The Difference Between The Soviet and American Car Cultures

A short review of the different Soviet-made cars available for sale in the USSR. How expensive were Soviet cars? The difference between Soviet and American car cultures.
My book about arriving in America in 1995 is available on Amazon:
www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ7RNTC
My site: www.sputnikoff.com/
"Ushanka Show" is a collection of stories about life in the USSR.
SOVIET EDUCATION: • SOVIET EDUCATION
SOVIET LEADERS: • SOVIET LEADERS
CHERNOBYL STORIES: • Chernobyl's Dirty Litt...
SOVIET AUTOMOBILES: • Chernobyl's Dirty Litt...
SOVIET MUSIC: • Soviet-Era Music and P...
SOVIET MONEY: • SOVIET MONEY
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[@UshankaShow]

Hello, comrades! My name is Sergei. I was born in the USSR in 1971. Since 1999 I have lived in the USA. Ushanka Show channel was created to share stories as well as my own memories of everyday life in the USSR. My book about arriving in America in 1995 is available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ7RNTC My site: www.sputnikoff.com/ You can support this project here: www.patreon.com/sputnikoff with monthly donations Support for this channel via PAYPAL: paypal.me/ushankashow Ushanka Show merchandise: teespring.com/stores/ushanka-show-shop If you are curious to try some of the Soviet-era candy and other foodstuffs, please use the link below. www.russiantable.com/imported-russian-chocolate-mishka-kosolapy__146-14.html?tracking=5a6933a9095f9 My FB: facebook.com/sergey.sputnikoff Twitter: twitter.com/ushankashow Instagram: instagram.com/ushanka_show/ Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/The_Ushanka_Show/

[@ktmcandog]

Yes I started watching your channel before covid and enjoy it very much. I can not imagine what you and your family have gone through since the start of the Special Russo/Nazi terrorist operation on Ukraine. Hope alls well as can be. Slava Ukrania!

[@glennwheeler984]

I'm Canadian, but I learned to drive on my father's imported Lada (you couldn't stop that thing in the snow and the engine ran great, but it handled like a tank and the body rusted out)... later on I joined the Army and was in Germany when the wall came down - I bought a Trabant (my first car!) off an East German who came to the West (US$70 - I thought it was a good deal)... I drove it around for a weekend and ended up getting stuck in the mud just off a forest road somewhere between Amberg and Hohenfels. I left the key in the ignition if you're interested.

[@mrisvizz]

I think it's still there. I know a guy from weiden was trying to get it out. Drunk pfc from vilsek slept in there ones. i heard some talks in grafenweiher to just leave it there as a local relic😂😂

[@msamour]

I had a similar story, except it was in the 80's and early 90's. My dad started out with a 1988 Signet, then he bought a 1988 Niva. Then a 1996 Samara, then a 1996 Niva Cossack. I learned to drive the 1988 Niva, and we used to off road, and plow the driveway. It bears saying the plow was a 60" plow for a 3/4 Sierra truck My dad got rid of in the early 90's. We had to put 300 lbs of sand bags in the trunk to balance it out. Over time the cars rusted went to the wreckers. The 1996 Cossack git crushed in a garage collapse accident in 2006, and the 88 Niva finally gave up the ghost in 2008. My dad sold the engine to a guy that put it in a dune buggy. He still drives it to this day. We had a crank to start the 88 Niva. Best feature ever! I miss that little SUV.

[@SonOfTheDawn515]

​@@mrisvizzGrafenwoehr*

[@Larkinchance]

The CCCP was like a country run by the Department Motor Vehicles

[@Bialy_1]

More like country run by ex bank robers...

[@MalcolmBrenner]

Yes, with that sloth from "Zootopia" behind the counter...

[@jurisprudens]

@@Bialy_1 Which was true, though. ;)

[@laowhy86]

road head hahaha, nice

[@KSmithwick1989]

Surprised to see you posting here. Keep up the good work.

[@commodoresixfour7478]

Nice to see you hear also!

[@Rangernewb5550]

Last person I expected to find here

[@NickThePilotUSA]

Also last person I expected to see here lol

[@1582881]

Holy cow, c-milk is a fan!

[@IsraelLuisGeerRivera-ff4cg]

If you've seen Russian cam videos you know why the Soviets were so stingy on giving out cars.

[@ultraloyalservant2felineov41]

Actually, after Soviet Union collapsed, immigrants moved to USA & learned to sue insurances. That's why cameras are required in all cars now to prevent fraudulent lawsuits. Capitalism lol😹

[@gordonlumbert9861]

The USA is famous world wide for lawsuits.

[@ultraloyalservant2felineov41]

There's a lot of insurance fraud and fraudulent lawsuits. My insurance payments went up because there are many lawsuits in my County. I don't believe in these schemes. It brings bad luck and negative Karma

[@panzerfaust5046]

"what was it? Road rash?" Oh god don't ever experience that.

