How to Buy a Soviet Dream

A Soviet man dreamed of three things - an apartment, a car, and a dacha. But realistically he could only buy one third of that dream for money - a car. And even that was not so simple- the free sale of cars in private hands in the USSR formally began in 1948, but thereafter it was almost impossible to come and buy a car in a store. The average citizen had to sign up on a waiting list for a car and wait 7 to 10 years. Today I will tell you how car sales were arranged in the Soviet Union, who could afford it, and whether there were any workarounds to avoid waiting 10 years to buy your dream car.
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Hey there. Somehow you found my video and decided to watch it. So let me introduce myself. I'm Sergei and I'm from Russia. My channel is about my native country. I want to tell English-speaking viewers about the real Russia, about its past and present. Unfortunately, you can find a lot of propaganda about Russia on the Internet, both from the Russian media and from the Western ones. I want to tell you about Russia, as it really is, the country in which I was born, grew up, and lived all my life.
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[@Admin-gm3lc]

My great grandfather got a first series gaz-21 as a gift from the state and some time later just rode to Gorky and bought a gaz-24 for his son, but party "strongly recommended" him to sell his gaz-21 then. He was no official but was a high shot in a factory, inventor and a veteran of ww2.

[@Setarko]

Yeah, I actually forgot to mention it. You basically couldn't have 2 cars - you had to sell your old one to be eligible to get another one. And if you somehow got two or more - you were strongly recommended to sell it or give it away to your relatives.

[@k0pera]

@@Setarko I like how you explain all that chronologically. I am from Bulgaria and here was the same and i think that the most hated thing for my countrymen was geting a car during the cold war. I even believe that lacking of car in country that is small 110k sq/km. (medium for European standarts) was the main reason for people to want communism to fall. The system in the cold war was very beneficial for our country and in the end of "перестройка"(perestroyka) people were very reach. We had "private property" that was allowed with the new constitution from 1971. The only problem with this property was that it was limited to "personal property". That means that we had a limit for a person how much can own (it was diffrent for: a family/single person/ family with kids who aren't yet adults 18+) and often a lot of people make a intersting deals to get out of property so they were making a lot of gifts and sells of property. In the 80's the most easy way to get a car was from a deal (secound hand car) and i don't know for Russia but in Bulgaria those deals were made between closed friends who just want to help each other or in some case relatives (one of them get a car without waiting and the other skip a confiscation of private property by the state). I can share a lot of interesting facts about the "personal property" But this video is about the cars and i will write one that encourage me to write down all from avove. For example it was allowed for a family with no kids to have a car. Family with kids was allowed to have two. One person unmarried could have also one car. A lot of people who had two cars becouse they were family with children had 4 options when their kids reach adulthood. 1. To let their car to be taken by the state. 2. To sell the car rigth before the kids reach 18 yers old age. 3. To gift the car rigth before the kids reach 18 yers old age. 4.(The most interesting in my opinion) to get divorsed in order to split the cars between them and pass smartly the "personal property" law.

[@Setarko]

Hmmm were divorses actually common in Bulgaria back then? Because in the USSR they were not very frequent. Not that it was forbidden, but divorce in the Soviet family was seen as an immoral act, and sometimes it could even hurt one's career. So Idc if people used it as a opportunity to own 2 cars...I personally have never heard about such cases among my family\friends.

[@k0pera]

@@Setarko It is very hard to be tell becouse i as a young civil and public lawer don't have information about the statistic of the divorses from 1944-1989, Furthermore it's very different in the cities and in the villages and small towns. This was possible only in the 80's as a option and was done by people who are at least amoung the top 20% of the population in the oblast's main cities and in the capitol. Also those people were close to retairment age and at least at the last 5-10 years of their clearly successful career (here also that was a red flag but for young people's career). I think that the number of cars (here i don't put military cars and other public cars) per 1000 citizens was higher than in USSR but not enough for the demand. We had good public transport but the dream of the young and growing people born in 50s,60s,70s to have a car and to reach Black Sea whenever they want for 5-6 hours of driving and that was the idea for ultimate freedom. In the family law in Bulgaria we had a lot of experiments and we had for 70 years 4 (1949,1968,1985 ) diffrent "family codes" the most recent is from 2009 and in my opinion it stays very traditional compared with the rest of Europe even Russia. The main goal of the marriage during communism were the children and if some of the parents was bad wasnt't hard for people to get a divorse. A lot of people got married only with 2 witnesses and no other to see it in working days. The only thing that the society was seeing was two people living together. The divorses withouth children and with grown kids were also very easy and also could pass without almost no one notice. A lot of those people lived together and even their neighbour didn´t know about it. As a immoral act in my opinion and that what i heard from older people the most immoral family problem in those days was "извънбрачно дете" to have kids withouth marraige and even more worse for the women to don't know the father and get offical recognition for parenting from him.

[@janpalider4229]

1. Was it possible to gift the second car to one of the kids who already reached 18? Or did it have to be someone outside of the family? 2. If yes - was it also possible (theoretically and practically/was it achieavable buerecratically to do it in one day if prepared before and having multiple family members help you, f.e. standing in queues in diffrent offices) to gift a car to a kid on the same day when he/she reached 18?

[@Ooorky]

I was born few years before the collapse of the communist block, so I have no personal memories of the era. However my father told me multiple times he and his sister ordered their Ladas at the same time, they worked they ass of to be able to pay the reservation fee. After that they got a ~5 years deadline to get the rest of the money to buy the car when it actually arrives. However, after 5 year passed the were informed, that they either: wait another at least 6 month for a Lada or they have 2 Trabants right now. The thing was, at that time (1987) Trabant was heavily outdated even in the eastern block. But it was cheap. They chose the Trabants. And there were them, standing in the kneehigh grass 2 "brand new" (1 white and 1 "butter" yellow) cars. Another interesting thing of the era I heard from an old coworker. He really wanted a red Lada. Everybody wanted a red Lada. But you couldn't choose color. Only way to surely get one is slipping a little "extra" to the clerk when you paid it just before they showed you the car. So he did that, slipped the extra, happily picked up the papers for the red Lada, went to the backyard... All of them was red. All of them.

