Cars in the USSR. The Most Desirable Soviet Car - VAZ Zhiguli aka LADA

How hard was it to purchase a car in the Soviet Union? What did it take for a regular Soviet person to get the most desirable car in the USSR - FIAT designed VAZ LADA?
I think you gonna enjoy this interesting story about car purchasing escapade during the 70-s and 80-s in Kishinev, Soviet Moldova.
My book about arriving in America in 1995 is available on Amazon:
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My site: www.sputnikoff.com/
"Ushanka Show" is a collection of stories about life in the USSR.
SOVIET EDUCATION: • SOVIET EDUCATION
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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 www.sputnikoff.com/ (Russian or English versions) or Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ7RNTC Please contact me at [e-mail] if you would like to purchase a signed copy of “American Diaries” 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/

[@becconvideo]

Nine years to buy a lada in the Soviet Union- great. We in the "GDR" (East Germany) had to wait up to 14 years to buy a Trabant - a mere cardboard box with a lawn mower motor. If you had "connections" you were able to jump the lines too. And a used Trabant was more expensive than a new one. But as the GDR had a huge money oversupply so the situation was even more ridiculous. But despite of that - almost all families of my classmates had cars back then.

[@vicostea]

We had the same system here in Romania. Average waiting time for a brand new Dacia 1300 (license build Renault 12) was 7 years and the price was 70.000 lei. The minimum salary was 1200 lei and the average about 3000 lei. A good doctor made about 4500-5000 lei a month. You had to make a small advance payment and there after monthly payments until the car was delivered and then you had to pay the difference up to 70.000 lei. We also had special lists for party members and veterans. My grandfather was a ww2 vet and party member he got a car for my father after just 2 years. From mid 60's until the beginning of the 80's were available for purchase western cars and also Russian made cars imported by the state, those where much more expensive from about 80.000-120.000 lei, and those where available only to party members or people with influence. Who owned a western car back then was a big wig. Also some people who where allowed to travel in the west Europe for business (work related trips) and had the money usually purchased cars and returned with them back home. For example an uncle got a brand new Dacia 1300, for 70.000 lei sold it after 1 month for 100.000 lei and purchased from Italy a used Citroen GS for the equivalent of 120.000 lei, he was the coolest guy in town.

[@AnArchyRulzz]

Valeriu Costea fuck Ceaucescu. Among the Communist dictators, he was one of the worst.

[@vicostea]

Dave Hobbs You can't fuck him... he is dead as a rock. No doubt, he had his problems but also did some good things. I believe that Hoeneker from DDR was the most dubious of them all.

[@AnArchyRulzz]

Valeriu Costea well that is like comparing a piece of shit to a piece of crap lol. In what way was Ceaucescu good? Only thing I can see is he wasn't totally dependent on USSR and Warsaw pact and was independent of them somewhat. Other than that he seemed pretty authoritarian and not much care for his people.

[@arthurheidt6373]

kommunism with private businesses would have made it much more creative.

[@leotimtom6637]

Could you buy Romanian ARO?

[@zd1322]

Comrade's, let's try to make Ushanka go viral and make him rich! Repost awesome vids like this everywhere.

[@jamallabarge2665]

I agree. We need to get Sergei more air time.

[@KIEV7385]

Didn't have any experience Buying a car in Russia but had plenty of wild Rides in taxi's & personal cars....Lots of people seem to use their cars to pick up hitchhikers especially if they were going the direction they were ....Late at night it was hard to get a taxi so you would just wait for a car to stop and negotiate a price to your destination ...Once I Had a ride that was from way outside Moscow back into the city as we started the driver realized he was short of petrol...He honked his horn at a Fuel Truck and before long he was buying gas on the side of the road...from the truck driver. Once in Yalta I was being driven from the Airport to the Hotel Yalta as we were riding along suddenly the Police appeared on the road waving us off on to a side and we sat for about 10 minutes until a series of Limo's came roaring by with police escort & ambulance ... My driver said it was likely Brezhnev going somewhere .... Take Care Enjoyed the Video....