[@82dorrin]

Russian car culture in Soviet Era: "Wow. That person has a car. They must be pretty damn important. I wish *I* had a car..." Russian car culture today: "I have a car. Whoop-dee-doo! Where the f*^k do I park the damn thing???"

[@michaelsquires6255]

Onyx1916 If you've ever seen car cam footage of them driving parking is the least of their problems.

[@ultraloyalservant2felineov41]

Most Russian car dealers buy their cars in United States and send them back to the Russian dealerships for their wealthy customers. Most popular cars are German and Japanese luxury cars

[@anishkumbhar6205]

@@ultraloyalservant2felineov41 before the fall of Soviet Union Same thing was happening in India.... not only cars but also for watches which are produced by HMT(Hindustan machine Tools which was government company which produce tractors and watches in back those days )people get their watches within 2 to 5 years after placing the orders..

[@MalcolmBrenner]

Perhaps it is time for the vertically-parked car, that settles upright on it's back bumper, nose pointed skyward? Surely, if Elon Musk can invent spaceships that land on their legs, Detroit can invent the vertically-parked car (VPC) and sell the idea to the Russian car manufacturers for big rubles? Oh wait. There's a fly in the ointment. We can only make a profit for Detroit if we sell plans for currency that is WORTH SOMETHING on the international market! And rubles, as most everybody will tell you, don't qualify. Damn. Well, the engineering was good, but the economics looked bad. You will just have to blow down some of those dreary, concrete Soviet apartment buildings and put up some nice, modern, multi-level car parks in their place. Problem solved!

[@jakekaywell5972]

@@MalcolmBrenner Yeah no. The Russian ruble has been an internationally-recognized currency since the fall of the Union and those Khrushchovka apartment buildings were both a good idea and built to last. Stow your bias elsewhere.

[@jeffking4176]

I saw a Chaika in St.Louis when I was a teen. Being a car nut since the beginning , I was the only one of our group who knew what it was. (As we approached two of us were debating . One said Cadillac , the other, a Lincoln. I told them it was Russian.--- They thought I bumped my head... Until we saw the Russian writing on it. Ever since, I've had a fascination with "Iron Curtain" cars. I find this very interesting . Thanks!🙂👍

[@TheMoni700]

LAUGHED AT THE ROAD HEAD PART HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ethanthereenactorguy4829]

I am American, and have no idea what the fuck road head is!

[@user-do5zk6jh1k]

@@ethanthereenactorguy4829 Head is a blow job. Road head is head while driving.

[@varaneckas1994]

How many % of guys experience road head in USA?

[@OhPhuckYou]

@@ethanthereenactorguy4829 How? That's so common over here too.

[@Whammytap]

I've lived in the same state in America for 36 years and I am *still* learning English slang, figures of speech, and sexual metaphors. We are each sheltered in our own way. ;)

[@shelby3822]

road head + manual transmission = ultimate American culture. I thought you were gonna say road rage for a minute! Only heard of Lada because of Top Gear/Grand Tour.

[@ultraloyalservant2felineov41]

When I was only 3 or 4 years old, while my grandmother was babysitting me, I snuck out, took the "traleybus" bus to where my father worked! In USA, no bus driver would ever let a little kid on the bus alone! LOL of course I took a few years off my grandmother's life, but was complimented for being able 2 use the bus successfully all by myself!

[@yakacm]

When I was 6 or 7 years old, I got separated from my mother while out Christmas shopping in Liverpool city centre. I was a bit upset for 10 minutes or so, then decided to walk home, as I didn't know what bus to take, as we always drove to town. I walked the 5 or 6 miles home on my own, lol.

[@sarjim4381]

We can't forget about the Zil/ZiS line of classic Soviet limousines. The first models were directly reversed engineered from the 1940 Packard line because Stalin though that Packard's (he had three of them) were the best engineered cars in the world. He wanted the first truer Soviet limo to show the world they could build a Packard, and build they did. Even thoough the line stopped taking design and engineering features from the Packard bu 1960, they continued to lean on American car designs like the 60's Cadillac Fleetwoods and Mercuries. By 1980, big American cars were passe, so ZiL started to copy the look and engineering of the Mercedes. Due to the low production numbers and revocation of state subsidies in 1990, the ZiL started to cost more than a "real" Mercedes. It was the beginning of the end for ZiL. Just like Packard, they have now gone out of business, and the great era of Soviet built limos is gone forever.

[@MetaSynForYourSoul]

😂😂I'm pretty sure the wife will be even more mad if you figure out what "Road Head" is without her! 😂😂

[@Dr_Will_Tarr]

I brought it up with my American Wife also... frozen hotdogs in the sink now for three days..SAD.

