartbug looks like a Borgward to me. Maybe a Russian version of the German car. The Zil limo is a Russian copy of a Packard. Note the car behind the Zil it too is a copy of an earler Packard.
A pal of mine had a Fiat 124. Said he got heartily pissed off with Lada owners waving to him! The big snob!
The Wartburg is a German car. An East German car - not Russian. Does look like the Borgward Isabella coupe though.
i never understood why corvairs got such a bum rap my dad had one and has on i always loved driving that this and honestly maybe im a loser but i always thought somone could do something cool with em
I saw a Lada in a Vintage Auto Expo, when i was in Brasil a couple months ago, I guess that they were imported to the Brasilian market with little success. When I asked about this little car, My cousin told me "Owning A Lada is worse than AIDS.......at least you can give AIDS to someone else"
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