[@natejohnson6608]

I've been watching your channel for about a week and being born in Detroit I watched your car videos. After hearing about low automobile ownership it reminded me of the time I was drinking with a Russian college exchange student. Johannesburg, Mi winter 2000. I got drunk with the Russian and he said he would love to drive American 4×4 truck. I had an 86' Ford bronco. We hop in the truck and in half a mile the guy blasted into the ditch 3 times. Me driving him pushing we got out. I finally ask him if he drove this bad at home, and he said basically that he had never really driven any car before! Lol we made it home and had a few beers. Thanks again for great work.

[@UshankaShow]

Thanks for your comment!

[@baraxor]

The car model bodies went out of style, but the bodies of the models posing for the cars sure don't go out of style!

[@bsolutions525]

I have bad news for you....

[@becconvideo]

Getting a car was one thing, maintaining it the second. Getting an appointment at the garage was something like seeing the doctor in government medicine countries. And you had to bring your own spare parts. Sometimes it helped to bring some item for another car. With our "wooden dollars" - currency with no purchasing power - other items became currency. I as a child remember a trip to Poland at the Baltic sea (Aalbeck/Swinemünde) - the border then was for pedestrians only - one had to leave the car and walk. Poland in the late 70ies lacked almost everything (bring your own lunch) - but they had Trabant exhaust pipes in masses. So on the way back we had to cross customs and some folks went trough the gates with the exhaust pipe below "something to declare -> no no no. There were not many Trabants in Poland - I wonder where they got the Exhaust pipes from. Meanwhile I suspect some shipyard workers welted them together from "spare" material after official work hours to sell them for East Marks which they subsequently converted into sausages and pork ... But then - even if you didn't drive Trabant but - say Dacia - and your brake disks needed replacement - you could strike a deal with the mechanic to exchange a Trabant exhaust tube for a set of Dacia disks. In our case everything changed as a young dentist entered our family as in law. During the amalgame hysteria which reached the "GDR" via western TV airwaves - he replaced the fillings of folks from all over - including the ladies from the spare parts shop ... Interestingly during communism some items were especially of short supply: tyres, exhaust pipes, batteries, bathroom tiles and they functioned as alternative currency.

[@kallekonttinen1738]

My father in Finland bought Lada 1200 in year 1985. Our previous car was Datsun 100A. Lada was much better. Four doors and warm! We once rode it to Sweden and it broke down complitely. We pushed it over the border back to Finland and it started work again. It really didn't want be in Sweden. After that my father bought Lada Samara and Lada 4105. Then I gave him my old VW Passat and unckle said that now your father has first time a good car..

[@mbear1639]

Loyal follower checking in. Wonderful, as always, Sergei!

[@PanGrono]

The same was in Poland. My parents had Polski Fiat 126p. I remember vacation trips with an extra trunk on the roof:)

[@becconvideo]

I remember the early 90ies when the Great Trek to the Golden West started - large convoys of little 126p on the Autobahns here near Berlin with packages on the roofes - sometimes larger than the car itself. Enterpreneurship at the end of communism. I used to live at Kantstraße in Berlin Charlottenburg in this time - almost all shops there were gross sellers - selling suitcases, shoes, cheap electronics etc. to Polish people which they loaded into/onto their 126p (before they switched to Mercedes 123 with still black license places and dimmed rear lights -- a >night

[@valerija.legasov548]

I know, that this Fiat Polski was cheap and therefore quite popular in the Czechoslovakia together with Trabant, Ziguli, Wartburg, Ovocit etc. The most popular were Skoda Cars, of course! 😍😂😏

[@axeman3d]

There are almost no Lada’s left in the UK. Lada’s and FSO’s were sold here in the 80’s and 90’s as cheap transport. Several years after the wall fell all the second hand Lada’s were being bought by Russians and transported back home! Very hard to find one here now.

[@becconvideo]

Well Jermemy once droped one from a helicopter ...

[@jocksjewelerygemstones8782]

8 were pulled out an abandoned garden by me last year

[@oneginee]

I really enjoyed the pictures. The story was relaxing. Amazing car paints that we cannot get anymore with the current painting process.