[@daylightbigboy]

Hey Uskanka Show, I have a video request. What were some popular hobbies in the Soviet Union? In the United States there were thousands of companies focused towards different hobbies such as model building, model trains, slot cars, model airplanes, etc all trying to make a profit but I would imagine in the USSR the government would have to basically invent all the hobbies as they owned every company.

[@knutholt3486]

In Norway Lada was very popular , because they were cheap, but , yet solid and trustful. Some people that could afford two cars, could have a Mercedes or BMW for finer and sporty use and a Lada for work and bumpy roads.

[@NeblogaiLT]

Lada was a FIAT design that IIRC won car of the year in Europe when it was presented. Factory to build them was imported to USSR. It was also chosen because Italy was ~red at the time, but also because it was a reliable design for bad roads. So no wonder it was a decent car at that time.

[@joeleonard9965]

It's funny I use a Honda for the daily grind and my BMW for fun driving. A two car solution is truly the way to go if you can afford it.

[@majamaja1509]

You can still see some Ladas in the streets of Bosnia, even today. Their owners are usually old people who take good care of them ☺

[@isleifoterogarcia4478]

Thanks for the video Sergei. The last part was a blast. Very interesting and you knew how to make humor too. Great.

[@Md2802]

Thank you for sharing your memories with us. A lot of what you read about the Soviet Union concerns big events, cultural movements, or geopolitics - so it's fascinating to hear about the idiosyncrasies of every-day life for the average person. And I love the nostalgic way you describe everything. It paints a very vivid picture of how you experienced that world :)

[@wiilkasanadka10]

I have watched quiet a few videos of yours and they are very interesting.

[@rns011]

The Soviets has and has incredible public transport always. They didn't need cars. If they needed ""road head" , they bought out the whole coupe on the Red Arrow Moscow-St. Pete.

[@brianlaeser]

I'm a Canadian, living in greater Vancouver BC, & I immediately remembered the Lada Niva which was sold during the 1980s' & '90s in Canada (but oddly, not in the US).

[@brentrayner65]

My local ski hill on Vancouver Island had a fleet of Niva's for their company vehicles. Was neat to see

[@Tonyx.yt.]

of course was not sold in the US. believe or not but lada niva still sold in the 2020 in western europe too

[@ljones121]

Ladas for some reason, have never been able to meet the US DOT safety requirements for importation into the United States, so there's effectively an unofficial ban on Ladas here. I know this because I've always wanted a Lada SUV

[@lilcam-qk9mp]

I remember them selling some UAZ trucks and vans here in the U.S

[@milankoj]

:) I grew up in Hungary in the 80s, and still had these cars back then. My favourite scenes in (Hungarian) films / TV shows made in the 70-80s are the car chases with them. Yes, they are freakin' hilarious :D

[@conantdog]

Great videos your making 👍 great continuity , great to see who you are in this video 👍

[@John_Longbow]

A Skoda Estelle drove me all the way to second base back in the 80's. Thank you very much Czech Republic, it's still fondly appreciated.

[@Bialy_1]

In the 80's was no Czech Republic... :P

[@John_Longbow]

@@Bialy_1 At the time geography was not among my main objectives, at least this thank you are sincere even if it came a few decades too late.

[@marguskiis7711]

Cmoon, Lada was world-famous and massively exported. Ladas were exported even up to 2000s. Niva is still a legend. Moskvitch was exported as Elite and ZAZ was exported as Yalta or Eliette. Moskvitch 408 and 412 were very advanced ones in 1960s but they were not developed much later so they became funny anachronisms during the years.

[@dirkbonesteel]

Exported to other Soviet countries doesn't really count. Saw a guy from Finland say good things about Lada, but no one ever figured out why

[@Bialy_1]

@@dirkbonesteel He was a soviet spy that's why... :P And Lada was nothing more than obsolete Fiat 125... In Poland it was produced as Fiat 125p.

[@dirkbonesteel]

@@Bialy_1 Serious question. My understanding is that while copied from the Fiat a goodish reliable cheap car, but nothing amazing. The Soviet copies were mostly downgraded hard to get but inferior. Is that true or do I have to much Trabant on the brain? There aren't any to look at in 3-D over here, just a few old Fiats.

[@dcan911]

@@dirkbonesteel Lada's were expoted outside the USSR. My dad had 2 of things in the UK in the 80s/90s. Contrary to most cars, they would be really eager to start on freezing cold mornings, but would sometimes be a bit reluctant when it was even modestly warm out.