[@hufficag]

margarine color car lol. Not even a "butter yellow"

[@Armored_Ariete]

hahahahahha

[@alanstringer.]

And then in the US at this exact same time you have teenagers working part-part-time summer jobs and buying a whole car at 16 years old in the color/style/etc. that they want. Crazy.

[@FOLIPE]

They didn't have student loans like now, I guess.

[@alanstringer.]

@@FOLIPE people have student loans at 16?

[@fungo6631]

@@FOLIPE Yes, student loans at age of 16.

[@FOLIPE]

@@alanstringer. Good point. Let's just say they didn't have tl save up for college then

[@thefutureisnowoldman7653]

@@fungo6631 Cap

[@Tuppoo94]

I heard a story where the Soviet Union sent a delegation to a Finnish oil refinery. This was probably in the 70's. Once the delegation arrived to the refinery with their Finnish hosts, they noticed all the cars in the parking lot that the workers used. Many of them were Ladas, because they were very cheap in Finland back in the day. The Soviet guys didn't believe that they were the workers' cars, because in their country an ordinary refinery worker could never have their own Lada, and decided that it was all staged. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, Russians started coming to Finland and buying all the old Ladas they could get their hands on, and taking them back to Russia. Western car brands had no presence in Russia at that time, but the people knew how to work on Ladas. They were a hot commodity even as spare parts.

[@jimmyj1969]

East-block cars were popular in western Europe as budget cars. In Greece, Ladas, Skodas, FSO-Polskis, Zastava, Wartburgs & Dacias were very popular!

[@KLETwave]

What I've heard from relatives in Czechoslovakia and it was the same in Eastern Germany, that once a family got a baby, they already ordered a car so that when the kid turned 18, the new car was most likely standing in front of the panelka with a red ribbon (only imaginary) around it waiting for its maiden ride lol... My parents first car was a fancy skyblue Dacia 1310 and even though I was around 5 or 6 years old at that time I'll never forget that memory of us driving on a highway, it was raining so heavily that you couldn't even see what was happening in front of you and guess what? The windscreen wipers simply stopped working at this very moment... You could say it was a hellride haha.

[@wondermenel2811]

Poland was motorised in the 1970s by a little box called Fiat 126p (p stands for polski). You had to got throught the same process like in the USSR, an ordinary citizent could have one of those, even a engineer (i hope some one will get that reference)

[@szariq7338]

This is a beauty of ex-Soviet Bloc citizens and their descendants prevailing even today (however kinda dying out): they've always spent more than they've had. State didn't know, how someone could have spent 400 rubles with a salary of 200 rubles in span of the month, "maybe he was given this money by family, who knows"... And now more seriously, it is an open secret, that people were and are working for others "in black" (aka without a contract, illegal here in Poland), just our treasury services and courts have other "important" stuff to do. Do something here, something there, we'll always "organise" everything and state will only look with suprise, that citizens live so comfortably. Meanwhile just cross the Oder river (and for amplified version of the phenomenon old border between DDR and West Germany) and the amount of snitches to treasury services and courts skyrocket, because they haven't learned the art of solidarity with neighbours and keeping mouth shut. My close neighbour's relative considers coming back from Germany to Poland because of that. And in the end 7 wonders of communism: - Everyone had a job. - Despite everyone having a job, noone was working. - Despite noone working, quota was always exceeding 100%. - Despite quota exceeding 100%, there wasn't anything to buy. - Despite nothing to buy, everyone had everything. - Despite everyone having everything, everyone was stealing. - Despite everyone stealing, nothing was in deficit. PS Niech żyje Polska.

[@Setarko]

Yeah, I'll actually make a video about all the "side jobs" soviet and ex-soviet bloc citizens had. It was almost a mandatory thing lol

[@xsc1000]

Those 7 wonders of communism were known in Czechoslovakia too.

[@szariq7338]

@@Setarko Exactly, "envelopes" (because the real treasure was real coffee or chocolate, it was acceptable to bring flowers if person behind the counter was a lady) had to consist of something.

[@fungo6631]

You can get the monke out of the jungle but you can't get the jungle out of the monke.

[@VojislavMoranic]

Honestly seeing such videos makes me realize that Yugoslavia was not that bad. Like my grandparents from my mothers side were teachers one in a highschool one in elementary. They would go to Belgrade each month and simply buy whatever they wanted because their salaries were more than enough along with all the benefits from the union and i dont know how its called in English properly, the cheque that you take for stuff and then pay if of each month in instalments. They also went to Montenegro and Croatia for vacation with two kids at least 2 times a year. From my fathers side grandparents were poor farmers but got a loan from the state for a IMT tractor and a Zmaj Combine. Then they started raking in the big cash from agriculture. And now me finished college, cant get a job without bribing someone and in some cases bribing AND having a connection, being in the ruling party is obligatory of course. I am middle class and yet havent seen the beach in like 5 years. 10 years of sanctions, 2 wars and one NATO bombing really set us back big time. Maybe this is how terrorists come about.

[@xsc1000]

Yugoslavia was considered as country between east and west. It was not as rich and developed as some eastern block countries, but it was more open to the west. But in early 90s nationalism destroyed it. Now there is much bigger difference between Slovenia and Serbia or Montenegro.

[@k0pera]

The times for Balkans were always hard. As a Bulgarian for me the happiest time for Balkans in the past 2000 years was the time between 1949-1991. No wars eventhough iron courtain was there. We have a lot of diffrences, so we had a lot of wars in the past and unfourtunatly in the recent and future years.