[@1943ofour]

I really enjoy your videos. You provide a very comprehensive perspective of life in the USSR.

[@BrunislavMatasovic]

I would like to compare this situation with the situation in fomer SFRY. At the beginning, there was some waiting list but that largely disappeared until the end of seventies. Waiting lists was much shorter and you were in advantage if you want to pay the car in hard currency (basically US dollars in the early years, and later German marks). By advantage I mean you could even completely skip the list and wait only for few months (which is the same situation as it is today). The problem was that it was essentially forbidden to have foreign currency until 1965 except as a gift or inheritance from someone abroad. If you got your inheritance in, let's say, US dollars in those times and earlier, you never ever got that money, but instead it was on your bank account and than you have to go to the store and buy something by direct money transfer. The problem was that your US dollars were converted in Yugoslav dinars by official exchange rate and by this rate dinar was almost always overvalued (though not by much until 1980., but by that time it was legal to have foreign currency and you could get your money from the bank account). To this day, cars, flats and houses are all priced in foreign currencies if you buy those things from private person. What were the options for buying cars? You could buy domestically produced cars (which were all basically of western origin; in fact there was some kind of joint ventures between western car companies and Yugoslav factories that were not owned by the state but by the workers in what was then known as worker's self management) or you could buy imported cars. Of course, Yugoslav cars were cheaper so new BMW and Mercedes were only driven by those who worked in, for example, West Germany and went back for a vacation. Yugoslav cars were: Fiat/Lada (which was also Fiat as mentioned in this video), Volkswagen, Opel, Citroen and Renault and for a short time Mini, NSU and Austin. Unlike other cars manufactured under original western names, Fiat cars were sold as Zastava and Jugo (later Yugo). New cars were extremely expensive - you have to work pretty long time to buy a new car. That said, new cars are still expensive for former Yugoslavs. You have to work somewhere between 14 months in Slovenia to 45 months in Serbia or Macedonia for a small car. Second hand cars were always cheaper as it is expected to be.

[@UshankaShow]

Thanks for sharing!

[@jonbragi23]

Very interesting! Thanks :)

[@tiborpurzsas5465]

In Hungary it was a bit better ! A Lada 1300 would cast about 80000 forints, an average wage was about 3 - 4000 forint / month so it was about 20 month wages / Lada! The waiting list was anywhere between 5-7years ! And you weren't aloud to resell for the first 3 years ! So we had 3 years old cars cast more then new cars LOL !

[@charredskeleton]

Thanks for sharing!

[@aarontenenbaum9536]

I am surprised that the Soviet state permitted private sales. Why didn't they crack down on this capitalism?

[@becconvideo]

They did in the 20ies and 30ies but then they discover that their system would simply collapse when de did. Mileage varied in different communist countries - I can only speak for East Germany which had a huge informal economy - especially as cars are concerned. Not only purchase - maintainance and repair too.

[@valerija.legasov548]

Gen. Sec. Gorbaco wanted to legalize small bussines...

[@hard2getitrightagain314]

after watching this video I really want ... a Russian girlfriend!

[@basedpatriarch]

Sorry babe car broke down in the snow. Better cuddle or we die.

[@Cthulhu1970]

Join the queue. Those girls are bloody beautiful aren't they? :)

[@jamallabarge2665]

Some of those ladies are impressive.

[@ohiopower]

Truth. The 3 standing around that blue pile with the poka dot skits. Woo baby.

[@TheSpekkel1]

There is a nine year waiting list for one.

[@axelschmidtke8421]

Awesome customs, really a lot of heart going into them, great job.

[@ivancho5854]

My father in law had an orange Zhigula in Bulgaria. He too had to wait on a list, but it was a workhorse and he drove it for a very long time. He worked in a distillery which made all types of spirits, including counterfeit Western brands! He had a side job dyeing wool and sheepskins as he was a chemist. He worked hard and always gave food to local kids, because he was half starved as a child. Down south in Burgas his sister in law worked in the refinery so whenever they visited her they would get free fuel. He died this summer. We miss him. He was a great man.