[@dirkbonesteel]

@@dcan911 Were they cheap like the Yugo? I know Volga tried to sell cars in Canada but were very basic and cost as much as a Cadillac. Didn't go well. As long as they are cheap I get it

[@tomservo5347]

It used to be if you had any mechanical skill you could turn a wrench on your American car and keep it going yourself. Pretty much all companies today have figured that by using electronics with limited life (and patented software that runs it) they can guarantee future parts/service sales. What once used to be done mechanically and was quite robust and fail resistant is now done electronically and will fail. Add to this paying the union workers high wages for unskilled labor and the cost of the vehicle has risen exponentially within the last 30 years, yet the car has become more 'disposable'. Even farm machinery companies have resorted to this and many farmers have looked to Chinese/Indian tractors that have a minimum of electronics and will still be running in 50 years.

[@johnmoyle4195]

Another awesome video. Thanks so much for this one.

[@MalcolmBrenner]

Greetings, Comrade Sputnikoff! Since I am a writer of weird literature, I was both blindsided and delighted when an unexpected fan in Nikel told me he'd spent a year translating one of my books into Russian! He liked it so much, he wanted his family and friends to read it. Since I am also a photographer, I have always wondered about Soviet color films and photography and cameras. My father, for instance, had a Zorki copy of an old Leica III that he bought in the Pentagon camera store! I always thought if that camera could talk, it would have tales to tell! And making good color film consistently is quite difficult. Only a few companies in the Western world could do it right, Kodak, Fuji and Agfa (sort of; one stock photographer I knew referred to Agfa as "Snotchrome"). Did the Soviets ever manufacture their own color film, or were they happy to let their lap dog East German chemists do it for them? Finally, the famous Kiev Arsenal cameras, including the Hassleblad knock-off which, when you wound the film to the next exposure, sounded like walnuts being crushed. Nevertheless I want one, because the lenses are so good and so cheap! Have a wonderful day, and remember Fearless Leader in your prayers!

[@pamelajaye]

My family had a car but nobody carried me into the house that I can recall. They wake you up and tell her to go in the house after leaving uncle's house at 2:00 in the morning and driving for 8 hours. We never had a new car except once. It was a Volkswagen and the father had to go to Canada to get it. I did not want to get on a plane. I think I was six. So he went by himself. My mother said it was the worst car we had. I don't know. My father knew how to fix all the cars we had. And last one that we had was a valiant. And it lasted forever until the bottom rotted out I think. Everybody said they lasted forever. My husband had a horrible car. To keep it running cost for $4,000 and is only worth $400. And finally the transmission gave out and we cheered as they towed it away and then we bought a valiant. Could have been a better one. I did not have a car of my own until I was 40 years old. I still couldn't afford to buy one but at least I could afford to pay for the insurance. Thankfully I did not have to pay to park it. Well actually, by then, my landlady made me pay for the garage. She never made my husband pay for the garage. But then again she never raised the rent for 13 years so I can't complain. It was a really inexpensive apartment and it was heated. So extra $35 I can't remember if it was $35 a week or $35 a month. It's been 20 years now. It wasn't that bad. Probably if it was $35 a week it would have been Not so great. The budget was tight. Always. Almost always. But I lived on the North shore of Boston and the buses didn't go everywhere that I needed to go in order to get a job. So 5 months after my 40th birthday I finally got a car. I almost didn't learn how to drive. My mother never learned how to drive. My father used to be a driving teacher but he was also good at yelling. So someone else taught me how to drive when I was 21.

[@worldofjerrytravis393]

Answer to your Question: LADA.

[@steve1978ger]

I owned a LADA as a student in Germany, 2003-ish. I rather liked it. Not a great car, but not terrible either, and reasonably priced. I've had worse (I'm looking at you Renault). Great heater. Sometimes knobs and buttons fell off, I glued them back in place. Didn't like the mid summer heat though, the radiator had a tendency to boil over.

[@worldofjerrytravis393]

@@steve1978ger I had a lady friend who owned a white LADA station wagon (Tourer) here in New Zealand in 1993. Our Country began importing them from Russia in the late 1980's. I remember the TV advert quite well - The Salesman raps his knuckles on the bodywork proclaiming 'Built Like a Russian Tank!'. No power steering, a normal feature back then but the car was indeed solid and I kind of liked it too. I wouldn't mind finding a tidy example now to restore, they're a rarity to see on our roads nowadays. Cheers from NZ.

[@MalcolmBrenner]

They don't exactly spring off your lips, do they, like Ford, Chevy and (Fiat-)Chrysler? But I did manage to think of LADA, perhaps because of some confusing link to Fiat? Like they stole the design or something?

[@lancelessard2491]

I remember meeting a Soviet woman who came to visit our Russian class and we got to ask her questions, one of which was, "Do you have a driver's license?" I thought her answer was strange and funny. She said, "I have a son. I can't just go driving." Apparently, she thought that driving was an indulgent luxury that only people with lots of free time should be doing. Responsible people don't have time for driving. We got a good laugh out of that, but it was just because of the difference in life style between Soviet people and the West, not that she was any different than most people in her country.