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

man, what a story. I feel your pain reading it. Yugoslavia was possibly the best social and state model of any country in my life. How it managed to unite and hold together the Balkans peoples for 50yrs is amazing.... and the quality of life and dignity it provided its citizens as well as the respect that the whole world had for the Independence and self determination of Yugoslavia. Tito's funeral was probably the most unifying Diplomatic event of the 20th Century. Nearly every world leader attended, even during the Cold War. But sadly some of the "well-wishers" in attendance were actually vultures with plans to strip the state of it's fortune. Yugoslavia was the best of Europe in the 20th Century.

[@branimirkolarov3493]

@@sisyphusvasilias3943 When you push every bad thing under the rug, of course you will you had peace or prosperity but when some crisis touches that rug it goes boom and everything falls apart and then you find that a system had millions of flaws that goverment didn't care to resolve.

[@fungo6631]

Well, it's all relative. By North Korean standards even China, Russia or many poor African countries wouldn't be bad at all. But the thing is, even in Yugoslavia you had people wanting to immigrate to Italy, Austria or even better, West Germany or Sweden! The Yugoslav dream was, ironically, getting out of Yugoslavia, work as a West German gastarbeiter and return with a Mercedes. Yugoslav people were more aware of the west, especially those on the sea who could receive Italian TV channels, who also preferred said Italian channels over Yugoslav channels. By Soviet standard we sure were well off, but for western Europe standards...we were poor bastards! Even industrial workers in West Germany made A LOT more money than office workers in Yugoslavia.

[@daemon.running]

Im from the US. I always find your videos fascinating. People sure do take things for granted these days.

[@trentdawg2832]

I approve this message

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

Westerners may not appreciate that although Soviets did want cars and the process was painful and grueling. Cars were luxuries and social status items. They weren't essential. Cars were antithetical to the values of Soviet Society because Transport was provided by the Soviet State. Unlike in much of the West where Public Transport is a last resort and looked down upon, USSR had great and high quality transport infrastructure. Even today the City Metro stations look like Palaces and there is Transport going regularly to everywhere you need to go; Work, Shops, recreation, holiday//weekend destinations. So cars were purely luxury items, only used during the weekends, and basically just a flex on your neighbors.

[@xsc1000]

Its not really the true. A lot of european countries have really good working public transport. Yes, metro stations are not built as a palaces, they are built for the service, not for Stalins propaganda.

[@diterius7353]

​@@xsc1000 After reading your comment I believe that the state of Germany intentionally created a shity public transport which gets shitier every year in order to make ex-socialist public transport in countries like Hungary, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia look better than the German ones. Never thought that our government is that into Stalinism

[@xsc1000]

@@diterius7353 I dont know how shitty it is in your location, but when I use it in Bayerischer Wald it simply worked.

[@diterius7353]

@@xsc1000 Of course you cherry pick one of the best organised lines in Bavaria which profited from corruption ehehehem having a Bavarian infurstructure minister in the government with billions of euros of tax money somehow dissappearing and floating into Bavaria. I live in Northern Rhine Westphalia which is in the Western part and my region within this state is considered the most industrialised region in Germany with having the second/third strongest economy from all German states. Just ask any German who is not from Berlin, Hamburg (the tiny states have obviousely the best infrastructure) or Bavaria (or the Western parts of Bavaria) of how like they like their public transport. Ask a person from Baden-Würrtemberg how many villages were removed for a dysfunctional railway. Ask a German for how long they wait for their trains and how often do the busses come. As someone who has many family members being involved into Deutsche Bahn and I myself having an intership at Deutsche Bahn, I can confirm that our railway system was f*cked by privatisation, corruption and neo-liberalist reforms.

[@DeltaPi314]

I agree cars are not supposed to be a necessity. Now the social status race is making it so "if you don't own a car, you're a loser". Then you meet the "winners" that are already angry and frustrated at 08:00 because of a combination of road rage and time wasted in finding a parking spot (or hoping they won't get a ticket). Yet the prices for public transport are going through the roof, but the quality and quantity of it never seems to improve more than the very basic levels.

[@phaslow4393]

We for over three years for a Wartburg. I will never forget the day when as a seven year old, I and our family stood around the car on the street where it was parked. We even got the colour we wanted! It was magical! Forty four years later I can say that, despite having had cars one hundred times better, the Wartburg was the happiest car purchase we and also I have ever made to this day. You appreciate what you work hard for. Love this channel!

[@phaslow4393]

We waited for over three years, sorry.

[@gekonz1129]

I'm from Poland and my grandpa was lucky enough to have a friend who lived in New York. He went to his place for a couple of years and worked in his company. He was also regularily sending the US Dollars to my grandpa and young dad. Eventually they could afford to buy a car via a thing called "internal export". So basically if you had USD, you could buy a new Poland-manufactured car without waiting. This was the way that Polish government could get the US currency which wasn't prone to shaking or inflation, unile the Polish currency. And eventually in 1980 they bought a brand new FSO Polonez, while the grandpa was still abroad. He returned home a few months after the purchase and they eventually made a few other purchases like a color TV in 1984 for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. All of the neighbours were envious as hell XD And they often visited the grandparents so they could watch the games in color.

