RE: SOTW: Lada Niva Cossack

[Sir_Dave]

My parents had a red Lada Niva when i was growing up, replaced our stbox Series 2 Landy that spent more time in bits than on the road ... was notable however for the leopard skin seatcovers that dad fitted over the povvo spec vinyl (not a cossack version!).

Offroad it was blooming brilliant, & never let us down come mud, snow or flood - we live in the middle of nowhere in Cornwall. Also, (& rather amusingly) towed pretty much every other 4x4 out of the goo at many a hunt meet.

Cr4p car, but great 4x4.

The french still use them as lifeguard vehicles on the beaches iirc.

[bobzilla7]

There were popular green laners when 90s were still a bit expensive.

There were nimble and agile which was why they were good 'off road'. There were certainly better than leafers if driven well.

[Colonial]

Fartgalen said:

Lot of people seem to like this one. I wonder how many of them actually would buy one ?
I certainly wouldn't.

Would I buy one? No. Can I respect the honesty of it and the off road capability? Yes.

[300bhp/ton]

XJSsometimeSoon said:

300bhp/ton said:

There's no denying they were a lot rarer, but they weren't unheard of. A bit like the old Subaru pickups you used to see 15-20 years ago, all of which now seem to have vanished completely.

Around us it is all Defenders, with the odd Daihatsu Fortrak, G wagen and SJ40, all weirdly good farm hacks in their own way

Fortraks did go through a spell of being popular, some keen pricing I think from Mr Daihatsu. But they rust almost as quickly as the Lada's do. I'd be willing to bet in 10 years time a Fortrak will be almost as rare too.

[300bhp/ton]

djbobbins said:

It's nostalgic, but other than for novelty value or to wrap it in cotton wool and hope it appreciates in value, I don't "get" why anyone would buy one of these when for the same amount of money you can get someting like a v6 SWB Trooper.

Okay, so the Trooper will drink like George Best (mine does about 21 mpg, tops) but it's great fun for hooning around in, makes a proper noise and is good offroad. It will tow 3300 kg and if pressed, will do 100mph on road (apparently).

I think James May sums it up rather well:

James May said:

It's absolutely fit for purpose, in the way few things are.

Good article on the Niva: http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/james-may-vs-lada...


And I think that sums it up fully. It does exactly what is says on the tin, nothing more, nothing less.

[johnpeat]

On the topic of (ex) Monster Trucks, someone locally has taken to using an old Nissan pickup as his daily which has clearly been a semi-monster at some point (it has about 18" of suspension travel but almost 'normal' wheels now!!).

It's rusty and battered and he pootles around town in it - but the NOISE - I cannot fully explain the NOISE! You can hear this thing coming from maybe 1.5miles away in the day and probably 3miles at night - in that time he'll use a gallon of fuel I guess.

It's a weird sort of cool and it's evading my attempts to get a pic (or better, a video!!)

[plasticpig]

You can buy them new in the UK for £11K. I quite fancy one and can't think of another proper 4x4 that can be had for £11K brand new.

[johnpeat]

300bhp/ton said:

And I think that sums it up fully. It does exactly what is says on the tin, nothing more, nothing less.

That's not untrue BUT there are some issues (which are largely shared with the Defender tbh)

The interior is cramped in a way which defies belief - I've NO idea what shape the designer and his family and friends were but they were NOT regular 'walk on 2 legs' humans

The fitments are basic in a "will snap/drop off or simply not work at all" way - and the endearing side of that wears-off quite quickly

A mate used to have a Niva and a Fourtrak but offroad funs and, at the end of the day, the Niva was used for pulling the Fourtrak out of really bad holes and then everyone would get back into the Fourtrak

[thewheelman]

300bhp/ton said:

thewheelman said:

Again, you're wrong. As i had the same tyres he had on his stbox Lada as i did on my Defender, & i had no problems what so ever. I was for ever pulling his stbox out of situations that my Defender just went through.

That proves little. All it says that it was either driver or something was broken.

The only time a Defender would have had a real advantage would maybe be ground clearance or a severer axle twister (although Defenders aren't good here either).

Did you try swapping vehicles at all? Maybe suddenly the LR would have started get stuck everywhere?

