Mythbuster – Not all Lada-linked legends are la-la…we tell all
Debunking the most common old wives’ tales
1 IT WAS THE ORIGINAL LADA
True, although it was known as the VAZ-2101 when the AutoVAZ company unveiled it in 1970 – and also sometimes ‘Zhiguli’ after a range of nearby mountains in its native Russia. Readers of a Russian car magazine suggested better names before exports began, and the winner was Lada, which means ‘harmony’. It went on sale in the UK in 1974 as the Lada 1200. With artificially low prices, it undercut even the Mini, and was a huge success. By 1979, 70,000 Ladas had been sold here, and the Russian ‘marque’ had bagged 1 per cent of our car market.
2 IT WAS A FIAT 124 MADE IN RUSSIA
The overall design of this car was indeed based on Fiat’s boxy saloon. However, it had a much thicker grade of body steel so it could withstand snowy Russian winters and the Fiat’s refined and lively engine was replaced by a 1.2-litre single-carb version of a Moskvich engine. The Fiat’s allround disc brakes were dumbeddown as the Lada featured rear drums. And finally, there was an open crank into which a starting handle could be shoved on extracold mornings. The Fiat certainly never offered that.
3 IT WAS BUILT IN AN ITALIAN-SOUNDING FACTORY
Construction began in 1966 in partnership with Fiat, in the same year the Fiat 124 was a brand new car. The deal was brokered by Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian communist party. His name was used for a town built around the factory to house workers, which they called Tolyatti. A ‘nocompete’ clause in the contract with the Russian state meant that Lada exports only began in 1974 – the year the 124 was replaced by the 131.