BBC TV - 'The Car's the Star' - The Lada - 1997 (Old Top Gear)

Quentin Willson presents the story of the Lada.

[@thomasherzig174]

no reason to joke about the Lada. that car probably was at least as technically up to date and more reliable, than what British Leyland/Austin Rover/Rover delivered from the mid 70ies to the late 80ies . Compared to the Morris Marina/Ital that Lada was a sophisticated modern car

[@Metal-Possum]

The problem is that you imply that because they're as good as a Leyland etc. they're not shit? No, it's just that Leyland and other British cars of the 1970's really were THAT bad.

[@ImissSaganCarl]

@@Metal-Possum Exactly. We had 2 LADAs in the family. They were crap. The were not modern at all, especially if you compared it to a FIAT 128 or VW Rabbit/Golf and the quality was horrendous compared to the FIAT 124 on which they were based.

[@shebbs1]

@@Metal-Possum To be fair it was mostly BL cars that were bad. Ford UK and independents were making cars that were fine, especially Ford when it came to mass-produced cars.

[@thomasherzig174]

@@Metal-Possum true, but the lada was very cheap to buy at least , not only of cheap quality.

[@fk4515]

That was my question were they marketed in Great Britain because British cars were that bad or to make British cars look good?

[@Stanimir2909]

the perfection does not need an evolution ;)

[@madduxelian4413]

you probably dont give a shit but if you are bored like me during the covid times then you can watch pretty much all of the latest movies and series on instaflixxer. I've been binge watching with my girlfriend for the last weeks =)

[@blazeowen1135]

@Maddux Elian Yup, I've been using InstaFlixxer for months myself :D

[@SiliconBong]

Zahooglee :)

[@capobilotti]

Lada was for people who needed to get from point A to B with close to 0 running costs. Very few British cars of that era could achieve that.

[@mmadmic]

If you mean going from point A to B, it was indeed miraculous with British cars of that era...

[@David-cy5zu]

Paol Vrobel just like having an own flat for a western person.

[@mrsnoop1820]

very few people had cars in ussr, getting from point a to point b meant you have to take a soviet bus xD

[@David-cy5zu]

@@mrsnoop1820 people did not need an own car. it was luxury. because 90% of people lived in big cities with transportation systems that the US could not dream of. car in ussr = recreation purpose only

[@mrsnoop1820]

@@David-cy5zu I 'm was born in a post-soviet republic, where do you get your information from ... 90% lived in big cities, really? XD

[@enzoperruccio]

My dad always told me that the best car is not the one with more features, but the one that can get you home from work on a cold winter night without trouble. He was driving a beater Fiat 128C at the time which, despite breaking down all the time, never did whilst driving him home. I really miss that car, in all its rusty and bright yellow glory.

[@ecozonedetailing1109]

WFTS Lada is a monster rally car. They have a massive fan base on every Classic rally events.

[@winMANhun]

*VFTS But yeah, you are right. I hate these British reviews which try to make fun of socialist cars. Ladas are reliable, and well engineered cars with serious history.

[@dimiturml]

Oh no, the aluminium brakes myth again. The rear drum is made from aluminium, BUT with a steel inner friction ring. So no, the brakes are NOT made from aluminium.

[@andrewallen9993]

Bet there are more Ladas still driving around than Ford Sierras!

[@andrewallen9993]

@Victor Murat So the Lada has drum brakes made to the same design as Ferraris? Of 1950's vintage :)

[@andrewallen9993]

@Victor Murat That would be down the Western Deep Levels number two shaft I would imagine :)

[@kristjanvendelin3566]

@@andrewallen9993 About the same in E-Europe

[@Alex462047]

At last somebody said it. Thank you!

[@Trevorfoggia]

I wish I still had my orange Lada, it was the round headlight type. I’d always wanted the 1.600 with twin headlights model. I had my Lada back in the mid 70’s, I needed a car to get me to work as some signal boxes were far out to reach places, mine was second hand, but never broke down - unlike many friends cars ie, cortinas, princesses, maxis, capris etc. The only colleague who had a car as reliable as mine had a brand new Datsun Bluebird. That was my first full time job after leaving school so driving on a shoestring, they were the days though. Went to Inverness in it one year and got snowed in - then I bought two sacks of stones from a merchant shoved em in the boot over each well and drive all,the way to Sussex. You can not stop Lada.

[@Mrbfgray]

Wow. Never drove anything else, huh?