[@tarstarkusz]

7:19 There are buses like this right now in America. They are very common in my city.

[@wolf7n6]

Great channel. Thank you

[@bebopwing1]

Oh man, the road head line killed me

[@Otokichi786]

"Russian car names?" Volga, Zhiguli, Zil and Lada come to mind. With an effective public/mass transit system, who needs an automobile? (Especially in large cities.) As for "car culture," it's not a big deal; you have more interesting memories from your youth.

[@UshankaShow]

Impressive!

[@ktmcandog]

Here in Canada Ladas where sold in the 70s and 80s. They where basically considered junk with poor reliability but the Lada Niva 4X4 was a different story in they where basically reliable and tough as a T72 tank. I had a friend that had a Niva and was over six foot tall and 300 lbs and looked like a Russian bear driving it. Some still talk about them more then thirty years after they disappeared and the odd one can still be found on a farm or for use in a hunting camp bush . In the late 80s I spotted and stopped at a the last Lada dealership in Toronto as they had a new Lada on display on a ramp in front of the dealership and as a mechanic I was curious and walked under it to inspect the chassis and couldn't believe the condition as all the rubber bushings in the suspension where rotten and split like it was 10 years old. I guess the quality was slipping as the end of the Soviet Union had occurred. Awesome channel ---KTMcandog!

[@Truerussiantigershark]

I guess the T 72 comparison didn’t age so well

[@RetroGUY77]

So I went to a classic car in the UK show yesterday and there was a Moskvitch 1500 and a ZAZ Tavria hatchback. Never seen either before but they were really cool

[@RetroGUY77]

USHANKA SHOW Certainly did! Do you want me to send them to you?

[@RetroGUY77]

USHANKA SHOW Great. Where do I email them too

[@KIEV7385]

Had a few experiences with Cars in Soviet Union....As you know it was quite common to have private cars stop and offer you a ride for a fee if they were going your direction or even if they were not....I guessed a lot of car drivers made money on the side by acting like Taxi's ....I once was in Kiev in the Maychenko District and had to return to the Dnipro Hotel and it was very late like 2am My friends took me outside and as we were deciding what to do a car pulled up and asked if we needed a ride....I told the driver I needed to go to the Hotel and he waved me in...as we drove off I realized this guy was not Sober...within minutes he was offering me a drink from his Bottle...Fortunately there was little traffic and we got to the Hotel he even wanted to drink in front of the Hotel .... I also had one in Moscow that actually stopped beside a Fuel Truck on the side of the road and purchased petrol from the driver....Most of the time the rides were good but now that I look back there could have been some dangerous moments ....

[@ovalwingnut]

Outstanding.. Thank you

[@rossbryan6102]

ENJOYING YOUR VIDEOS! I AM GUESSING IN THE EARLIER AUTOMOTIVE DAYS THAT THERE WERE MANY TRUCKS BUILT IN THE SOVIET UNION TO MEET MILITARY, AGRICULTURAL, AND INDUSTRIAL NEEDS, ALONG WITH BUSSES FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT! WAS THERE ANY SORT OF A TRUCK FAN CULTURE AMONG PEOPLE WHO HAD NO CAR BUT DID LIKE TO FOLLOW THE WORLD OF TRUCKS? HERE IN THE USA WE HAVE 2 SEPARATE CULTURES, ONE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND ANOTHER FOR TRUCKS, ESPECIALLY THE LARGE OVER THE ROAD TRUCKS! A GOOD WAY TO LEARN OF THE TRUCK CULTURE IS TO GOOGLE UP THE ATHS (AMERICAN TRUCK HISTORICAL SOCIETY) BASED IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI! THIS IS A SOURCE OF EARLY TRUCK HISTORY, AND THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE OF TRUCKING AS WELL! KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS! 👍👍

[@ericgoingoverseas5064]

Who ever your friend was who told you about " Road Head" knew your situation and took advantage of it.😉 My great grandfather immigrated from Russia and was told about " A black cat with a white stripe" his friend wanted. One Sunday morning on the way to church he saw one. The man bought him a new Sunday suit over that. No skunks in Russia I guess.😉

[@strategicconsensus]

I have a little post-soviet footnote to this video. In the early nineties, say '93-'95, Russian sailors would do brisk business in old Soviet cars in Iceland. Russian fishing ships would dock in Reykjavik (where I lived) and elsewhere to resupply and drop off fish. And the sailors would then go about town and find eastern block cars to buy, because there had been plenty of Ladas (1200, 1300, Sport) sold in Iceland, even the occasional UAZ-452. The sailors didn't have much hard currency, but plenty of vodka and cigarettes to make up for it. And the Ladas didn't sell for much locally anyway. The story that I was told was that cars and in particular spare parts were hard to come by in russia in those early post-soviet years and so some of the cars would be chopped up for parts once at sea and the chassis dumped overboard. My friends mom got rid of her old Lada that way :)