[@jvarela965]

In mid 80s I saw a Lada here in Sarasota Florida with Quebec , Canada license plate. The FIAT 1200 was one of the greatest economy cars ever designed.

[@valerija.legasov548]

Whooow!!

[@cenewton3221]

Great job breaking down the facts & figures! It's mind blowing what centrally planned (and state owned) systems do to the economics of its people. Reading the great economists of our time like Bastiat, Hayak, von Mises, Friedman, and even those still living and breathing like Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell, all of this is explained to the point of inarguability. This video my friend did the exact same thing, simply, and in 22 minutes flat. Well done.

[@AvidanTheExpositor]

Hear hear! Very well said my friend.

[@cenewton3221]

Thank you sir! We need more followers of our commrade Ushanka

[@zd1322]

And then you found five rubles...

[@boggisthecat]

C. E. Newton The “great economists” who got everything wrong.

[@rauhansotilas2350]

I had Lada 1200s 1987 few years ago here in Finland. But it had too much problems, and needed constant fixing so I sold it out and bought more reliable French car. I'm still sad that I sold it and I want to own another Lada but I can't afford anymore because the prices have gone so high.

[@aarontenenbaum9536]

If this dude was making extra money through multiple jobs and flipping cars wouldn't the government tax him or call him a counter-revolutionary?

[@slobodanlifeusingwheelchai4895]

He probobly have conections in police and get them some contraband for pass

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Always dig that scene from "Vacation in Prostokvshino" you use for the intro.

[@user-vs4ig4ch7d]

What was the situation with Moskvitch and Zaporozhets cars? Wikipedia says 2200₽ for the Zaz 966 in 1969 but i couldn't find any other prices, how long was the waiting lists for these cars?

[@user-py8di4nm2t]

Many ladas with finnish license plates! It was quite a popular car of finland in 70s and 80s and theyre still present in modern traffic across the country.

[@robertwells6454]

Wow there's a good bit of talent in the custom car sean over there.😎👌

[@bloodtypena]

And now very rich people get placed on a waiting list for a hand bag. Hermes birkin

[@AvidanTheExpositor]

woot new ushanka!

[@loganmacgyver2625]

i still see some ladas and trabants in small towns (im in hungary btw, it was a communist country)

[@CsImre]

You can see an occassional one in Budapest too, some people keep them as vintage cars. I live in a richer neighborhood, but I've seen Ladas and Trabants parking within 1 km of where I am.

[@vicnoid1]

Love your videos, can u tell us about going to doctors/clinic/hospitals in USSR? Thanks u

[@michaela.5363]

The difference that if you had A car in USSR you were a baller, but having a car in the USA meant nothing

[@gilb6982]

New subscriber one question ! what was the warranty and how long to wait the parts ? Mmmm ! may-be that is two question !

[@IsaacLarrier]

Ladas were very popular in Panama. I remember they had an extremely hard steering! For a brief time even police cars were Lada Samaras. Recently I went to Venezuela and I found they have the same phenomenon: used cars are more expensive.

[@becconvideo]

Socialism sucks all over the world the same way with only gradual differences.

[@6pytuc570]

I wanted to watch smthing interesting in English, and I found your channel. Thank you ((greetings from Раша)(хехе))

[@MrAnonymousRandom]

Nice video. Since you mentioned buying jeans in the USSR, can you make a video about hard currency stores in the USSR and working abroad on behalf of the Soviet government? I read somewhere that you can bypass the car purchase queue through the hard currency store if you can pay for the car in hard currency.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I heard a lot about these shops, and how people who managed to make money abroad would have to exchange it for vouchers to use at such a shop like that.

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

Did the wheeler dealer guy tell you his tale in Russian, I guess? Great story. Some people are just into buying and selling cars... I worked in the automotive business in California (was working there when USSR collapsed actually) and it’s funny how much people are into that stuff. Buy sell make money

[@valerija.legasov548]

It seems to be total crazzy,, but I would like to purchase black Gaz 24 Volga combi, because I simply love this Soviet car of dreams! We have retro car clubs for such comrades in The Czech republic 😁😊😂

[@andrewoplinger4759]

What l don't understand is, cars were in such short supply in USSR, but they had no problem importing them to other countries. I think you could even get Ladas in Canada, easier than you could in USSR

[@UshankaShow]

USSR was desperate for the "hard currency" so they exported anything they could sell, including cars

[@Phiyedough]

That was the same in UK after WW2. Most British cars were exported to pay back USA who had largely funded the war effort. Very few new cars were available in UK itself.