[@Man-of-Steel674]

I always wanted to buy a 1960s Volga and give it a Marcedez like interior and a cockpit just like Soyuz spacecraft with the navigation globe and everything. And one thing you didn't mention is how this car ownership situation was mocked by American President Ronald Reagan. And this fact was often used as an evidence for the superiority of American free-market capitalist system. I am going as far to argue that American attachment to automobiles was reinforced by the Soviet union's lack of cars. Even today American Right - Wing media outlets (Little less logical ones) say that Public Transportation is communist because it means no cars, and place where they had no cars was USSR so Public Transportation must be communist. So, this Soviet Car culture had a significant impact on overseas as well. And here is that Reagan joke if someone has not heard it, Buying a car in the Soviet Union is not quite so easy as buying a car in the United States. There's a terrible automobile shortage so you have to pay the money up front and then wait, sometimes many years, until a car is made available to you. On one occasion, at the height of the shortage, a man went down to his local dealership to buy a car. After he had accepted the man's money and the paperwork had been signed, the dealer informed the man that his car would be ready in 10 years and that he could come back then and pick it up. Taking note of the date, the man turned to leave but paused on his way out the door and asked, "morning or afternoon?" "It's 10 years from now, what difference does it make?" replied the dealer. "Well, I'm busy in the morning." said the man. Confused, the dealer asked, "what could you possibly have planned for the morning ten years from today?" "The plumber's coming to fix my sink," replied the man. Удачи мой друг.

[@xsc1000]

Public transport is not consider communist because of lack of cars in USSR, but because it has to be subsidized from city budget.

[@Chris-jw8vm]

lol

[@Man-of-Steel674]

@@xsc1000 Some speakers are more symbolic in their rhetoric so my example does get presented.

[@BlizzardSpetz]

The rust buckets made by AvtoVAZ surprisingly made a splash big enough that even people abroad love them. I have met many people that are interested in buying them, goes to show that the Soviet dream lives on even outside the ex-USSR countries

[@nurglecultist2521]

This cars perfect cheap solution for rally

[@DeltaPi314]

Plus, not all cars are bad looking or are "rust buckets"- Consider GAZ and not Lada or ZAZ. i mean, my neighbor bought a new BMW 2 years ago, and the onboard computer is already having a stroke (Quality of western automobiles also depends on where they were assembled - e.g: Egyptian-assembled Mercedes cars... you might be better off with a GAZ)

[@federicox8484]

Awesome video like always друг, you are really helping me a lot learning russian and things about your country. Much love from italy

[@k0pera]

Привет, мой друг Сетарко I was watching this with big interest first on your Patrion. I share a story under a comment about a lot of things that happend the same way in my country. I hope you and your realtives stay safe, happy. I really enjoy the videos that you make.

[@melone3113]

amazing video sergei !

[@kurdishv1nce289]

I love this channel

[@TheLordKROK]

Great vid, thanks :)

[@ZxZ239]

Was motorcycle common back in the USSR, in southeast Asia most normal people don't drive a car but everyone have a scooter. They are cheap to buy and uses very little gas.

[@Setarko]

Not as common as in southeast Asia nowadays but they were popular. Mostly in rural areas. There were some iconic models like Ural, Voshod, Yava and Izh

[@xsc1000]

@@Setarko Yava - in fact JAWA was import from Czechoslovakia.

[@janpalider4229]

Fun fact: While most motorcycles in the world have gear selection through a pedal and a clutch near the steering handle, Izh-49 and Izh-56 (i think those were the most popular in 50's and 60's) had a... manual gear selector, and to make things worse, it wasn't even close to steering handles - it was sticking from the side of the fuel tank in the middle of the bike, because fuck logic, its Izhmash. I think they only changed that in Izh Planeta xD

[@TIAGO543211]

well, it was easier to a soviet citizen to buy a car than a brazilian buy a car today. Brand new car costs around 60k-70k brl, and average salary is around 1.7k brl. The rent. You cant find a rent below 1000brl in big cities, so, its impossible to a normal worker to afford a brand new car, cccp was ahead, and still is.

[@warner9408]

Reagan said he heard a joke from a Russian in the USSR it went something like a Russian walked into a dealership wanting to get a car, the man at the desk put him in the queue and told him to come back in ten years, the Russian asked in the morning or afternoon? The man behind the desk asked, in ten years dose it really matter? The Russian said, well the plumber is coming in the morning.

[@trentdawg2832]

Yes i remember that joke very well!!!

[@joemamawhatdadogdoindeeznuts]

What wouldve happened if you bought a car in 1990 or 1991? Would it still take a long time to get it?

[@Setarko]

I mean that would probably be your best investment ever, considering how 90% of people lost all their money they were saving back then

[@joemamawhatdadogdoindeeznuts]

@@Setarko true

[@KLETwave]

@@Setarko this was such a bad fuckup for the people 😵‍💫

[@user-se1ro4sy4z]

Thats a good one. Do the video about a brilliant green aka Zelyonka

[@RichieDigs]

I grew up in Courtenay, BC, Canada, a very small town. We actually had a Lada dealership!

[@DeltaPi314]

Lada Nivas make sense, 4X4, cheap, mostly reliable and the best part: They come out already ugly from the factory so no worries about ruining the paint job.

[@seandoole6504]

And there are still a few stragglers running around on the Island! Nanaimo had one as well, if I recall.

[@RichieDigs]

@seandoole6504 I see a few still kicking around the island too.

[@ladanivadriver1578]

Lol

[@stevemayandleilaroehead870]

Just had a thought, we see how hard it was to buy a new car, but was it possible to buy a second hand car? Not heard that mentioned, I guess the state would control that too? Great video :)

[@stevemayandleilaroehead870]

AAA I see that is in the film, first one I have seen :)

[@HEKVT]

Interesting, I knew cars were difficult to get, however, I assumed not as hard, most of my family had their own Lada 2103, all in different colours, this was in the Baltics though, so considerably different to rural Russia for example.

[@user-fh4le1pn8o]

For notrussians national republics there was a special advantages. For example, people of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia besides of russians (banned under criminal law) was allowed to trade, so they always have an extra money to spend for themselves

[@Iowen]

My mom still has a 2103, older than her. My granddad got it as his 2d car, being a head of a department in an institute, and he used his bonus after being a personal interpeter to the minister of light industry of the DDR - only then could he swap his Москвич. But also - it was a still italian-made 2103, so it still runs with i think 600k km and 40+ years in service - so not the most ususal 2103

[@DeltaPi314]

@@user-fh4le1pn8o Bruh, everyone traded what are you even on about?