[@cevizagac5725]

In Turkey, Lada Samara (Sputnik) has been solded in end of the 80's and beginning if 90's so it was quite famous in my country. Even we call it as a "soviet tank". It worked in winter really well but summer it had heat problem. It had really Russian character so we liked a lot ))

[@SiriusXAim]

The French had the same waiting list thing with their 2CV in the 60's. It was designed to be a people's car for farmers to get around. Production in the 50's was archaic, so you'd be put on a waiting list. So used 2CV's would cost more than new 2CV's.

[@HandeToon]

I'm Finnish, the first two cars I remember us having were both Lada Samaras. =D

[@mayormc]

Nice hat , Comrade! Enjoy the channel very much.

[@HermitagePrepper]

If you wanted to buy a surplus military truck like a zis 5 or gas aa ...would it be cheaper? Are they cheaper or easier to manufacture?

[@davidsolsbery9487]

It's great to have the voice of Gru narrating this

[@rebeccalovecraft3432]

That road head bit... I actually had to stop my game and rewind just to make sure I heard every single word.

[@laszloferenczi]

At 7:17 that is an Ikarus 280. This type of buses were made in Hungary. (At that time it was Hungarian People's Republic)

[@SquishyZoran]

Also rather interesting but Crown Coach corp partnered with them to sell a version based off of this.

[@frankdenardo8684]

The Ikarus bus that is built in Hungary 🇭🇺 is a common sight in Eastern European cities.

[@sotogremble953]

I think those old Soviet cars are pretty cool and id like to have one of every model.

[@thomashenebry8269]

So would the Russians.

[@CdA_Native]

Lived there for 5 years......boy, this guy is "spot on!"

[@steveboschen9141]

I really enjoy your videos and, honestly, I didn't know what "road head was either". I had a hunch when you said your wife was angry with you, but I wasn't sure until I googled it and now I know. Anyway....keep up the videos. They are fascinating!

[@eleven4161]

Hi, The cap U r wearing is very beautiful. What is the name of this cap ? Pls. add some images of this same cap in a video . Thanks.

[@RandomDudeOne]

Walmart sells Soviet hats. LOL

[@slotenmakerdenhaag]

Really appreciate these talks, interesting because we lived in Czechoslovakia, near enough to catch the scent of Soviet Union. Very interesting though I miss some reflections on the extreme materialism that emerged from this communist culture

[@gavinhudson3064]

My dad's first car was a second hand Austin A35, that he bought off my Nan in the early 1960's. He was one of 30% of the British public who owned a car. How cool is that!!

[@MrKichtopher]

Amazed you kept a straight face during your roadhead bit...

[@UshankaShow]

KGB training

[@theskunkupine1809]

Holy shit. The SSSR was way ahead of their time. It takes about 9 years to save up enough to afford to buy a new car here in the states in 2019.

[@Kejsaren]

With a part time minimum wage job, sure.

[@93corollausa94]

a mitsubishi mirage costs $15k, median annual salary is $35k

[@pdsnpsnldlqnop3330]

As a cyclist I thought the roads of the former Eastern Europe were amazing. Your outlook on this is different if you are car dependent. Car dependency is like alcoholism, it is dependency. I have also lived in a teetotal town. There is (or was) part of Plymouth in the UK where there are no pubs. I really liked it there, but I don't drink. My housemates did drink and they hated it there! Each to their own, however, car dependency - like alcohol dependency - puts a cost on society and affects others. When the archaeologists wonder what hapened to us they will find these peculiar tin boxes and wonder why we crawled into them to kill everything including ourselves with them.

[@joekim3307]

Great video comrade.

[@HC-cb4yp]

In Russia, car owns you!

[@MalcolmBrenner]

No, comrade, in Russia, car DRIVES you! Bank owns car.

[@JoJoJoker]

How did wills work? If someone died did you get their car?

[@boggy7665]

2:20 - the 'newer GAZ 21' front styling reminds me of the 1962-65 Chevrolet Chevy II / Nova

[@joedeats]

Volga and Lada came to mind. Interestingly the Lada was based on a Fiat.

[@joevogelberger9922]

I love old Soviet cars! Overbuilt and underpowered! That ZAZ 968 is a cool little machine. I also like the style of the Moskvich 402 and the 412 with the removeable portable multi band radio.

