Lada was set up in 1970 with help from Fiat which was also instrumental in establishing FSO in Poland. A new factory was built at Togliattigrad, west of Moscow, and production commenced of a Soviet version of the ageing Fiat 124, although the Lada iteration did make some concessions to the harsh Russian conditions it would operate in, particularly with the use of thicker steel.
There was a departure in 1979 with the all Russian Niva, a small four-wheel-drive with reasonable off-road ability and a low price. This was followed by the Samara hatchback in 1984, this car featuring a more modern layout with front-wheel drive, although the car soon earned a poor reputation due to incosistent build quality and non-existant reliability.
In 1996 the new 110 looked very different, with rounded styling and the option of 8 or 16 valve fuel injected 91.5ci 1.5 litre engines with up to 94 bhp (70.1 kW). Despite the economic upheavals in Russia, VAZ was able to report a profit for 2001, when it claimed to have built well over 700,000 cars.
1977 -
The Niva (2121) was Lada's (VAZ/AvtoVAZ) first non-Fiat based model. Much of its mechanicals were carried over from the Fiat based Lada models, though the body, four-wheel drive system, and front suspension were designed by Lada. More>>
1984 - 2004
The Lada Samara had a short stay in Australia, and few shed a tear when it left our shores. The brand name Samara originally was used only for exported models, being named after the city of Samara in Russia. On home soil the same model was called "Sputnik", although we are not sure what the Russian words are for "space junk", which would have been far more accurate. More>>