[@nonamenoname2618]

My father had a Lada 21-something. Back in 2001 (I remember it was this year) we had a huge pothole in front of our 6 story residential block (where else) and my father happened to drive through it with a rear wheel, so the car couldn't get out. I was 9 years old and went "Oh no, what are we gonna do now?!". My father just waved over a neighbour and the two grabbed the car by the rear bumper and lifted the wheel out of the 40 cm deep pothole. My father never felt sentimental about the Lada, but once he bought an Audi 80 in 2005 he said "well, at least the Lada you could fix with a hammer and a sickle"

[@bokexd3173]

both cars are based

[@abdulrahmanaljamea8458]

I owned one ,, it's more durable and reliable than all British junk .

[@inactive859]

Ur kidding right!? We have a lot of them in Lithuania and the lada is actual garbage :/

[@alexandrvasilev2865]

@@inactive859 a lot of them in 2020? i guess it says something about reliability.

[@inactive859]

Alexandr Vasil'ev yes there strong but they broke down after a year of owning it (personally I didn't own one) but I had family and family friends who owned it

[@alexandrvasilev2865]

​@@inactive859 like someone told about russian cars "they're constantly wounded but don't die"

[@inactive859]

Alexandr Vasil'ev they do die and break down all the time

[@KarlEngels-ml3lh]

Since the englishman likes ridiculing/satirizing foreign cars, ask him what happened to British Leyland lmao

[@ichibanmanekineko]

Have you watched top gear before? They spent most of the 1990s/2000s belittling British cars in favour of German ones... Lol

[@simonthomas5367]

Those Englishmen are now driving Dacias!

[@xCPTxNEMO]

Mr. Wilson is a bit of a dick, not the fun bit.

[@PaulioBee]

He didn't like British cars either. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaaXaXmMrLqhhZo

[@aeroflopper]

Which brand is considered the best then mr.

[@tilerman]

My dad brought loads of cheap cars in the 70's, Lada's, Wartburgs, and Trabants! Don't know where he got them from but he had one after the other. And on a suburban Nth London side rd, boy did they stick out!

[@joemckraken7960]

i did the same thing when i lived in england; we called them disposable cars. it cost less to get another junker than to try and MOT the one you already had, PLUS you could scrap your old one for 50 quid at the time.

[@topandeneil]

I bought my Lada in 1983, but you should have seen my next car! (Another Lada).

[@kennethocongerskin9460]

I bought mine in 2011.

[@AdamJDM1]

That sleeper Lada at the end was honestly a really slick ride, I would rock that for sure.

[@Nightdare]

My dad had one early 80's, 1600 station It rust just as bad as any contemporary Fords, Fiats, Renaults and Opels Was cheaper to fix And in the winters, when everyone was getting out of bed early, because they probably be pushstarting their cars after they drained their batteries trying to get it going in the cold My dad walked down with his crank, gave it 2 turns, and was off to his job

[@mikebell2750]

Many years ago I had a 1981 Lada 1500 sedan that had a professionally rebuilt engine just before we got the car. It must have had a few mods done to it because it seemed quicker than a comparable Lada. Personally, I quite enjoyed the car and other than a few small issues, it was reliable. It made a number of cross Canada trips ( along with 1 trip through the US during the late 1980's ) and endured a fair amount of abuse at my hands, from taking it up to just a little over 160 km/hr (100 mph for you Yanks) on a long straight stretch with the throttle pinned and the engine at almost redline, to having to warm up the block with a blowtorch at -40 C in order to melt the antifreeze enough to flow through the water pump ( I was stupid and didn't mix the antifreeze strong enough ). Many times I wished that I would have kept that car and did something close to what the fellow with the 150 hp, lowered car did, as for me it was tons of fun and held many good memories.

[@matthewgodwin3050]

The Dacia Sandero of it's time. Bought by people who just wanted simple, honest to goodness transport for not alot of money. I kinda miss cars like this. In today's world of overcomplicated wheeled space ships full of touchscreens and electronic gizmos nobody actually needs, simple, unpretentious cars would be a very welcome anecdote to modernity.

[@shawnwright5332]

👍🇨🇦

[@jibjab351]

Went to Cuba this year [2022] and old Lada's are everywhere.

[@xlr82u]

Great series and informative. Really miss programs like this, and the old, proper Top Gear of the same era.

[@simonabbott7323]

My Mum bought a brand new Lada 1200 Estate on 4 July 1975. One of the first imported, it did not have Lada on the back, but the Russian name. Same colour as the one at 4:43. Not sure if ours had headrests, though. Nor did it have a HRW, she had the dealer fit an after-market Smiths self-adhesive one. Was rough but was built like a tank. It demolished a brick-built gate post with just a dent and some scratching to the chrome front bumper. I don't recall any major issues with rust or reliability. From that POV, it was a great motor.