[@mattirealm]

Generally your rule about cars in the USA is true....except for the last year of supply constrain. Used cars are close to the price of new cars now. My own vehicle, not that old, has gained like 6K in value in the last 12 months. I can sell it now for at least 4-5K (if I wanted to, I don't) than I paid for it new back in 2019. I don't see the USA ever becoming as supply constrained as the old USSR, but damn are vehicles scarce and expensive. Different eras, country's and dilemmas. By the way, love these videos! Keep it up man.

[@dave8599]

the 4x4 truck at 3 minutes is really cool, what is it?

[@albertserrano3707]

In Cuba, there was no waiting list. Regular people could not buy one, unless it was from another car owner.

[@Tuppoo94]

10:57 Finnish license plate. In fact, many of the ads have them.

[@lkyksb3]

I feel like the situation was similar in the GDR except they had to settle for Trabants...

[@mchlbk]

The GDR made the Wartburg too.

[@smitbar11]

@@mchlbk We used to see a few Wartburg on UK streets, also NSU?

[@becconvideo]

@@smitbar11 amazing how far they got. There was even a right hand Wartburg model sold in the UK and even in South Africa (alongside with DKW - almost the same concept - two stroke - so it made sense)

[@PushyPawn]

No waiting list on the the girls though. Nice.

[@RetroGUY77]

I’m sure you don’t mean the Renault 19 as that car was from the late 80s. Surely you’d mean the Renault 12 or 16, which were their family cars in the late 60s, when USSR was looking for a car to produce

[@becconvideo]

the Romanians snatched the R12 - made it the Dacia 1300 which my dad managed to purchase in 1974 with almost no waiting It was a new model to the market and with all the scepticism - then necessary due to the dire spare part and maintainance situation - noone wanted it.

[@jaredini]

The old Lada or Polski Fiat 125. Used as taxis here in the UK for years.

[@caseycu]

Weren’t things like homes and some food items subsidized by the Soviet government, though? Just saying US to Soviet salary might not be a fair comparison since US doesn’t subsidize living expenses.

[@AnArchyRulzz]

Casey C yeah, but let's not act like those things were distributed equally. The good stuff depended on your connections, access to money and party standing. If you crossed the government they could easily make your life miserable. Sure the US government can also make your life miserable, but not simply for speaking out against it. And as Sergei said above, lots of aspects of life are subsidized in US.

[@caseycu]

True, I didn't think about farmer subsidies. I understand the government owned housing and let people live there, but I think the rent was less expensive if I understand correctly? At least compared to the US where a simple apartment in a desirable city costs thousands of dollars a month. Regardless, its pretty crazy how expensive the cars were, and how long you had to wait to get one. Thanks for the video!

[@caseycu]

Dave Hobbs, definitely, I understand the government was more oppressive. I'm not defending the Soviet government or managed economy. My only point was that comparing salaries without considering rent and necessary living expenses might not be a fair comparison.

[@AnArchyRulzz]

Casey C well in many communist countries the big cities are reserved for the elites in society so you couldn't just freely move. There were also passes that you had to get approved to move within country. So even if the rent is subsidized or w/e, you couldn't just pick up and move to a new place, had to go on a waiting list.

[@dapend3915]

In Russia people a waiting for cars. I the US cars are waiting for people.

[@hribc78]

Situation was similar in Yugoslavia. You needed to pay a certain percentage of the price in foreign currency, the rest in YUD. And you were put on a list. My uncle said he couldn't decide between a new Citroen GS, a opel kadett and a Lada. He would have to wait for almost a year for it, that was in the early 70s. He had the money in his pocket so he bought a Audi 80. People often bought cars and then sold them on for way more than they paod for it.

