On our way to meet friends for breakfast in Portland this morning I just about twisted my head clear off my neck when I spotted a Lada 2102 parked on the street. After eating I swung back by and caught the owner heading about to get in and drive away
I absolutely LOVE these cars and the Fiat 124 sedans they are based on. I think they are one of the most handsome small sedans ever made. I have been planning on importing one for years since the few Fiats left on american soil are all so rusty. After drooling over it for 10 minutes I am even more convinced that I have to.
The owner was very, VERY Russian. I approached him and said "Good morning,I was hoping I could look at your Lada". His response was "YOU KNOW LADA? ARE YOU FROM MY COUNTRY?" I said no, that I am just a Fiat fanatic to which he said "NO, NO FEEITS IN RUSSIA, BUT IS FEEIT ONE TWO FOUR" in the deepest loudest Russian voice. Seriously, just like every villain from from every 80's movie with a Russian antagonist. I learned that it was an 87 2102 1200s with sixteen thousand kilometers on it and he was rightfully very proud of it.
And now I will start to figure out how to sell every car I own and import one, hopefully a wagon version
I was just thinking this weekend about how I would love to have a Lada.
Of course that's a pretty normal weekend for me.
Welcome to Portland. The land of weird cars, no rust despite heavy rains, and a Russian community that will sell you a re-“fixed” salvage title car. It’s a real epidemic here.
We occasionally get Lada's in Vermont coming over the border from Canada.
The Lada Niva 4x4 is the most common Ladas you find in Canada when they were selling them here in the 90s. Ital motors in Edmonton usually has a couple outside in the yard as they were a dealer for them back then.
I was ogling this Fiat on BAT earlier today.
I like them too.
If you REALLY wanted a Lada, I could help.
Same with Trabants, Skodas, and Polski Fiats 
In reply to Hungary Bill :
What was that Hungarian autotrader type site you once told us about?
I must have driven past that place a million times; nothing about it made me read the signs...
Keep your eyes peeled for Delicas and 4x4 Toyota Hi-Aces too. Lots of fun JDM vans 'round these parts.
MotorsportsGordon said:
The Lada Niva 4x4 is the most common Ladas you find in Canada when they were selling them here in the 90s. Ital motors in Edmonton usually has a couple outside in the yard as they were a dealer for them back then.
I desperately want a Niva 4x4. I know it would be a nightmare, but I want one anyway.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
I think there is actually a higher density of the lifted JDM vans down here in Eugene.
In reply to Jumper K Balls :
Seen a few going over the pass back to Sisters myself. Cool they are catching on.
Dave
Reader
12/11/17 10:43 a.m.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
MotorsportsGordon said:
The Lada Niva 4x4 is the most common Ladas you find in Canada when they were selling them here in the 90s. Ital motors in Edmonton usually has a couple outside in the yard as they were a dealer for them back then.
I desperately want a Niva 4x4. I know it would be a nightmare, but I want one anyway.
I've owned a couple Nivas. They are quite reasonable to work and mechanical quality is pretty decent. The interior has some of the cheapest plastics you'll find anywhere. Bonus - they come with a crank start handle!
I was in Jamaica around 40 years ago & there were bunches of new Ladas there. Seems Jamaica & Russia had made some sort of bauxite for Ladas trade. Jamaicans that I talked to loved them cause they were so much faster than most other stuff they had.
This lil' guy right here
Is 1123.51 US Dollars. If shipping it could come in around 3 grand I would be in.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
MotorsportsGordon said:
The Lada Niva 4x4 is the most common Ladas you find in Canada when they were selling them here in the 90s. Ital motors in Edmonton usually has a couple outside in the yard as they were a dealer for them back then.
I desperately want a Niva 4x4. I know it would be a nightmare, but I want one anyway.
You and Eric Gee both.
Eric Gee had a 190 Cossie (ex-Baruth) that was apparently so rusted out that they installed a roll cage just to hold the car together. He also excelled at converting V8 MN10s to manual transmissions. He'd probably fit right in with us.
Jay_W
Dork
12/11/17 10:38 p.m.
Gad. If I am gonna drive a box, I am gonna get another 510 and be done with it!
Burrito's got the site linked, but basically if you can find a car within saaaaaaaay 1.5 hours of Papa, Hungary, 8500 I have people in the area that would be willing to check out a car for you and load it up into a cargo container. If someone were really interested I'd send a feeler message to the dude to see what he'd want for compensation (probably something like $200 + gas? maybe?) and then you'd find a car from there. He'd store it at his tire shop (not a lot of storage space there, so please be considerate when coordinating your shipping) and then he could either load it into a trailer at the local tractor shop, or maybe for a larger fee he could drive it to Koper, Slovenia or Italy, or wherever the nearest RORO location was.
(RORO would be the cheaper shipping option, but we'd have to seriously work out some sort of monetary compensation to make it worth his while. Driving a communist-craigslist car with a top highway speed of about 60mph through a couple countries has got to be brutal 
)
Also, once upon a time these guys offered to ship my car in a container for $2000 from Budapest to Florida or New York http://ekauto.net/en/contact-0
Their business is to import big american cars into Hungary and they're located in Budapest, so not so long of a drive to get to a good shipping point. They might even be able to negotiate the purchase of your vehicle too!
Aside from the commie cars, there are also the Carlos Sainz Celicas, the later generation 323 GTX's, and lots of other stuff we didn't get in the states. Rotary's aren't hugely popular and they're LHD so if you were looking for a clean 3rd gen RX-7 or something there may be an option for you there as well. Hungary was unicorn car heaven for me when I was there 
Good times
Jumper K Balls said:
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
I think there is actually a higher density of the lifted JDM vans down here in Eugene.
Nice! I love those things.
Hungary Bill said:
Driving a communist-craigslist car with a top highway speed of about 60mph through a couple countries has got to be brutal )
I can't be the only one that thinks this sounds like a pretty fantastic weekend adventure.
I will admit that I too am looking.
Do I have the money? Nah.
Do I have stuff I could sell to fund this? Totally.
Do I really need both a Fiat 128 AND a Lada 1200? I think we all know the answer to that.
My aunt bought two Ladas in the 1980s here in Canada. You'd think she would have learned her lesson after the first. Neither was "good", but the first (likely a 1980) was way more interesting than the 1986 ish model. The early car had weird seat belts, and weird decorative embossing on the door cards, and weird brownish plastics. The later car was simple black plastic inside.
I was always intrigued by them, despite their awfulness.
Burrito said:
Hungary Bill said:
Driving a communist-craigslist car with a top highway speed of about 60mph through a couple countries has got to be brutal )
I can't be the only one that thinks this sounds like a pretty fantastic weekend adventure.
I will admit that I too am looking.
Do I have the money? Nah.
Do I have stuff I could sell to fund this? Totally.
Do I really need both a Fiat 128 AND a Lada 1200? I think we all know the answer to that.
There's a Rallye called the Budapest to Bamako (think Gambler 500) that runs every other year now. I have been kicking myself in the butt for not picking up a $500 Lada or a $250 trabant and making the run while I still lived in Hungary...
I hope to fix that in about 5 years. I already have a plan in place with the necessary bribery to get Mrs. Hungary on board.