[@bonzobanana1]

Call me mad but I remember when they were sold, I was a child at the time and somehow really liked them for their retro charm

[@cambs0181]

Also looked like a child had drawn it.

[@AlejjSi]

@@cambs0181 Tell that to the Italians :D

[@51WCDodge]

Um, they wern't retro at the time:-)

[@burntorangeak]

Lada: The finest automobile ever built at gunpoint.

[@kirillassasin]

You compare USSR during 1930’s and 1970’s, totally different times

[@paulparoma]

What an idiotic comment.

[@jimtaylor294]

He's not wrong. In the USSR you worked for a pittance or ended up in prison, because it was illegal to not have a job. You got no serious say in how you were ruled, and holding a door open for someone would just earn you a filthy look from them, as only state agents / informants tried such things. Vodka consumption was high, because with a life as awful yet inescapable as the average Russian's was, who wouldn't turn to drink?. (though it wasn't always Vodka... rather the pennies costing kind of gut dissolving drink that tastes like old locomotives smell)

[@danielmckinney1305]

"Dennis Onions"

[@RoadCone411]

I’m sure he had a rough time in school

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

My thought exactly.

[@delboytrotter8806]

Does he know his.........?

[@georgejacob3162]

He makes the ladies cry!

[@elroywilko6888]

Frankie aubergines cousin innit!

[@andrewallen9993]

Like pulling up next to the latest hoyamzuki davidson with a flat tyre on my 1980 Jawa 350 two stroke, offer the use of the tyre irons in the factory toolkit and my puncture repair kit. "How will we pump the tyre up?"asks the flatee. "Easy", I say the "Jawa has a factory fitted air compressor" Then I remove the manually operated bicycle pump from where its fitted under the seat😁

[@V8_screw_electric_cars]

Back in the day everything was made to be fixed by the owner same with bicycles, cars, now they want you to take it to the shop and pay big money for smallest thing.

[@AlejjSi]

Oh yes, the Jawa 350 is a legend. Suppose you have the 634 type. I did my final driving test on one of these. Now the company is in so deep shit they have to buy bikes from India...

[@andrewallen9993]

@@AlejjSi a twin sport with velorex 700 sidecar a tramp and a style. None are fast but none have left me stranded either. Like air cooled VW cars they will run extremely badly for longer than others will run at all :)

[@AlejjSi]

@@andrewallen9993 Wow, nice, that'd be worth a fortune now in Czech Rep. :D Yes, true, and like most of the eastern production of that time.

[@andrewallen9993]

@@AlejjSi Not to mention the CZ model 83 in 9mm Browning. Happy to carry +p ammo in it:)

[@shadow-Sun]

A mate had one of these back in the 80s it was all he could afford it was as rough as an old tractor but he could repair it with a pair of pliers a coat hangar and some gaffa tape , it never let him down in some pretty heavy snowy winters in the North Of England that kept newer cars off the road and on their drives . It cost him two conkers and a frog to run and insure (he worked in Sunderland at the time which back then was terrible for car crime TWOCING----- taking without consent ) nobody ever broke into it or tried to steal it even when it was left in dark unlit crime ridden car parks ... served him well for about 5 years and then sold it for the same money he had paid for it ..with the money he saved by running this instead of a fancy western car or a Nissan car he put a large deposit down on a house in Durham and got ahead of the coming house price boom by a good few years he made a MASSIVE profit years later of about £500k on his house AFTER taking into consideration the cost of the mortgage.............so people who had the last laugh ? .

[@Briancollison]

had a Lada for a year, it was reliable, but had a few faults while I owned it, throttle pedal was very heavy to press, struggled to get to 60 mph, had a faulty light switch which I managed to fix myself without any replacement parts and one of the rear windows wouldn't wind up so had to jam a piece of wood under the glass to keep it closed, had left it unlocked in the street a couple of times and it never got touched. The heater was blowing cold, so ended pulling all the dash out to get to the matrix to fix it, had to replace the part from a scrap yard, had never done anything like that before, but managed to fix it so that it blew warm air until it started leaking from the heater valve, so back to cold air again, it didn't leak on cold.

[@tileng.5186]

zse-hoo-gly?? omg 😂😂 it was called "zhiguli" - жигули

[@mikhailgorbachev3721]

They see the Z and the H and they don't understand that it's like the S in Pleasure. It doesn't come across in English.