[@professorx1935]

Who remembers Wartbugs? Not the newer ones, the round ones from the '70s

[@gordonwelcher9598]

In Canada I bought a 1980 Lada in 1982 for $2500. In 1984 I bought a 1982 in 1984 for $2100.

[@AppleScape]

I have an old ИЖ in my garage.

[@valerija.legasov548]

Whooow 😏

[@coldernice5523]

I gather that Russian " gear-heads " , also , like beautiful , provacativly posed cars and... models? ( grin )

[@gordonlumbert9861]

I remember the saying was a new car lost 1/2 it's resale value when you drove it off the lot.

[@smitbar11]

about the same for a Rolls Royce

[@johnjones5943]

I still have a 2104 here in the UK these were sold for around £3500 in the UK at the time mine was bought in 1989 for around this price. The sad part is that people in the UK treated them as disposable car because they were sold so cheap but looked after they could last for many years as has mine.

[@UshankaShow]

No kidding! Got any pics to show?

[@johnjones5943]

@@UshankaShow Yeah I can email to you.

[@wildbill9919]

3:39 Legs!!

[@antoniocavalli5474]

I think he could get sent to gulag for resselling cars as it spekuliacija. Thats not allowed. Heavily punishable offence.

[@basedpatriarch]

There must have been some system in place like how Cubans swap apartments. I mean what if you get a job in a big city and don't need a car anymore?

[@jhoughjr1]

There used to be a Lee factory in my town. Then it got NAFTAd and the quality of their jeans went way down.

[@VinylToVideo]

I would think the most desirable car would be the GAZ Chaika. That's the one I'd strive to own.

[@juice8385]

This can happen in the western world, too. My colleague in Sweden sold his waiting list spot for a new Tesla S for 20.000 USD after spending two years in the queue.

[@mrearlygold]

enough room to drop a small block chevy in there? That would be interesting

[@aksiiska9470]

the short intro is "moscow nights" or moskovskie nochi, isn't it?

[@UshankaShow]

Yes, my friend did a guitar cover

[@FilK79]

Sorry, you said something about cars? .... What about them? .... Cause I only saw legs and nice rear sides, impressive indeed!

[@wollaminfaetter]

I would wait 9 years for at brand new LADA

[@mrd4335]

Yes 6,000 Rubles would be about right....A Ruble was worth same as a $ back then and there was 2x$ to 1x U.K£, I remember here in the UK in the 1980's it was £3,000 to buy a brand new LADA car they sold the Soviet Lads here called it the Lads Riva, was sold from mid 70's to the 90's it was a cheap car here and mostly old men would drive them as they didn't mind how they looked just wanted a cheap reliable car for shopping and taking garden waste to the dump in the 5 door model.. The waiting list for Soviet people would not be helped by the selling of the cars to us.....lol Thanks...Paul

[@jomama01]

Only in Russia could a warmed over Fiat 124 be considered desirable... . Guess compared to using up shoe leather, a Lada was an improvement.

[@randallmunson2098]

Soviet car may have cost 16 times as much an American car based on incomes, BUT, I noticed in the photos that the Soviet car came with a beautiful woman

[@user-di3du1nq8t]

Мой отец долго копил деньги,он хотел сделать мне подарок на свадьбу купить машину. У него уже было около 6000 рублей,что вполне хватало. Но вот только я слишком долго собирался жениться,началась перестройка и деньги обесценились на столько что этих денег хватило бы только на килограмм колбасы. Через некоторое время к концу 90-х,когда в России появились иномарки и Жигули перестали цениться я всё же купил подержанную машину,копейку (ваз 2111) 1980г. выпуска с рук за 100 долларов.

[@snoopypingas5426]

Still, people COULD save these amounts of money. You could argue the comparison isn't completely fair because an average person now has an obscene amount of debt, pays more taxes than a Soviet citizen and I'm under the impression that the basic living expenses were also relatively low in the USSR.

