Lada Niva

[Kes Arevo]

PS, when I looked at them, I was told they aren't reliable, BUT you can get parts incredibly easy, and they can accept any number of different car parts to get by.

If you get something more reliable then you may struggle to get parts.

It's one of those pick 2 of 3 things.

Cheap
Reliable
Lots of spares

[jimmytheone]

saw this and thought of this thread


^^ Niva content linked ^^

Edited by jimmytheone on Thursday 12th January 19:43

[biggbn]

legless said:

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

I don't think other than some styling cues they are. VAZ first 'all VAZ' design although a lot of mechanicals were still 124. I thought these were brilliant and had a grudging respect for the Lada, and FSO/Pollski Fiat saloons, although the Lada from memory was 124 based and the FSO was based on the slightly bigger, more refined! 125.

[BFleming]

biggbn said:

legless said:

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

I don't think other than some styling cues they are. VAZ first 'all VAZ' design although a lot of mechanicals were still 124. I thought these were brilliant and had a grudging respect for the Lada, and FSO/Pollski Fiat saloons, although the Lada from memory was 124 based and the FSO was based on the slightly bigger, more refined! 125.

You're quite right - Fiat sold the production rights of the 124 to the Russians, and got some cheap Russian steel by return. That steel went on to cement Fiat's reputation as rust buckets. The mid 70s 131 & 132 - love them personally - were frequently scrapped at only a few years old. Rust everywhere - even in the middle of panels. Ironically Lada used better quality steel for their cars than Fiat got by return.
The 125 was a relatively short-lived car, launched in 1967 replaced by the 132 in 1972. The tooling and licencing was sold to the Polish, who build the Polski-Fiat 125p, which later became the FSO 125 (usually found with a 1300cc OHV engine instead of the 125's 1600 twincam). There were other licenced builders / assemblers of the 125, and some funky variants (like the pick-up). I worked in a Fiat dealership in the mid 1980's, and we used to srvice a FSO 125 pick up with a Truckman unit on the rear. It was referred to as the UFO (instead of FSO).
The 131 tooling was sent to Turkey & Egypt, where that continued to be made until 2010.
The Lada Niva was a hybrid of sorts. Conceived and built in Russia from the Lada parts bin with heavy styling influence from the Fiat 127.

[LimmerickLad]

BFleming said:

biggbn said:

legless said:

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

I don't think other than some styling cues they are. VAZ first 'all VAZ' design although a lot of mechanicals were still 124. I thought these were brilliant and had a grudging respect for the Lada, and FSO/Pollski Fiat saloons, although the Lada from memory was 124 based and the FSO was based on the slightly bigger, more refined! 125.

You're quite right - Fiat sold the production rights of the 124 to the Russians, and got some cheap Russian steel by return. That steel went on to cement Fiat's reputation as rust buckets. The mid 70s 131 & 132 - love them personally - were frequently scrapped at only a few years old. Rust everywhere - even in the middle of panels. Ironically Lada used better quality steel for their cars than Fiat got by return.
The 125 was a relatively short-lived car, launched in 1967 replaced by the 132 in 1972. The tooling and licencing was sold to the Polish, who build the Polski-Fiat 125p, which later became the FSO 125 (usually found with a 1300cc OHV engine instead of the 125's 1600 twincam). There were other licenced builders / assemblers of the 125, and some funky variants (like the pick-up). I worked in a Fiat dealership in the mid 1980's, and we used to srvice a FSO 125 pick up with a Truckman unit on the rear. It was referred to as the UFO (instead of FSO).
The 131 tooling was sent to Turkey & Egypt, where that continued to be made until 2010.
The Lada Niva was a hybrid of sorts. Conceived and built in Russia from the Lada parts bin with heavy styling influence from the Fiat 127.

Would this explain why the Niva I bought for spares at an auction mid 80's (I actually drove it about for a while) had a Fiat twincam engine fitted?

[soad]

My aunt (a doctor) had one, in the late 80s/very early 90s. Was purely a commuting tool in all weathers, on mostly gravel countryside roads.

Was basic, but did the job. Can’t say what the maintenance was like (my uncle is no longer around).

[MustangGT]

soad said:

My aunt (a doctor) had one, in the late 80s/very early 90s. Was purely a commuting tool in all weathers, on mostly gravel countryside roads.

Was basic, but did the job. Can’t say what the maintenance was like (my uncle is no longer around).

I had one from 2001 to 2003. Maintenance was simple, DIY. Never had a single problem with it in 18k miles.

[1878]

Manual, simplicity, no "iPad on the dash", no fancy electronics. Surely it's a PHer dream come true and the whole site will pause for a collective fap-fest?

[BFleming]

LimmerickLad said:

Would this explain why the Niva I bought for spares at an auction mid 80's (I actually drove it about for a while) had a Fiat twincam engine fitted?

They dropped right in. A neighbour did the exact same thing to his Niva, dropping a Supermirafiori 1600TC unit in there when the Lada unit went bang.

[LimmerickLad]

BFleming said:

LimmerickLad said:

Would this explain why the Niva I bought for spares at an auction mid 80's (I actually drove it about for a while) had a Fiat twincam engine fitted?

They dropped right in. A neighbour did the exact same thing to his Niva, dropping a Supermirafiori 1600TC unit in there when the Lada unit went bang.

Though that might be the case.

It did shift a bit compared the other one I had with the original engine and excellent off road but didn't handle roads any better and both were noisy, uncomfortable boneshakers on long drives.

[300bhp/ton]

paul arm1967 said:

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

I suspect you rather missed the point of it.

[Milli94]

We have one in Bulgaria, it’s an excellent off-road vehicle and superb over rough roads etc. It’s obviously rough and ready but good fun.

[boyse7en]

My first girlfriend's Dad had a Lada Niva. Terrible thing - slow, noisy and not enough room on the back seat.

We had a Lada 1200 Estate. It took six (four adults, two kids) from Devon to Marseilles for a camping holiday. God knows how.

[MustangGT]

Milli94 said:

We have one in Bulgaria, it’s an excellent off-road vehicle and superb over rough roads etc. It’s obviously rough and ready but good fun.

Exactly, they are superb at doing 'what is says on the tin'.

[V10 SPM]

MustangGT said:

Milli94 said:

We have one in Bulgaria, it’s an excellent off-road vehicle and superb over rough roads etc. It’s obviously rough and ready but good fun.

Exactly, they are superb at doing 'what is says on the tin'.

Just for interest, what does it say on the tin?

[MustangGT]

V10 SPM said:

MustangGT said:

Milli94 said:

We have one in Bulgaria, it’s an excellent off-road vehicle and superb over rough roads etc. It’s obviously rough and ready but good fun.

Exactly, they are superb at doing 'what is says on the tin'.

Just for interest, what does it say on the tin?

Get you anywhere, and back again. No frills.