[@tileng.5186]

@@mikhailgorbachev3721 ok that makes sense, but the name was written in cyrillic on domestic market cars. So the average British would see and understand nothing.

[@Ivan_K2407]

ВАЗ

[@Ninnuam999]

Anglos cannot learn other languages

[@mikhailgorbachev3721]

@@Ninnuam999 Are you sure about that?

[@dannyboy9817]

A friend of mine had several of these back in the day. It seems the early ones were tough as old boots, but the later face lifted ones less so. Maybe due to cost cutting (if that's even possible) in later models. I always thought the face lifted models with their rectangular headlights looked remarkably like the Fiat 131 Mirafiori. Possible that they shared some components & body parts given that the original was based on the Fiat 124. Only a guess though, perhaps somebody knows? We may deride cars like this now but back in the day, these were a very low cost work horse for the non fashion conscious motorist on a tight budget, so served a purpose and had their place. Kind of the Kremlin's answer to the Volvo 240....? OK, perhaps that's stretching it a bit.....😑. I might add that in 1980, you could get a brand new one of these with all manner of added extras such as headlamp washwipe, head restraints amongst others - a fairly decent sized and chunky family saloon for less than the price of an Austin Metro, which whilst quite up there and trendy looking at the time, were actually shit. I know because my dad had three of the blasted things on the trot before he learned his lesson the rather hard way. 😤

[@uroskostic8570]

thats true. First one that were clones of Fiat, were called Lada Standard 1200 (for Yugoslavian market) and original Soviet name VAZ-Zhiguli. Later came this Lada with square lights and with 4 round lights with 1600cc engine.

[@Random-nf7qb]

@@uroskostic8570 they weren't clones

[@Random-nf7qb]

"facelifted models" didn't share anything with the 131. The originals were already quite different to the 124

[@uroskostic8570]

@@Random-nf7qb Lada 1200 known in USSR as kopeika, was made after Fiat , it looked the same.

[@Random-nf7qb]

@@uroskostic8570 With a completely different engine, body from thicker metal, stronger suspension, larger clutch, stronger gearbox, different locks and much more. How it looks is irrelevant. Yes, the body/chassis structure is basically the same, but they didn't just copy it. They paid the italians for the license and for the factory.

[@Tirana44]

Back in 1982, I bought a brand new Lada 1600ES as my first car. Never regretted it. It was reliable which was more than could be said for the rusty Minis, Cortinas, Marinas etc that my mates at the time were struggling to keep roadworthy. I have to say though, the Riva 1300 I bought next was a dreadful car by comparison with the 1600, and sold it on after six months or so. I wish I’d kept that 1600!

[@flovanhoorn5444]

Your Albanian. In 1982 did you live in Albanian? Borders were closed then. In Albanian usualy it was not aloud for cittizens to have cars, thats what i read. Or am i wrong?

[@lamehomer]

@@flovanhoorn5444 wrong

[@flovanhoorn5444]

@@lamehomer oh okay, than we were wrongly informed in the west ( propaganda on our side )

[@Synthematix]

These cars got a lot of stick, but i tell you what they were really strong, not the best to drive but a good strong car

[@YPO6]

*stronk

[@thnktank1]

Strong like garbage truck

[@Prokifiev]

I felt safe and in control in mine.

[@FirstLast-uz6eq]

wife is strong like horse, smart like tractor

[@redblock5949]

The soviet-made Ladas are actually good reliable cars much better than anything the british ever built. Quality went down some in early 90s though

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

@J.P. Craven I thought it remarkable that you saw more Lada's during the brutal winters Russia has. Been there, done that.

[@foudo13]

Where are the last 4 minutes ? Why leave it out ?

[@riotagus]

Over the period of 45 years I have owned many cars , from BMW's to TOYOTAS CELICAs',to AUDIS 100 GL ,and now I am on my fourth SAAB. But there is one car that I really enjoyed driving, it was slow,it was noise, a bit tempered on cold mornings ,and it NEVER let me down. I was never afraid to take it out for a drive, beacose I knew it would bring me back home. It was aLADA 1500 ESTATE!. Great little car . Even after all those years I still.miss it.

[@davidwinthrop7077]

If I won the lottery, in amongst my classic car collection they’re would be a Lada. Great cars, always have, always will love them...

[@davidwinthrop7077]

supernumery Nah, not my job!!!

[@matterofapinion]

Hi there - there are two episodes of The Car's The Star I'm keen to see again but can find nowhere. These are the episodes on the Jeep and the Volvo Estate. Do you have either of these, and if so would you please upload them? This message also goes for anyone reading this. Thank you!

