And so to our final contender, and surely the one with the greatest cult appeal. The Lada Niva was introduced in 1977, and until 1997, when Ladas ceased to be imported officially, was sold in the UK alongside the rest of the Lada range almost entirely unchanged.
Light weight and compact dimensions help here
Given its fabulously utilitarian looks, you'd be forgiven for thinking the Lada Niva is an agricultural old heap to drive. You'd be right. Vague steering, awkward gearshift, knobbly ride, copious gearbox whine - all these will be familiar to anyone who's ever had the fortune (or otherwise) to drive a Niva.
Power came from a pretty crude 73hp 1.6-litre petrol engine, although in 1994, power was upped considerably to... ahem... 82hp, with the arrival of a new(ish) 1.7-litre version. Other markets did get a 1.9-litre diesel cribbed from Peugeot, though that version never made it over here officially.
Slow, cramped, uncomfortable, noisy, and otherwise deeply unpleasant it may be, but there's something about this old Russian bus and its sense of unimpeachable dependability that can't even be matched by any of the other cars here. From behind the spindly, cheap plastic wheel, it feels like you could conquer the world in a Niva. As indeed you could; while it hasn't quite got the same go-anywhere abilities as a Defender or Land Cruiser, the Niva's lightness means it'll dance across squishier surfaces where heavier vehicles would simply bog down.
Well, there's not much to go wrong at least...
Nivas are, as you may be aware, still built today, and that's given rise to an interesting postscript: until very recently, and for a short time only, an importer in Kent would bring a brand new example into the country for you for the princely sum of £13,395. His website is no longer, which would seem to suggest that the service is defunct, but if you can find one of these late models, you can enjoy the experience of 1970s Soviet off-roading as though it were yesterday.
And if you can't, well, we've seen A1 examples going for £7,000, which seems rather laughable given that a brand new Dacia Duster is a vastly more pleasant (if less characterful) thing that'll cost you barely any more. More sensibly priced was the decent example in average nick with a low mileage that we saw for less than £3,000. And if you really are on a budget, a spot of keen digging and patience could land you a scruffy but usable example for £1,500 or less.