[@boggisthecat]

Snoopy Pingas Many people had relatively large amounts of savings, as there was a shortage of material items to buy. There was a huge black market (generally ignored by authorities) for items like jeans, records, sunglasses etc. Soviet trawlers operated out of the port near the city I live in, and when the sailors came into town they would just about empty out the clothing shops. Better to convert your wages into material goods to take back to Vladivostok.

[@trublu71]

The Volga was the choice car of the KGB

[@TIAGO543211]

well, wasnt easy to get a car in ussr with this salary, a brand new car was around 6-8k. Lets compare with brazil around 1995: minimum wage was around 100BRL, and a old VW from 80's new(old model) would cost around 10k. A good model with a good motor and confort would cost around 17000 BRL, almost impossible.

[@thedude9024]

The guy with 4 jobs probably is leaving out the part of being a goods smuggler/merchant. "Truck driver" Yeah right, but I would also jump into that business if I had no other means of economic means.

[@user-bt1vr4vi7x]

Crazy shit about hard wirking in Moldova. That republik was one of the best in sovok, because of low quility vine. They sold that vine to rest of the country and were comparetivly rich..

[@rorypenstock1763]

5:58 correspondence school

[@pimpingmrli]

They really ruined some of these cars with all that shit they put on them. Wasn't it the LADA that was made at the Togliatti factory somewhere in the town renamed after Togliatti (somewhere near Volgograd I think). The cars and the factory were like a twin to some Fiat car and factory in Turin or somewhere like that??? I can't remember all the details...but I found it interesting. They had signed a deal with Fiat and had their own Fiat factory in SSSR

[@skuula]

You could make a whole vid about nothing else than those propaganda posters. Also if they had any effect, if people liked them or not, etc.

[@UshankaShow]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6KaYZyhr95_qcU kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqrXe4Gti8igaMU

[@anestisgenk591]

Where do you find all these pictures? Comparing salaries is not very accurate. You may have high salary and cheap cars (in USA) but you have to pay for the university the house the insurance and all these expenses(livings costs) may narrow the gap between an american and a soviet citizen.

[@AnArchyRulzz]

Anestis Genk well let's not forget that getting into good university and other aspects of life in many communist countries many times was based on family connections, party standing etc. Even though those things didn't cost money doesn't mean there was equitable access.

[@AvidanTheExpositor]

Comparing salaries alone like you did is not accurate either. Americans dont have to wait 9 years for university, a house, insurance, or supplies.

[@AvidanTheExpositor]

The free market system provides for all that as soon as you can afford to pay, whereas communism cannot keep up with demand, nor can they make it affordable.

[@anestisgenk591]

In USSR they waited 9 years for a car or an appartment. In meanwhile they had good public transportation and nobody lived on the streets. I said that University in USSR was free and healthcare was free for all, while in USA it is not and it is not affordable for many.

[@anestisgenk591]

Same happened for many western universities(and not only) during cold war. Saying you are against communism/capitalism in the wrong place could cost your career. Even today rich people actually buy their degree as they sponsor university, so meritocracy and capitalism is not exactly a perfect match. As for socialist countries, it was explained in other episodes that If you had the grades and you were not openly really against the regime you could study. The fact that from a rural country became superpower in ~20 years means that probably had the right guys to do the right job, science does not progress with slave labor. Oh and joining the party was for free, anyone could join and seek a political career. If your father had already significant position in the party would be a boost for you, but same happens in west. Moreover in west If you have money you can also boost yourself, not exactly democratic I believe.

[@loukadisalvio1922]

If you could create a soviet union 2.0 to life what would you improve from the old soviet union?

[@loukadisalvio1922]

Not if we learn from our mistake

[@loukadisalvio1922]

Unfortunatly theres no perfect country and i think communism should be introduce by stages not in 1 shot. Honestly if we could find a perfect mix between capitalism and communism it would be a sweet spot.

[@loukadisalvio1922]

And by the way I love your channel, mostly because you're awesome and because Im passionated about communism and the ussr!