[@deltafoxtrot2]

I had a deluxe Lada Riva in the 1990s, it had wipers on the headlights that never touched the glass. It would cut out at 65mph, it used tubes in a tubless tyre which would give me punctures about ever two months. The boot lid would fly open when you hit a speed bump, all the window mechanisms failed and I had to use planks to keep them closed. It did about 18mpg, parking it in in tight spots was never going to happen unless you had arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the rear aluminium brake drums had to be smashed off so I could change the brake shoes as it had seized, the fuel tank split which emptied its contents into my boot. The velour seats would have all the family sliding about in our coordinated shell suits, charging us up with static which could knock unconscious the first person you touched. I am still in therapy and my nervous tick has almost gone..

[@karacop78]

All I know is that it was my first car in the '90s and was a RWD, when all my friends' cheap cars were FWD. Plus, it had a lot of space at the back, very useful for a teenager... Hell, from time to time I'm thinking of buying one and restomodding it with a Busso V6.

[@Jb-Raja]

The Fiat 124 was an amazing car.

[@Alistajaupseeri]

Lada. No bullshit. Perfect from the beginning.

[@arturahmeti486]

The description at the beginning is funny and very accurate at the same time. 😂

[@melvyncox3361]

I like the Lada.Nearly bought a 1600 in 1979,brand new,along with an Opel Kadet coupe,but in the end,a two year old Mk2 Ford Escort Mexico won out in the end.The 1600 Lada was very well appointed though!

[@terrytezzbigtel]

My dad was a huge fan and let me drive our Lada around a field when I was about 8 years old. We literally drove it up to the day it was scrapped

[@shivamraizada870]

Lada beautiful

[@jonminnella4157]

Say what you want but in -30 weather it always started never you down that way

[@pauldavies8638]

Mine wouldn't start if you gave it choke, our winters weren't cold enough for it, fierce heater and terrible with a side wind. I had a 1500 and it used to upset the escort 1100 drivers on the motorway when you overtook them in it.

[@deeznoots6241]

@@pauldavies8638 the Lada comes with a manual start, the standard engine start may not work in cold weather but the manual start does.

[@mikeluscher159]

That souped up brown one hasn't had an MOT since this aired in '97 Wonder what happened to it...

[@dodgydruid]

I still have the toolkit from my Lada Niva, left the one in my Riva for the next poor soul but Lada's toolkits were a LOT better than what you got with your UK Ford or Austin, with all spanners in range you would need, a weird combo screwdriver, pry bars, levers, tyre levers, a stirrup foot pump which outperforms any barrel foot pump I have ever owned, a nasty plastic torch was in my Riva's set and all wrapped up in a super thick pretend leather or Olde English vinyl tool roll. My Niva one had a huge old Soviet hammer in it, like a blacksmiths heavy flattening hammer and that is on display in my living room on a kind of Soviet plinth in a bad attempt at art I did for my daughter to take to school, they loved it lol

[@kabochaVA]

I had a friend who had a Lada Niva (she needed a cheap 4x4). Then she told me she got it stolen... I asked "are you being serious!?" Unfortunately... she was! o.O I felt really bad for her... but at the same time, it was really hard not to laugh. That was more than 10 years ago.

[@amfet86]

Poor guy was really desperate... :D

[@davidrichards7722]

These were a very capable 4x4 and up until a couple of years back a guy was importing new ones to the UK. I was also in a village in Romania 2 years , saw a new on there and plenty of older ones, talking to one of the locals ,he said the people who live up in the mountains love them, their tough, and will go anywhere especially in the winter and leave a lot of the modern smart 4x4's standing

[@gardini100]

picked up two dates in a car like this back in the 90s a beige-colored one :D...had a BMW 323i at the time to , but it was at the workshop :)

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

Naturally..............

[@morphineisgod]

These were solid cars. There were quite a few in Guyana

[@napke8571]

Ha! more of this! This Lada was the Mercedes-Benz W124 of Russia, still going strong and both of them are to be found on todays roads! Lots of them, great cars!!

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

Actually, the Lada was the peoples car of Russia. Like the VW was in Germany.

[@mavrickmiller2755]

@@chaosdemonwolf1 i think the comparison to the W124 was comparing how durable and reliable they are, not about sophistication or price.

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

@@mavrickmiller2755 Point taken.

[@laranaarana]

My father owned the Fiat versions of the 124, 125, 125 Special and the 132 Berlineta 1600. All of them were great performing automobiles.