[@user-fh4le1pn8o]

@@DeltaPi314 everyone traded, but someone go to jail for negotiation and someone not

[@juanDE1703]

Nice

[@chezsnailez]

And when you finally got a delivery date ten in the future, you better check whether it's morning or the afternoon - the plumber's coming that day...

[@vii7031]

My grandma (fathers mom) bought a used car and my mom's family also had a car so it wasn't like you couldn't get a car or it was a really prestigious thing.

[@ivanvoronov3871]

Could you make a video on Soviet Public transport

[@VojislavMoranic]

Also question could a Soviet citizen have someone order him a Yugo or something like that and drive it to him and then "Gift" it to him.

[@lukask4937]

Bro you could even be gifted a golf MK1 if you knew someone in west Germany

[@paulj2948]

I drove a yugo in the 80s. For work. What a piece of shit. After work I'd get in my 8 cylinder Chevy nova and feel good again.

[@mantassapalas3810]

My Granpa bought vaz 2101 from other people so this was really lucky to dont wait in line.

[@Brick-Life]

Awesome Soviet cars and Trabant 601 from East Germany!

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

I've always wondered, were there some import of used cars from the west? Ex-embassy cars and so on? Some East European countries imported cars from the west, some of those ended up inside Soviet Russia. For example, were there some American cars? If I had the money, could I contact the Tatra factory and buy a new Tatra from Checkoslovakia?

[@xsc1000]

I dont know about any import of used cars. In "better times" of their economy, there were some imports to eastern block countries like Czechoslovakia. In 60s even some Ford Cortina models were imported, also Simca, Hillman and Renault. But these imports were made only time to time, not regularly and only in limited numbers when export/import company made a deal, because eastern block currency wasnt convertible. But in Czechoslovakia the situation with cars was overall much better than in USSR. From 60s when new model of Skoda was introduced, you didnt have to wait for years for it. Ofc it was nothing like now, corruption in shops were still high because of shortage, but if you didnt care about colour, you get the basic type. Also cars from other eastern block countries were imported - Trabant, Wartburg from GDR, LADA and Moskvich from USSR and Dacia from Romania. Tatra cars were not in stores, whole Tatra production for domestic market was for organizations only, not for individual buyer. It was mostly the same for Volga - they were used as cab (taxi) cars, but as an individual buyer you had to buy them as a used cars.

[@Setarko]

Almost impossible. I mean some celebrities had foreign cars (even Mercedes) but they could be counted on the fingers of one hand

[@gvidas5234]

@@Setarko one rally racer in lithuania S. Brundza was in lada racing team, and if i remember correctly he traded ladas to porsche, or ferrari, can't remember, but still this was the first car imported in lithuania

[@gvidas5234]

also i have hearded peoples who used to work in seaport during ussr era, sometimes swim away some old golfs, or other cars

[@thisguyishisface370]

In Poland the authorites bought licensing rights from fiat so that some fiat car models could be produced in Polish state owned factories. So despite being in the eastern block, the 126p fiat was actually the most popular car in commie poland

[@EvgenyUskov]

volga 24looks really cool... would be cool to drive one here in japan

[@janpalider4229]

A friend of mine had one for 2 years. Acctually driving GAZ-24 is not that fun - the car was made with the comfort of the passenger in the backseat in mind, the driver - not so much. The position behind the wheel is bad, the handling also sucks (the suspension is too soft, which is great for the passengers but sucks if You drive and have to fight to stay on the road), brakes are not very good either. It is probably more fun to be driven around in it than to drive it. I've read that the first Volga made with driver in mind/good handling, driver position etc. was GAZ-3102 (my personal little dream btw., though not for that reason - i simply think it is the best looking Volga ever). Off course, one can buy a GAZ-24 for the outside looks and classy interior and then do modding in suspension, brakes and driver seating (some people in Russia even race heavily moded GAZ-24-10's on the Moscow circuit), but that will cost... Also, i wonder how many 24 were built with right side driver seating (if i remember correctly that is the system in Japan?), that might be an issue too (one can probably do a flick but again - additional costs).

[@EvgenyUskov]

@@janpalider4229 some people in japan drive left-side steering wheel cars... aside from difficulty when overtaking, this also causes an inconvenience of having to go out of the car to take your ticket on most paid parking lots

[@shamsie.]

Whats the music in this 😭😭

[@DeltaPi314]

We had a ZAZ (zaparožec) Tavria. Whatever you do, NEVER. BUY. A. ZAZ.

[@IGLArocknroll]

The 965 was utter dogshit. The 968M was acceptable, but the Tavria... that's just junk on wheels. The only good thing about Zaporozhets cars in my home country was that you could pick them up almost immediately (1-2 month waiting time, compared to 7 years for a Zhiguli, or 3-4 years for a Wartburg or a Trabant).

[@DieselMech]

when you said a medium factory only made 6 cars a year I was shocked, I bed henry ford’s model T made more a year, and that’s 50 years before any of these

[@maximmatusevich3971]

He meant 6 cars were assigned to factories. USSR produced around 2 million cars a year in 1980, GAZ making half of them.

[@FOLIPE]

It has always been a bit surprising that getting a vehicle was this difficult in the USSR, because it had in 1980 about 260m people and an annual output of 1.3m cars. Meanwhile in Brazil in 1979 (a peak since there was a crisis in the 1980s), a country of 120m people, 830k cars were sold. While clearly the USSR had a relatively lower output, the difference is not as staggering as one might imagine. Maybe cars were just relatively cheaper in comparison to soviet wages (at least after other basic costs are excluded)? In terms of minimum wage, a VW Beetle cost 26 months of the minimum wage in 1980, but most people worked informally and earned below the minimum wage.