[@mladjireferent9625]

My grandpa still drives his baby blue Trabant. Pretty sure he threatened the guy that told him it's impossible for it to pass the technical. I'm from Serbia.

[@penskepc2374]

American cars were at their peak in the 60s. Muscle cars reigned while the Corvette was the fastest production car on earth and Cadillac and Lincoln built the most luxurious and most expensive cars on earth, but after the gas crisis Detroit realized they could get away with selling mostly crap and flourish simply off the US market size. It also seems that when a newer flashier industry comes out(in this case computer tech) Americas best and brightest instantly move on to the next thing.

[@donovannotmyname7306]

Is it me or does the car featured in the thumbnail looks like a smaller lighter version of the Chevy Corvair.

[@morrismckinnon6047]

Moskvitch was a popular car in the UK in the 70's, it even had a fairly successful stint in rallying here!

[@dangerouslytalented]

They used to import Ladas to Australia. They had to be basically rebuilt in order to satisfy safety laws. And still bits fell off. I still have a badge from a lada that I found on the ground one day.

[@psofioskorios1]

Same in Greece

[@covfefeactthe3134]

I visited Russia last July. Went to st.Petersburg and Moscow. Loved it. Saw church of spilled blood, basil palace red square.

[@FormatorBlack]

You and I are almost the same exact age, cool to think we were contemporaries! I remember doing a letter-writing campaign where we exchange letters with Soviet children,,,wish I still had the one from the guy I got a letter from.....

[@FormatorBlack]

Yes! I was in Mississippi when we first studied about the Soviet Union and I was very interested in the Soviet people, I remember I had a book from school about Soviet politics, I still have it! I wish I still had that letter from the Russian boy. all I can remember is that his name was Pietro (I think), but I was always fascinated with Soviet culture....I think in some ways it's a shame the USSR is gone, I am glad the people are free now but the world was safer then!

[@SpottedLop]

I had two penpals from Moscow. I still have their letters. We got to meet in person in 1989, but only very briefly (45 min the hotel lobby while my tour group had dinner) as my US tour leaders had me on a short leash. I am glad I saved the letters. I feel like they are now historical artifacts.

[@FormatorBlack]

Wish to God I still had mine, I tried to write him again years ago but never heard back, so I guess it worked out...

[@martinhughes2549]

The Lada was quite a popular cheap car in the UK. It was a FIAT design wasn't it?( although a popular joke about LADA's was that to double the value all you had to do was add a full tank of fuel!) Moscovich made bubble cars as well didn't they?

[@TheSeppentoni]

So, what is a Roadhead?

[@TheBengalDragon]

I hope you found out what road head is by now my friend. But just in case you have not, it is very different from metalhead or gearhead which means a metal enthusiast or a motorcycle enthusiast. Very very different from those two

[@jelkel25]

Martin Cruz Smiths early Arcady Renco books mention Soviet cars fairly often so his fans in the west had some idea of Soviet cars before the wall came down.

[@kennedymcgovern5413]

It takes an average of 10 years to get a car in the Soviet Union. 1 out of 7 families owned automobiles. You have to go through a major process and put the money out in advance. So this man did this and the dealer said "okay in 10 years come get your car." "Morning or afternoon?" The man replied. "Well what difference does it make?" Said the dealer. Well, said the man, the plumber is coming in the morning."

Ladas were popular here in my country in the late 80's and early 90's..niva and samara models were on the road in these years..

[@ryantaylor3805]

Were any European cars like Mercedes and Audi, or others imported into the Soviet Union before it's collapse in 1991? Or were the only cars available Russian cars?

[@Eshperansa]

there were cars from so called "eastern block" like Skoda and in the late 80s scandinavian cars like Volvo and Saab but they were very limited, you could get them only in the major cities. for instance if there were 5 mills people in St Petersburg there were couple dozen of foreign cars

[@jerzyciechanowski4598]

Was driving Volga Gaz 24, but always like old Chaika. Drivers love Zil truck they use 100 liters per 100km so they can sell petrol on side. Was one monster truck Kraz, and later Kamaz. If my memory is good was one small car air cooled Zaporozec like germany NSU. You can buy from ex soviets states Volga, Moskvitch, Ladas and bikes like Ural made like copy of BMW or Zundapp from WWII. Prices for the classic cars like always more expensive then when they where new ;-). Generally not the best cars but if you don't have money for western cars then you like what you can afford. For same price of small Toyota Corolla you can have 2 new Volga Gaz 24. Renault, Peugeot or any German cars cost even more. Cool classic cars and spares should be available from eastern europe.