[@virtualal]

This episode is a piece of motoring tv history. Andy Wilman who went on to produce Top Gear is the second hand car dealer at the end and the whole episode was scripted by a junior researcher who worked on the old top gear team (who also made this series) called Richard Porter. He went on to create Sniff Petrol and became the script editor for the revised Too Gear that Clarkson and Wilman revitalised following it shelving by the BBC in around 2000

[@skodakatie7341]

My first car was a Lada, it gave me years of happy trouble free motoring, costing half the price of an equivalent western alternative, so for the price I paid, a car people didn’t laugh at would not have been a new car , it would have been an old rot box!!, I had the last laugh!! .

[@Riki-io4yd]

I liked the 124 a lot. I've only had the pleasure of seeing a handful of the more rugged Lada,but I bet they're tops to work on.

[@obywatelcane6775]

I have a Lada 2107. It was cheap to buy, it's easy to fix, comfortable. I don't really need anything else.

[@Monacomaverick]

Love the usage of Pet Shop Boys music in this. I'm a big fan of their music, and of course, old Top Gear.

[@organfairy]

And "Soviet" by Electronic.

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

Yeah the new TG is shit.

[@mrjockt]

My father bought one, he tried to teach me to drive in it, and I absolutely hated sitting in it, in the end he gave up, I finally got my driving license in the military, driving a Chevette.

[@jayswarrow1196]

I've heard rumors about them exported to *every* part of civilised world, i didn't realize there were *so many* 'Gighoulists' in the UK. To understand my levels of shock, try to imagine bunch of russians would buy out *all* the Morris Marinas, and say "Oh, it's absolutely lovely, i've had it for 20 years now, and i didn't have a signle change of heart about it!"

[@one_step_sideways]

Except Morris Marinas are not as good as the Ladas, to put it lightly. They will fall apart like LEGO bricks the moment it steps foot into Russia, whereas the Lada was built for Russia. There was simply no other car that could survive the Russian weather - it was basically the only viable choice, and the Russian mentality is that a car must be a reliable instrument and that there's no need for comfort in your car, because that's a filthy capitalist meme. It also didn't help that the models produced for the domestic market had substantially worse build quality than the older cars. And the demand was huge back in the days of the USSR because of the artificial deficit of the cars. The reason why they were in deficit is because they desperately tried shipping 45%+ of all cars abroad to obtain the much needed currency to pay off the loans and finance other things. Right now there is the same old wholesale selling tactic in the phone market. Companies order a ton of smartphones of the most popular models from factories to bring the cost of production of each phone down as low as possible, and have the price of smartphones low as well, further bolstering demand. That lets them make money even with those razor thin margins just because of how many smartphones end up getting sold.

[@Nooziterp1]

These always outsold the Skoda Estelle in the UK, despite general opinion (including the motor trade) that the Skoda was the better car. I think that this was because the British, being such a conventional people, preferred the Lada because the engine was at the 'right' end of the car.

[@laurataylor824]

I love lads cars , wish I could find one today and enjoy it

[@iGregM]

Come to eastern europe, there are a lot of them still around…

[@lkgreenwell1]

My Dad bought a Lada 1200 in the mid 70’s. 10 years later, I was driving it round Telford - lots of dual carriageways, with lots of roundabouts. More than once I came up to a roundabout with a BMW behind me; the other side of it, and I’d left the Beemer behind. It had a very good heater, and seemed to thrive on rough weather. The trick with the Lada was to set the tappets up with the factory feeler gauge, the usual gauges being too narrow, and leading to inaccurate clearances.

[@mattylamb9194]

Hmm, was it souped up? Even the four cylinder BMW 3 series' (not a quick car) would out-perform a Riva 1200 comfortably

[@lkgreenwell1]

Matty Lamb No, it just seemed to like going around roundabouts! (And I’m not a boy-racer, btw lol)

[@stiliyanivanov3076]

My first car... thanks Pà

[@ivanriverooo]

WTF?! @ 3:16 "known as the zewhoglee" Man, do some research! It's жигули and it sounds like [zhee góo lee] as in Dr. (Zhi)vago.

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

Ты был бы прав товарищ

[@dodgydruid]

I still feel the immense damage my 1 year old Riva done to my back and shoulders, horrendous pig of a car and no wonder I paid £100 for a car just over a year old and still in its three year MOT free window. Now my Lada Niva, an ex military 4x4 that had wound its way from Russia to a brief couple years in Holland before being brought to blighty, now that was effortless and maybe a bit noisy past 50 but it could pull the hind legs off a donkey and super awesome until the Bournemouth sea air and water did for it and it finally rotted out past salvation. Its quite ironic in nowadays I am a fervent collector of Soviet things including a very comprehensive and impressive Soviet watch collection. I drive one of history's most iconic car ever... Reliant Robin MK2 which I even went as far as to find out if when I go I could have it cremated with me but sadly they said nyetski matey...