[@KekusMagnus]

What the video doesn't mention is that the USSR's urban planning made owning a car unnecessary for most citizens

[@ordinal2361]

Thank god the public transport was so good.

[@Seltsamisierend]

As a young gaz 24 volga driver I approve of this video

[@Reverenz88-14]

2:17 "Seven circles of hell" And their names are QUUUEEUEEESS

[@ladanivadriver1578]

Wish i had a Gaz 24 😀👍🏻

[@TheEarthWasOnceGreen]

Was it possible to inherit a car from a deceased family member or would the state take back possession of it?

[@Setarko]

Yes, it was. Bolsheviks initially tried to remove such thing as "inheritance" as it was a "relic of capitalism" but quickly realised it was impossible. So since 1922 the procedure was pretty much the same as it is now.

[@fungo6631]

Let's not forget that there lotteries tended to be rigged in favour of those close to the state. Putin was one of those who won a Gaz 24 Volga in such a lottery.

[@DeltaPi314]

He was working for the State (KGB). Th Volga was most likely given to him directly, why would he need to rig the lottery to get a Volga anyway? He was stationed in East Germany, he could have gotten a much better car, much faster. This story doesn't even make sense.

[@fungo6631]

@@DeltaPi314 That was when he was young, before he was working in the KGB.

[@MaddeGulCross]

Can you make a video about watches in the ussr?

[@Ditchhead]

American here: I would sell my house for a Yugo, not joking.

[@BlizzardSpetz]

not soviet mate, it was as the name suggests Yugoslavian. Trust me stick with the house

[@VojislavMoranic]

They are literally like 150-300 euros.

[@BlizzardSpetz]

@@VojislavMoranic Free if you take the owner out for lunch

[@jimmyj1969]

You'd better buy a Fiat 127 or an Autobianchi A112, the italian cars on which Yugo was based on - they were a bit more reliable!

[@user-es3dr5xk8f]

it is very unclear to me why it was so hard for people in russia to buy a car, in czechoslovakia it didn't take so long and logically, more cars sold = more money to government

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Because there was about a 150 million Russians in 1990 but car production even when it was high seldom went beyond a million cars per year.

[@xsc1000]

Because of planned economy, militarisation and communist stupidity combined together. They needed steel for tanks, thats why Trabant was made in GDR - because of limited steel supplies. Because of planned economy, production of cars didnt made profit for state, but it needed huge investment. Even in Czechoslovakia this led to stagnation - there were new modern models planned for 70s, but communists didnt invest in modernization of Skoda factory, so models based on 60s Skoda 1000 were built till the end of 80s.

[@knightlypoleaxe2501]

With the country being devastated by the war, industry had to prioritised elsewhere. What use is a car if you don't have a house? With recent studies about how much cars negatively impact even a driver's physical and mental health, I'd say they were doing their citizens a service by focusing more on public transit.

[@xsc1000]

@@knightlypoleaxe2501 In 70s-80s it was not country devastated by the war. Only by stupid economy model.

[@knightlypoleaxe2501]

@@xsc1000 It takes a long time to recover from having 27 Million people die, it takes even more to build industry in ~30 years that others had built over 200. (the russian empire never really industrialized and the soviet union suffered for it.)

[@swgclips03]

I would kill to own a Gaz 24.

[@mossi408]

I stil got VAZ and AZLK!

[@GeorgeSemel]

So the bane of Soviet Society like in the US is the used car sales guy! All those WW-II youngmen that survive the war and got to drive all the Trucks Jeeps and cars sent thru Lend lease had to wait a decade to buy a car, that just had to be soul-crushing. Gee, it's just a car. Gee here in CT you can get a driver's license at 16 which I did, My cousin Frank and I when over to Jack Chevy in Colchester, gone now and I specked out and ordered a 3/4 ton pickup truck I put the order in January 1971 and in May when I finished drivers ed and got my drivers to license Chevy had delivered the truck to Jack's about the same time. I can't image how Russia with all it has got going for itself always keeps coming up so short, I wonder why that is? I really hate the car-buying experience even more so now that I am old. Its always interesting when you do post.

[@lutho7693]

What about USSR Public Transport? If Public Transportation is just as, if not better than a Car, then a Car wouldn't be needed.

[@xsc1000]

People wanted cars, but soviet industry was unable to produced them in quality and quantity. There were no green ideas at that times. Even with working public transport there are many reasons why to use car. For example if you need transport anything bigger than a bag.

[@meganoobbg3387]

Cars weren't a necessity. They were mostly for weekend outings, tourism and going on vacation with the family to the beach. Not only was public transport well organized, but also because your working place was usually close to home. It was the opposite of America, where people are encouraged to get a house in the suburbs, and then have a car to commute to the city center, or hell even hundreds of miles to another town to work. In the USSR you either had a working place proposed to you close to where you live, or were offered an apartment close to where your perspective work will be - so basically most people's workplace was just down the street, and didnt even need public, let alone personal transport.

[@DeltaPi314]

@@xsc1000 There was quality (luxury models), but the quantity was certainly a problem. Plus, communism! So no market research or focus groups were ever implemented (since market analysis existed only when the State wanted them to exit). A big indicator for the lack of market research is the complete lack of 4X4 in the civilian market until very late... and you mostly needed a 4X4 outside of the city.

[@driver76fan]

Was there an intentional reason to limit cars? Like "no, don't get a car, ride in a bus/train/plane!" reasoning?

[@jimmyj1969]

Yes, for various reasons: a) Private car was considered to be a luxury, not a necessity, since there was an efficient public transport network, b) Funds were allocated for other things considered more urgent (like housing).