I'm not trying to diss your observations either, but step back and look at it from a mechanical point of view.

A LR splits power via a locked centre diff (Diff Lock) and sends equal power to the front and rear axles via the prop shafts. Each axle has an open diff and also sends power to each wheel.

Open diffs mean should you lift diagonally opposite wheels off the ground you'll be stuck. And in slippery conditions even with all 4 wheels on the ground it may not spin all of them at the same time. This is perfectly normal.

The Niva also has a transfer box with a Diff lock, so when locked it too sends equal power to both front and rear wheels. Each axle again has an open diff, so it does exactly, 100% the same thing as the Land Rover does.

I guess it's possible that your "mate" simply selected low range and either didn't engage diff lock or the mechanism was broken so that it wasn't engaging correctly. With an open centre diff, a 4x4 will quickly become a 1wd vehicle on surfaces like wet grass, mud or heavily rutted terrain.


The only other real difference is the Niva has IFS, so is likely to flex less than a Defender and be more prone to becoming axle twisted. However IFS would have had zero affect on ability on a flat grass field.

No, there was nothing wrong mechanically with it, & the driver knew what he was doing. The Lada was/is just the inferior car.

[johnpeat]

plasticpig said:

You can buy them new in the UK for £11K. I quite fancy one and can't think of another proper 4x4 that can be had for £11K brand new.

Oh my...

Color: "Depths of the Sea" - for once I think they may not be kidding

"Mechanical Warranty" - for as long as you own the vehicle. There are some farmers who'll be holding them to that in 2035...

and it's £8-and-a-bit as a 2-seat CDV (no VAT)!! - http://www.markkey.co.uk/nivavan.html

[JoeBolt]

In the late 1990's Lada Nivas were in prolific use in the oilfields of Turkmenistan. Many of them were brand new. It was quite usual to see one or two written off (rolled) examples parked up in oil company compounds after their drivers had become a little over enthusiastic. Rumour has it that any such antics resulted in instant dismissals.
I always fancied a go in one, but not at the expense of giving up the Ford F350 5.8L V8 crew cab pick up that I'd been given to hoon around in.

[SpeedEight]

It sold on eBay on the 2nd - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lada-Niva-Cossack-Spares...

Only 3 days old ad on here, maybe winning bidder changed his mind.

[thewheelman]

The only interesting picture of a Lada Niva i could find, & oh look, it got stuck. Not that i'm complaining, as its occupants decide to have a tickle fight in the mud while waiting for a Land Rover to assist.

[thewheelman]

SpeedEight said:

It sold on eBay on the 2nd - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lada-Niva-Cossack-Spares...

Only 3 days old ad on here, maybe winning bidder changed his mind.

......or it was a box of turds.....

[y2blade]

Chrisw666 said:

I knew when I saw this on the homepage that the thread would contain a few people respecting the Lada for what it is/was, a few people slating it for being ste, and 300bhp/ton having an argument with a dumb troll.

well summed-up

[XJSsometimeSoon]

plasticpig said:

You can buy them new in the UK for £11K. I quite fancy one and can't think of another proper 4x4 that can be had for £11K brand new.

LPG conversion for £535 is an utter bargin.

[thewheelman]

y2blade said:

Chrisw666 said:

I knew when I saw this on the homepage that the thread would contain a few people respecting the Lada for what it is/was, a few people slating it for being ste, and 300bhp/ton having an argument with a dumb troll.

well summed-up

Yes, i see trolls, 3 of them.

[thewheelman]

Chrisw666 said:

I knew when I saw this on the homepage that the thread would contain a few people respecting the Lada for what it is/was, a few people slating it for being ste, and 300bhp/ton having an argument with a dumb troll.

Clearly you know very little

[SpeedEight]

thewheelman said:

SpeedEight said:

It sold on eBay on the 2nd - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lada-Niva-Cossack-Spares...

Only 3 days old ad on here, maybe winning bidder changed his mind.

......or it was a box of turds.....

I was trying to be diplomatic

[kambites]

These things are everywhere around where my in-laws live in Bulgaria. They seem pretty indestructible as long as you're willing to weld in the occasional new bit of structure.