[@gazmini81]

The great thing about it is no matter where you leave it its there when you get back IT SAYS IT ALL REALLY ABOUT THE LADA LOL

[@Nooziterp1]

It was the same with the old Skoda Estelle that was available at the same time as the Lada. I used to have one, and once I took it in for a service and the garage left all the doors unlocked. I didn't notice for a week and the car was still there every time I came back after I parked it. Do that with any other car and it would be gone within ten minutes. A distinct advantage I would say.

[@AlejjSi]

@@Nooziterp1 Reminds me of the joke: "How to make a policeman laugh? Tell him your Skoda just got stolen." :D

[@51WCDodge]

@@Nooziterp1 Ah yes, what fun. Why the concrete in the front, it gives you a chance that it will go where you want. Air con, one rust hole in the front one in the back. I bought one for £60 with a new MOT (I was young and stupid) Though it kept going for the year.

[@51WCDodge]

@@AlejjSi Skoda with a sun roof? A skip. . Bloke walks into a scrap yard 'Got a wiper blade for a Skoda. Owner: Well the wipers worth more.

[@Nooziterp1]

@@51WCDodge The pre 1979 cars were tail-happy, but after that they narrowed the track, fitted wider rear wheels and modified the suspension. After that they only swung out at the rear if you drove like a hooligan. Like taking sharp bends at 60. Mine was a 1985 and I certainly had no problems with handling. They were pretty rust- prone though.

[@bouzidbastami334]

I witnessed a car collision involving a Lada and a Mercedes. While the Lada suffered some minor body damage, the Mercedes was unrecognizable. Lada's were built like Russian tanks.

[@gregorymarsh9504]

That girl driving it in the beginning looks like Matilda from the movie "Matilda" as a teenager lol

[@geoffsullivan4063]

Dennis Onions !

[@steveharrod79]

niva was a brilliant 4wd pity its not officially imported now

[@jamiejent32]

When it comes to ladas Dennis knows his onions

[@LearnAboutFlow]

In general, this competed with cars like the Mini, VW Bug, Citroen 2CV, although I'm sure it was even cheaper than those. The modded one looks cool, but the original owner put like $30K equivalent in it.

[@Guns_N_Gears]

I could approve with a 406" , backed by a Glide with a 9" providing the push

[@Slacksfifth]

Car strong like bull!

[@kneetrembler3249]

What we would give for a car like that now.

[@sachsgs2509]

Absolutely nonsense for anyone talking down about one of the best cars ever built. Stone cold reliable,jokingly easy to maintain,great gas mileage plenty of room inside as well as a big trunk and so easy to drive. We had 2 in the family 78 and a 88 my dad sold them to friends and they still run today. The 78 has 348000 km, the 88 288000.

[@philipthomas2918]

A friend bought new in 1979, don't think he serviced it often enough but on it went. On the M62 it was misfiring, looked under the bonnet got a light display, HT lids were sparking everywhere. Out came his wonder spray, all over the engine. Problem solved until next time.

[@mastermindd]

Still better than most british cars And the Lada was a very popular car in the eastern countries, judging by Azerbaijan, it still is

[@ThriveTalesTV]

over all . its a good and very reliable car . it works in + 35 and in - 40 .

[@MrMcKane]

1:15 Richard Porter (of Sniff Petrol/Smith and sniff fame) in his 1st on screen appearance.

[@georgejacob3162]

Snooker player Steve Davis was presented with a Lads when he did a 147. I think he still has the car! I don't care what Quintin Wilson says cos my Grandad had the Polish version the FSO 1300 and it served him well.

[@AlejjSi]

Well, the FSO 1300 was not a polish version of the Lada (which was Fiat 124), but a polish version of the Fiat 125 (that's why it was originally called Fiat 125p; p=poland).

[@georgejacob3162]

So it was. I forgot about that. Thanks.

[@AlejjSi]

@@georgejacob3162 No problem, you're welcome ;)

[@richardgoffin-lecar1951]

Nothing wrong with a Lada. I used two of them as taxis. Turn the key, they work. If they need repairs, they were simple and easy to work on. They didn't cost a fortune, either to buy or to run, either.