[@robertlackey7212]

I am very interested in Russian bicycles they seem very simple and practical , I have seen a full size Russian folding bicycle on line , I have only seen what look like folding BMX bikes in the west. there must be a story behind the innovative but simple and practical Russian bicycles.

[@Setarko]

Tbh my only childhood impression of Soviet bicycles is "holy shit why they are so heavy". Dragging them up the stairs to get home was a living hell.

[@XS-03_Apollo]

How was the soviet public transportation system?

[@otto2616]

Russians historically spent a lot of time waiting in lines, does the Soviet man have any tips for us to pass the time in the lines of today?

[@Setarko]

bring a chair

[@xsc1000]

Which lines? To buy a new iphone?

[@szariq7338]

@@Setarko Alternatively rent out a "queue stander", so that you can do something while he waits in line.

[@DeltaPi314]

You mean like whenever a new phone comes out with even lesser battery life?

[@trentdawg2832]

Black volga!!!

[@meganoobbg3387]

My grandad bought a GAZ 24 with no connections in goverment, all you needed to do, is simply have the money - 9400 rubles. Most people actually prefered not to buy a Volga though, cuz it cost twice a 4900 ruble Moskvich or a 5500 ruble Lada, and it got shitty gasmileage, which is a concern not just in Eastern Block but all of Europe. As for waiting turns, guess what - today you also have to wait for 10 or even 20 years to actually save up the money for a brand NEW car. Its not like in the soviet era you couldn't buy a shitty second hand car immediately for less money either - if you buy an older model car like a Moskvich 403-407 or a GAZ 21 ofcourse it was cheaper than a new car. Also you did not have to pay the entire price of the car to start waiting your turn for a new car - you needed to pay 15% of the price in order to get your turn. That way you can save the rest of the money for the next 10 years.

[@janpalider4229]

What GAZ-24 did he buy? Was it GAZ-24 or GAZ-24-10? There was a downgraded, less luxurious (but still awesome compared to Moskvitch or Lada) 24-10 variant available in the 80's which could be bought new by regular people (if they had the money), they made this variant as the party officials were moving on to the new GAZ-3102 so the 24 was no longer considered that edgy (also the 24-10 was produced longer than normal 24, i think they made 24-10 until 1991). Maybe Your grandfather had a 24-10? From outside the main difdrence was the front - 24 had chrome grill and lights fittings, 24-10 did not.

[@meganoobbg3387]

24-10 didnt exist in 1977, it was a first gen GAZ 24 with the armrest in the front, with no factory seatbelts. Only 2 types of GAZ 24 werent allowed for normal people - the black coloured ones, and the estate version which was reserved for ambulances and post. Other than that though, GAZ 24's could be bought freely as long as you had the money. Infact all cars were freely sold, and only Lada's had a 9-10 year wait for turns.

[@janpalider4229]

1. Did your grandfather live in USSR? Or some other part of the eastern block? 2. Do You know if it was possoble to buy a 3102 in the same way (lots of money, no connections/positions in the system) in 1983-1990 (before Gorbachev started to get rid of nomenklatura privileges)? 3. Was it legal to paint a GAZ-24 black on Your own after You bought it? If not - what would be the consequences?

[@janpalider4229]

P.S. I don't think that all cars were freely sold - i'm 99% sure that GAZ-13 (Chaika I) could be bought only second hand by a citizen without connections, and i'm 99.9% sure that ZIL 114/117 and 4104 were unobtainable in any way, i'm not sure about GAZ-14 (Chaika II).

[@meganoobbg3387]

We're in the PRB - Bulgaria, and my grandad was an anti-communist actually. He was against the collective TKZS cuz he was a private farmer - they got to keep all their land, since he had many sisters, and my great grandfather divided it up to them when collectivization began. As far as i know, repainting your car was expensive (just like today), and you went through abit more bureaucracy than today. You could paint your Volga black - forbidden Volgas were the black with red leather interior (especially the ones with V8 engine). Anyway you could buy almost any car normally - i have a neighbour who bought his Moskvich in another town. Cars werent always available in every car dealership in every town, but apperantly you could ask a relative or friend in another town, and he could tell you if a car is available there and buy that one. Infact my grandad had an FSO Warsawa that stayed for years with a different town's registration plate - so if you were desparate to have a car, there was always a way. All soviet cars except the Lada were freely available always. Infact even Lada was freely available without wait the first 3-4 years of production, but since owners shared how much more reliable it was than a Moskvich, people started buying them alot more, and that's why they had to make them wait turns. I think some of the other country cars had some turns, like the Wartburg, polish Fiat 125 and some older Skodas. Newer Skodas were simply very expensive, and didnt have very good heating.

[@Poisson4147]

Decades ago I attended a World's Fair where on a whim I decided to visit the USSR Pavilion. There was all sorts of stuff about Soviet military and spaceflight achievements but also a whole floor devoted to how they were going to bury the West with consumer goods. The household appliances looked like 1940s castoffs from my grandparents' kitchen. The cars were over a decade behind what we had in the West. Their glossy magazines were printed on what must have been excess stock from a toilet-paper combine in Sverdlovsk. Supposedly high-end cabinets were built of plywood that was just butt-joined, not even mitred or concealed with moulding. Clothing resembled something out of a second-hand bin. I knew communism would never succeed.

[@FOLIPE]

And then came China

[@Desert-edDave]

My people too do not take cabs to a bakery.

[@ilyatsukanov8707]

It was purposely difficult to buy a car because the Soviets realized the urban hellscape a city becomes when it is overcrowded with cars (present day Moscow is a prefect example, with every yard filled with cars instead of being playgrounds or just green areas). In the 70s there was even a propaganda video about car ownership pointing to all the headaches a car owner faces called "Догони автомобиль: Документальный фильм о проблемах автомобилизации в СССР" (it's on KZbin).