[@loukadisalvio1922]

I agree with you and thats why I said that we need a mix between communism and capitalism

[@loukadisalvio1922]

I don't understant what you mean by that. Sorry my english isnt so good

[@NicoLReino]

I'd also like to add that in the US cars were affordable because of the car industry lobby in that country that turned the US into a complete car-based society with barely no public transport, which is laughable compared to any other western country. Nowadays there's a huge problem with the car-based model because of global warming. If they had instead pushed for public transport and making cities human-sized livable places instead of mastodontic car grids, we maybe wouldn't have this problem with air pollution and global warming and also US cities would look better and be more accesible to humans. Also the US wouldn't have that huge problem it has with obesity and sedentarism.

[@shanescatsandcannabisfarm2965]

It only took a few hours to buy a car in America. Why in the hell did it take so long there?!?!?!

[@UshankaShow]

Buying took only one day. WAITING for your turn to buy took up to 9 years. Not enough cars were manufactured

[@gustavbabic5004]

They are not making these old Soviet cars anymore, so it is kinda sad to see people trying to modify them and turn them into tuner cars. There are plenty of old Toyota and Nissan cars that can be destroyed, so save the old Ladas and Gaz for future people to look at.

[@becconvideo]

of course they do. You can still buy a Lada Niva - and if this is to posh for you, get an UAZ (Xunter - old Red Army Jeep) or Buchanka (rugged 4x4 van, unchanged for 60 years) - amazing how much they can charge for one of these under market conditions.

[@BB-kt5eb]

I always thought Zel was the nicest luxury car in the Soviet Union.

[@NicoLReino]

So earning 80 soviet rubles a month like this guy's wife would be equivalent of 480 US $ given the exchange rate. I was just watching a Spanish film that took place in the late 60s and people were earning 1300 pesetas/month which are about 10 US $. I'll leave that sink there. I also went to search the average salary of Americans in 1970, it was about 820 US $/a month. Tbh soviet wages don't look that bad if you see the whole picture. Also in soviet union you could even apply for free or ridiculouslu affordable housing, some food was also provided, cheap electricity and gas, not that many working hours as in capitalist countries, etc.

[@ECESW]

Sounds more like he was a smuggler of western items. Don't buy into his cover story.

[@1943ofour]

Gunter V lol...me neither

[@mchlbk]

Soviet cars illustrate how there was no innovation at all in the Soviet Union. Unfortunately this doesn't appear to have changed in today's Russia.

[@boggisthecat]

mchlbk Lada Niva were imported here in the early through late 1980s. The motors were somewhat unreliable, but they were able to outperform far more expensive vehicles off-road. You still see them around. Toyota utility trucks are similar, with many very old vehicles still operable. (The import was a direct trade for butter and other dairy products. New Zealand had over-production of those commodities and a lack of affordable, sturdy cars suitable for the rougher country roads. The USSR had shortages of dairy products at this time, and difficulty trading for political and practical reasons - US dollars being the international reserve currency, used for almost all trade in the West.)

[@NortheastIndiaindetails]

USSR had. Ore innovations than USA

[@danielkarlsson156]

I must say I really enjoy the Russian models. The cars are also nice ;)

[@fbboisclair]

What can a Lada do? Everything except start. That was a classical joke in Canada... where you can buy one.

[@albertserrano3707]

I think that joke applies to a Mosvitch. They break often.

[@Screw4138]

13:34 that's a West German plate, WL standing for Winsen (Luhe). So this photo was taken after the reunification of Germany, makes sense since nobody apart from communist party boot lickers or, let's say, preferred citizens, had access to a Lada Niva in Eastern Germany.

[@basedpatriarch]

Four jobs? Quite the capitalist.

[@shanescatsandcannabisfarm2965]

What about Soviet air force?

[@syedasif7939]

Ussr zindabad we love u

[@alastairward2774]

Lovely looking cars, ruined by the "stance".

[@everydayhero5076]

Dodge SRT knock-off 2:06.

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

Fiat 124 Spyder? Nah. I had a 124. Was great in the snow, oddly, even though it was a two seater sports car. I think you are confusing Fiat models.

[@UshankaShow]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_124 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAZ-2101

[@skyking6989]

In Soviet Union car drives you!

[@teekey1754]

"Rifle" jeans ? Made in...Italy.