Anyone else notice the trend here? All the know-it-all's, the ones who say Lada is 'crap' etc, also never owned one. Its the same the world over and its sad that so many people are born into such condescendence. I Have owned a Samara and currently own and daily drive a Niva 60km/day. It is fun to drive and durable.
Have a 1983 registered 1200 comdi. Only seen one other but how many Fiat whatevers which they are based on have you seen. None because they all dissolved years ago. The Lada is a cool looking car with all the chrome. Mine is well lowered and beige! Can't go wrong , beats any ford product past and present in reliability and build.
The Lada Riva 1200 is such a great car. I notice one guy said they are crap, you could buy a fleet for £20. What's so crap about that??? The cheaper the better I say. I've had mine for 2 years, and I'm a car enthusiast. It's fast enough on any road, on A roads it's the guy in front in the new car who slows you down. The handling is a problem but I fitted lowered uprated springs, £100, problem solved. My friends think it's great, it's so easy to modify. Of course it goes wrong sometimes, it's 17 years old, but it's so easy to fix and parts are silly money - complete clutch hyraulic system including all pipes £40! It normally goes wrong slowly so you can fix it long before it lets you down at the roadside. I've never been stranded yet. The only problem is other peoples attitude, they pull out in front of you, bash the sides in car parks, and mechanics treat it like s**t. My advice is fix it yourself, it's so easy. A great car, it can even be made to look nice with a bit of work. Ten out of ten.
Lada had been made with old fashion style, technic is reliable and easy to service. Most of spare parts fits in alla models 2101-2107. It makes part buying very easy and cheap.
Lada has basic performance, not a rocket but enought. Engine can be easily modified. CCCP work is not so great, burning cambers looks like coffee cup and valve seats needs modification. Newer carburators are totally from ass, electric valves haven't never worked. New carburator etc and rubber burns to third gear (okey, not with 1.2 engine =)
Then the worst part, driving. Car is designed to be nice in russian roads. It's succeeded, in gravel and snow driving is very fun. In gravel car doesn't feel nice, suspension shold be much tighter. 155/70 R13 tires are not really a racing tires. With no power steering 185/XX tires is only "dreaming of".
Other drivers has only two opinion of Lada, it's totally rubish or nice car. Most of these "experts" haven't never oaven own or drove a Lada. It doesn't bother me, I make my own decicions.
So, cheap reliable car. Easy to service. With little modification can be converted to really a drivers car. That's a car for me!
I own a 1990 signet wagon with a 1.5L engine the car is amazingly fun to drive and has never let me down Id love to get a bit better horsepower out of it though. Parts can be easily obtained if you don't mind waiting for them to be ordered in. For the money its the best car ive ever owned..
My current car is a 1981 1600ES which was purchased two years ago for £200, with 23000 miles on the clock. Previously I had a 1987 1300 Estate in which I covered around 90000 miles. Both have been virtually 100% dependable, comfy, a doddle to service and excellent for the development of biceps. With its brown vinyl roof, bright red paint and mountains of brightwork, the car is the epitome of inverted chic. OK, so it's not so brilliant on fuel but what else can you find for £200 that will never let you down and makes friends wherever she goes? You pay more just to SERVICE the average pose-mobile.
I paid £40 for a neglected 1200 (bought off a friend)10 years ago, ran it for 3 years, and lived in it for a fortnight. (fully reclining seats are practical to sleep on.) It was reliable, maintenance was very easy, and the supplied tool kit was worth the price of the car. I had to buy a brake slave cylinder which was only £5, but 1200-specific parts (ie non-Riva, eg rear light) were unobtainable from dealers, and these cars are now very rare so there wont be any in scrapyards. Heavy metal but my floor had corroded from the front jacking point outriggers. Spray / splash engine oil (not used) thinned as necessary with diesel, kerosene or white spirit, as a cheap/free rust- slower.
TOTAL CRAP!! Go to any auction with a twenty pound note and you can buy a fleet of LADA's( or should that be larders )
Never owned
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed January 2004.
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Imam Ladu 1200 (77g)vec 8 godina i meni je super svu sam je izudarao popravljao itd. ali ide i dalje...ma neka ide ima li netko viska djelova neka javi...
Never owned
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2003.
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I'm from belgium, i like lada 1200 and i would like to find one. could you help me? [Log in to view email]
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Never owned
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed June 2003.
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Lower the car using uprated springs, add some spax gas dampers, drop in a Lancia 2 litre twin cam engine with Fiat 131 Sport gearbox, add a set of twin 40 weber carbs and see who laughs at your Lada then!
Owned for 3 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2002.
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lada is the best car ever, iv had a lada riva for 10 years and it broke down twice in the hole time i owed it. thay should import them again, iv also got 2 samaras and the only problems that iv had is ignition, if you ever wanted a cheap and reliable car its the one.if ANYONE WANTS TO DEBATE IT E-MAIL ME!!!
I drive a Lada 1200 for some time. It's a good car. Don't expect VERY big performace from it, but it still can reach 135Km/h. It looks okay, both inside and outside. I made some modifications to the engine so it doesn't consume to much gas. I've done many, many km with this car and I am very HAPPY!
Owned for more than 5 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed September 2001.
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Have owned two Ladas - brilliant value for money, cheap to run and extremely reliable. Would love to see them imported into the UK again.
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