Lada Niva

[Shnozz]

For those that have owned one, how do they compare versus a Santana/Samurai/SJ410/413?

I was ideally after a side by side quad (CFMoto ZForce) for some mountain lane fun at weekends but at €10k+ for a toy I am coming around the idea of a cheap 4x4 and the Santana is the obvious choice. However, having seen a few Niva's for sale it could make a decent alternative.

[biggbn]

austinsmirk said:

You want to have a word with Barry and his wife Tatiana.

They import them. ??

Pedant, bit wasn't that Rivas and the like...don't recall seeing a Niva on an episode?

[0a]

Autocar review: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/lada/niva

I sort of want one. Don't know why.

[BroadsRS6]

£18K for one with that engine? Hell, no.
I've just secured a low mileage 4 litre Wrangler for half that money.

[BFleming]

Saw this on a German forum...
https://www.classic-trader.com/uk/cars/listing/lad...

[the-norseman]

Needs to loose them wheels.

[nismo48]

Quite robust little 4x4's and long lived..Over here in Spains Sierra Nevada's a few still can be seen about..faded paint and a few dings but nevertheless running sweetly

[GT03ROB]

nismo48 said:

Quite robust little 4x4's and long lived..Over here in Spains Sierra Nevada's a few still can be seen about..faded paint and a few dings but nevertheless running sweetly

You want to see the rust buckets we have here! String holding a bunch of rusty dented panels together!

[vikingaero]

I think there is a Lada Niva Bronto which is kind of like a Kahn/Chelsea Truck upgrade. Whilst Kahn/Chelsea are rather gash, the Bronto version make them more relevant to the 21st Century and more bearable to drive.

[Cliftonite]

the-norseman said:

Needs to loose them wheels.

But they would then fall off!

[the-norseman]

Cliftonite said:

But they would then fall off!

Good!

[legless]

I've a vague recollection that these are quite heavily based on the Fiat 127 of all things.

[2ono]

I saw one of these today in Battlesbridge, Essex

[livinginasia]

Not sure many people would want to be seen driving round in a Russian car these days.

[bongtom]

The Riva ended production in 2012 at the Russian factory, unless they are from Egypt, so where are these "new" cars from?

I looked at a Riva years ago but ended up buying a Skoda Estelle. Oddly it's a more refined car!

[TwigtheWonderkid]

bongtom said:

The Riva ended production in 2012 at the Russian factory, unless they are from Egypt, so where are these "new" cars from?

It's a Niva, not a Riva.

[Kes Arevo]

Loads of Nivas round these parts.

The utilities companies tend to use their pick up variants for their jobs.



Police still knocking about in them, although getting rare.

[paul arm1967]

Terrible things , all ladas were , used to work in lada dealership years ago and had the joy of driving one of these awful things

[JoeRRS]

I live in Baku most of the year loads of them out here a fair few get some serious money spent on upgrading / modifying them also.

Been in a couple over the years and its a no from me...

[LimmerickLad]

I had a couple of Nivas in the Mid 80's. They were awful to drive on the road (even the 1 that had a Fiat Twincam engine transplant) but they were great offroad. Living very rural and working in groundworks I often got asked to pull other more "prestigious" offroad vehicles out of muddy fields / building sites much to their owners' embarrassment - there aren't many cars you can pressure wash inside either ;-)