[@jerzyciechanowski4598]

They say that Russians copied cars lik Chaika, Volga, Zil and many others from american cars, well if they copied some of the russian version look better than originals. In poland Volga was popular car as Taxi, just get from germany old diesel from Mercedes and you have really good car. I would change also breaks to discs to make this safer car, especially in winter. Take care Ushanka

[@TheAngelobarker]

It is weird how ussr and Italy had such a close relationship despite everything. The fascist italians built many state of the art war ships machinery etc for russia despite being ideologically opposed and went to war with them soon after and they were part of nato yet sold lada fiat design.

[@Bialy_1]

Fiat got factory in Poland before the WW2 and communistic hostile takeover. "Lada" was in USSR in Poland it was just Fiat 125p...

[@Bialy_1]

" being ideologically opposed " like for example Italian Social Republic (1943 - 1945)?:P

[@TheAngelobarker]

@@Bialy_1 they sold the soviets the kiev class the 7u etc even when Mussolini had control in the 30s

[@oliverscookingexperience5745]

Does Raf (rīgas autobus fabrika) count

[@UshankaShow]

It wasn't really a car, right? kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6bWZ6SvZa2lpbs

[@dogetothemoon223]

That's rather strange that your family never owned a car. I was born in USSR and grew up in post USSR Russia and we had a car even in the 80s, before the USSR collapsed.

[@frankdenardo8684]

To buy a car in Eastern Europe. They put you on a waiting list, which can be up to ten years to get. Cars are strictly for the lucky ones.

[@Tarrrgenor]

In the 80s in Poland used cars were sometimes more expensive than new ones.

[@HarborLockRoad]

The car on the thumbnail pix sure looks alot like an offshoot of the NSU prinz 4.

[@chadandrews98]

Hi, Sergey , Thanks for the video. I enjoyed watching it. Chad

[@lenardmalcolm8800]

Love the hat I own one I’m ex Australian army met some Russian troops and got one brilliant in winter

[@damyouggw]

What jobs got you cars the fastest?

[@viktorivanov117]

You can build your own car in 9 years

[@danubiosalas4231]

Viktor Ivanov not in Russia

[@justaguy9224]

Danubio Salas I heard about a guy in Belarus, that in the Soviet times he wanted to get a Zhiguli, but he was dissatisfied with the long waiting time, so he built his car at his home before he got his Zhiguli.

[@reddevilparatrooper]

Very shocking from your conversation here in your channel. When I was 16 years old in 1984 during high school I bought my first car for $200.00. It was a 1968 Dodge Dart. I started working selling newspapers after school in 1980 when I was 12 years old for $4.00 a day. If I didn't spend any of it, it would have been $5,760.00 by 1984. By early 1984 I had total saved up after spending money during the summers was $2,500.00. I learned how to drive by paying and getting driving lessons on the weekends for $25.00 at the YMCA. I got pretty good and got my learners permit for 2 months, did my driving exam and road test that year. I got to drive my 68 Dodge Dart to high school till my graduation in 1986. My parents took my car when I joined the US Army that summer and they gave it to my youngest sister. When I was in the Army I was impressed by how much they paid me. I was getting paid $744.69 as a Private First Class before taxes. Even US Army Privates were able to buy used cars to drive around. My first duty station was Germany. We never needed cars in Europe because of the German public transportation system. For 2 years I saved my money. Majority of the guys who went back to the states and had some time left in service bought cars or trucks when they came back. Some guys bought brand new ones too.

[@cygnus5156]

Do you have something about Tovarichesky Stalina

[@bodyloverz30]

What about the Soviet ZiL Limos? They were so cool, the long black cars of the Soviet Politburo!

[@johnblackstone5261]

1 Brand of Soviet Car before watching video: Lada AutoVAZ Moskovitch GAZ Did I get any right?

[@ethanthereenactorguy4829]

Yes, they are all right! I guessed Volga, Lada, and Moskovitch!

[@carte-noire]

Hi! Have you told about soviet blue tape?

[@UshankaShow]

Izolenta?

[@carte-noire]

@@UshankaShow Yes scontent.fiev13-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/59523975_871649799846994_286313244484698112_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent.fiev13-1.fna&oh=a093c4b8d1fd929c2b3976d8240a42cd&oe=5D5D9219

[@marcelbruinsma]

This cartoon guy in your intro, he looks like the guy of another cartoon I once saw about "dogs and their man". Селовек собака друг. Это знают всё вокруг. Might he be the same guy? And if yes, what is he called?

[@marcelbruinsma]

Thanks for the info.

[@avtoclassika]

Good story!

[@Mark_Ocain]

roadhead or roadrage?

[@michaelmole5435]

Was there a second hand car market like say someone who doesn’t need it gets it buys one and sells it could they even sell it

[@djlondon7956]

Those accordion buses with a trailer section we call bendy buses in the UK 😅😂

[@motorhead6763]

Ushanka if were æble to get these cars over to States you would Sell Them . Really cool cars.