[@mrburgess1698]

I wonder what happened to that souped up Lada? G512 SKN has not been taxed since May 1997 according to the DVLA.

[@westedk]

It must still exist as the date of last logbook issued at the bottom of the details on DVLA says 6th March 2013.

[@HSMiyamoto]

The guy playing the car salesman reminds me of Michael Palin trying to palm off a dead parrot. "Lovely Plumage!"

[@tallblokesam]

"The guy" is Andy Wilman, producer of later Top Gear and The Grand Tour!

[@HSMiyamoto]

@@tallblokesam Oh I didn't know what he looks like.

[@keedusiga436]

in my country this car is has a repurtation of a tank. i once drove one into a wall and only the glass of the headlamp had a scrape

[@lamehomer]

Yes they are like tanks but crash the same one into a different car and the lada will win

[@jimtaylor294]

An actual Tank though can turn on a sixpence, and is much more fun offroad, onroad... and basically anywhere :D .

[@Kormus86]

At 4:29 the car model suddenly changes?

[@albertasandruskevicius9683]

My grandfather have one from new for 30 years

[@johnlawlor8548]

I dont know why people slate morris marinas, my dad had one for years, it was a 1300 manual gearbox, and it never gave him any trouble whatsoever, i remember it very well, i even learned how to drive in that car, i remember helping him put an extra leaf in the rear springs because he used to do a bit of trailer work with it and his only negative comment on that car was that the back suspension was too weak when towing the laden trailer, other than that it was a super car, simple to work on if needed, and just a great all round family car,

[@kierancurtis8545]

The Morris Marina wasn't a bad car at all! Sadly it was a victim of the far too fashionable Leyland bashing that went on in the media. It was a nice simple car that was cheap to run and repair, which is what people wanted back then. The 1700 was a great drive with its more modern engine.

[@groovygraham]

My first car was a 1985 B reg Riva 1500 GLS. It lasted 11 days when a Volvo 240 hit it head on. I got out without a scratch. It had the fitted Webber carb so scrap man gave me more than I paid for it. I did go on to own an FSO 125p 1300ML of which turned a profit. I gave £125 for it an sold it for £200 6 months later. Only done 32k. The car was found 2 months later in the local dock after being used in a raid!

[@wertGR]

My best friend used to take his mom's lada in the city we were students, funny car to drive, for some reason although it looked awfull, i always had the desire to drive it arround the city , driving a Lada in a congested city means you can drive any car. Unfortunatelly his brother broke a piston so after using it for a few months with 3 cylinders and a huge plume of smoke behind it, they decided to scrap it in 2006. However i kept the original user's manual!

[@triumphstagdriver]

This was not a Top Gear production but rather a stand alone programme. At the time Quentin Wilson (Mr Cliché) was also a TG presenter hence the confusion.

[@cambs0181]

Cannon and Ball never put their name to just any advertising campaign.

[@Nooziterp1]

They must have desperate for the money.

[@Subraumspalte]

In the GDR an LADA was a great car. Much faster than the speedlimit allows (100 Km/h on Autobahn and 80 Km/h on Landstraße)

[@garethjones8047]

"I love to see peoples faces when I leave them at the lights" ha, they would have the bigger laugh if they knew it had cost 15 grand to achieve it.

[@denisusmanov5707]

that maybe so my friend, but who cares...

[@flori5548]

This opera singer background noise in the beginning was one of the most annoying things I’ve ever heard.

[@andgate2000]

My bro had an 1990 larda cervaro....pieces would rattle and fall off without any obvious external stimuli.

[@uktony1525]

Toolkit, ability to move the seats to make a double bed, really simple mechanicals, starting handle, no computer, tough as old boots, cheap as chips, what was there not to like. My second car after the Moskvich bit the dust.

[@darrenmeears4667]

Love the one with bodykit doubles the value 😆😂😅

[@bobbates7343]

The Lada 4X4 has stood the test of time. The car not so much .

[@JohnSmith-fl5qn]

Best value for money ever

[@marksterriker4724]

In the early 2000s I was offered a red 1986 D reg for free , it had been garaged all its life with just over 26k on the clock. Always regret not having it , but like other classics back then it was scrap .🙄

[@schliatzke6712]

Is no one going to talk about female Freddie Mercury at 6:56

[@Nooziterp1]

Now you come to mention it there is a resemblance. Lol!

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

and her Dad

[@1171karl]

Unfortunate teeth aside she's strangely attractive

[@sixunity1171]

DADAAAAA, JUST KILLED A MAN

[@alexroomian6035]

That's exactly what I thought,when I saw that lady!! 😂😂