[@vaxuvax]

Exactly the same was in communist Romania. 😁

[@joshuabessire9169]

If I got one of these girls from Zagreb would think I'm a goldsmith.

[@rekon22231]

USSR had a premium curency

[@jarikinnunen1718]

Nobody not tell what driving school was in soviet. Was it only in army?

[@Setarko]

No, not only. There was actually a division between "professional drivers" and regular drivers. The difference is that when you got regular driver license - you couldn't get a job related to driving. A little later this system was changed to a system with categories - A for motorcycles, B for cars, C for trucks, etc. You could get a license either at school (get it at 16 but use since 18), at some factories or in DOSAAF auto schools which were paramilitary. An interesting feature of getting a driver's license was that drivers were taught not only to drive, but also to repair cars and there was a really big focus on repairing. So average soviet driver could literally disassemble and reassemble his Moskvich if he wanted to.

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

Was public trasport cheap and efficient? If the answer is yes, I see no problem with the cars being that difficult to obtain.

[@dogcowrph]

It was all about control and submission to the government. I’m glad we don’t have that system here in the United States. 😵‍💫

[@jimmyj1969]

Actually, not. The cause of all these problems was that private cars were considered a luxury, not a necessity - therefore, car production was not prioritized, never covering demand. Since urban planning was not car-centred, with minimum commuting to and from work etc, and with efficient and affordable public transport (metro, tram, bus, trolley-bus, train etc.), you could have a good life even without a car.

[@mantassapalas3810]

KGB was the best job there to get a car faster

[@johannesbrolinson5006]

What's your opinion of the current development in Kherson?

[@user-fh4le1pn8o]

Well/ he didn't answer for political or war question i believe. But as a russian man myself i could answer for him. It's hard to believe that officials have to surrender town, that was successfully defending. As they explain due to one bridge connected town only troops supplies was a nightmare. The second are the high risk of flooding the town if Ukrainians will demolished the nearest dam. Anywhere. Left the right bank of the Dniepr river unleashed forces to clean up the leftbank's Ukraine. It have sense possibly.

[@xsc1000]

@@user-fh4le1pn8o Y|ou are still spreading propaganda lies. It was russians who damaged part of dam, not ukrainians. Why they would damage his own country? Left bank would be cleaned when there will be no russian army...

[@Muonium1]

Christ what an absolute dystopian nightmare. Literally Kafkaesque.

[@DeltaPi314]

Why? Cities weren't built around the idea of people having cars. You literally had little reason to own a car as everything you needed is near you. Let's say you have a car now and living in Europe. Just parking the car is a nightmare in a European city, in most situations you waste more time finding parking than getting to where you want to go.

[@Muonium1]

@@DeltaPi314 mine was. thankfully I don't live in Europe.

[@KayraTheNomad]

Cars should be a luxury anyways. It seems like the bureaucracy is a bit nuts, that's all. When there is good public transportation, you won't need one. I'm 26 and I never owned a car, and I never needed one tbh, thanks to the average public transportation in my country.

[@albin2232]

And so it will be again.

[@knightlypoleaxe2501]

With recent studies about how much cars negatively impact even a driver's physical and mental health, I'd say they were doing their citizens a service by focusing more on public transit.

[@luislopezreyes7797]

A retiree pension was not a part of the Soviet dream?

[@Setarko]

Well, not really, because everyone was receiving them eventually. There we some tricks to get pensions earlier (like working in Far North regions) and people did that, but I wouldn't call it part of a dream

[@DeltaPi314]

I remember it being a part of my father's dream (to get an early pension) but I don't think it was a general thing. I remember people hated the idea because that mostly meant their pensions would have been miserably low, so they'd have to continue working anyway.

[@paulj2948]

There was a "Soviet Dream?"

[@yulusleonard985]

nice, 10 seconds ago

[@belstar1128]

The ussr was not real communism because there where cars in real communism you only have communal bikes and trains.

[@RedBird7]

Then you dont know communist

[@benismann]

the only based deficit i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure

[@Setarko]

cope

[@benismann]

@@Setarko i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure i hate car dependent infrastructure

[@paulj2948]

Our American leftist socialism loving youth need to watch this!! Forget about an iPhone, Starbucks, Instagram...as well as any car!! Funny video. I wonder if the soviet people knew that most households in the USA had a car, if not 2, by the 1950s. And we just went to the dealer and drove it home!

[@jimmyj1969]

Having lots of cars is not a positive thing. Instead, it's better to have an urban planning that makes car-ownership useless, as it's the case in most of Europe...

[@paulj2948]

@@jimmyj1969 we don't all live in urban cities. We love cars and freedom in the USA. Unless you live in the city it's a necessity.

[@jimmyj1969]

@@paulj2948 Still, a town with all neccessary conviniences and a good public transport network will minimize the use of cars.

[@paulj2948]

@@jimmyj1969 we need cars in suburbs. We have a train to New York but it's 4 miles away. Grocery is 2 miles. We all have cars, garage, driveway, land for our houses. No bus on a quiet suburban street!

[@jimmyj1969]

@@paulj2948 The fact that you have the grocery store 2 miles from home(!) is, exactelly, the problem! You built your suberbs & cities around cars and now you can't survive without them!

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

Hilarious. And poor old Putin is trying to create the Soviet Reunion!

[@TorricRoma]

More I hear about Soviet life the more I'm happy I never was a Soviet

[@marcusmoonstein242]

I recently watched a KZbin video of somebody extolling the virtues of socialism, and how socialist-made cars were actually better than capitalist-made cars. We need more information to get out about how badly socialism actually sucked for those people who actually lived through it.

[@Rssika]

Yeah, because child prostitution, drug epidemic and ten million excess deaths of capitalism are so much better.