(music) My enduring image of the Lada Riva from the
late 1980s is an old-fashioned car that people bought because it was cheap. With it being the butt of many jokes, it was
about as exciting as Steve Davis. But this is like judging a film you’ve missed
the start of, that’s in a foreign language. The Riva was the first car for many Soviets,
and over a 40-year history sold more than Ford’s Model T.
So just where did this car come from? And why was the USSR hawking it for all it
was worth in the UK in the 1980s? This is the Lada Riva Story. (music) Ever since the end of the Second World War, personal mobility in western nations had been
increasing, first with motorcycles, and then with fully fledged cars. The USSR had looked on and felt that more
car ownership would help their economy grow, and likely keep Soviet citizens happy in the
process. Cars such as the tiny ZAZ-965 had been launched,
but it wasn’t popular and in any case a larger Soviet people’s car was needed. To catch up with western car designers, they
decided to work with a foreign partner. The search began in 1964, and discussions
started with Volkswagen, Renault and FIAT. Some wanted to go with the Renault 16, but
it soon became clear that FIAT was the smart choice. They were a more willing partner, with a sympathetic
socialist Government in power in Italy. They had a compelling choice of cars to choose
from, and as they manufactured 600,000 cars per year they were used to producing cars
on the scale the Soviets were envisioning. The first time the public saw what would eventually
become the Lada Riva, it was descending from the heavens on a parachute as the Fiat 124. It replaced the 1961 Fiat 1300 and 1500 with
an updated style that looked like the designer, Oscar Montabone had glued three cardboard
boxes together, cut holes for the windows and stuck a wheel on each corner. But under that straight-edged design were
modern underpinnings. All gears had synchromesh, the rear suspension
was coil, not leaf sprung, and all of those wheels got disc brakes. The Fiat 124 would go on to win Car Of The
Year in 1967. Debuting in short order, not from the skies,
but rather boringly on a booth at the Turin Motor Show were the utilitarian estate, plus
the sleek, Pininfarina designed 124 Sport Spider. The Sports Coupé arrived just 6 months later. An agreement was signed between FIAT and the
Soviet Union in August 1966, just a few months after the launch of the 124. But it wasn’t the Soviet Union’s initial
choice for their people’s car. They had their eye on the larger 125, but
it was ultimately rejected as it was based on older technology - again the 1961 Fiat
1300 and 1500. The location of the factory for this new car
had been chosen two years earlier, in 1964 – Stavropol on the Volga river. In the 1950s the entire city had been relocated
after the building of a dam and hydroelectric power station. In a move only the Soviets could make the
city was renamed to Tolyatti to honour Palmiro Togliatti, the longest-serving secretary of
the Italian Communist Party who’d been instrumental in setting up the Fiat deal. Construction of a mammoth factory got under
way, and thousands of Russians moved to the city to make this happen. The new factory was named the Volga Automobile
Plant, or Volzhsky Avtomobilny Zavod in Russian - “VAZ” for short. It was done in collaboration with Fiat, and
they were an open book when it came to the car’s design and how to set up the factory,
and this included new automation tools they were planning to introduce. The technology was introduced to the new VAZ
plant as a dry run to iron out the kinks. The car was put through a series of rigorous
tests on a special test site near Moscow in the summer of 1966, and it quickly became
clear that changes would be needed. The chassis of some of the test cars cracked,
and despite Fiat sending out new cars with reinforced chassis, these also cracked. By now it was the winter, and Fiat’s wonderful
new rear disc brakes got gummed up with salt and sand from icy roads, lasting just a few
hundred miles (400 – 800km). The front suspension’s rubber bushings were
also failing. Driving in the harsh conditions and rough
terrain of the Soviet Union was very different to what Fiat’s cars usually experienced,
so the tough tests were necessary to find these problems before production began. VAZ decided to make the chassis from thicker
steel and to reinforce it in key areas. Relatively low ground clearance wouldn’t
work on country roads, so the suspension was raised and softened. Towing eyes would be useful to help get the
car out of trouble or help others out of trouble. And the rear disc brakes were replaced by
aluminium drum brakes to help in those icy winters. The first cars would even come with a starting
handle, in case the battery went flat in cold Siberian winters. The Fiat 124’s 1.2L engine was also seen
as inadequate. The existing engine was seen as too out-of-date,
so it was altered with an overhead camshaft. Fiat liked some of the changes so much they
actually used them on updated Fiat 124 engines. The gearbox and clutch were also beefed up
for the tough Soviet conditions. Soviets had been asked to come up with a name
for the new car. Unfortunately, they missed a trick by not
using “Boaty McBoatface”, going for the more humdrum “Zhiguli”, named after the
hills near the factory. Just before the first car rolled off the production
line, in April 1970 Henry Ford II toured the factory. Production ramped up slowly, and by the end
of 1970 22,000 cars had been produced. By the summer of 1971 the 100,000th car rolled
off the production line. The factory was soon seen as the gold standard
for Soviet factories, and it won many awards. The estate version of the Zhiguli and a deluxe
model, based on the Fiat 124S followed in 1972, and some models were available with
a larger 1.5L engine. The car was a hit with Soviets and despite
the factory reaching capacity of 660,000 cars per year, long waiting lists formed, meaning
it could take years to get one. The Soviet economy ran mostly in isolation
from the rest of the world. There could be economic downturns elsewhere
and the Soviet economy wouldn’t even notice. But there were certain things that they couldn’t
produce, or it was easier to buy from the west, and this required that sweet foreign
currency, which required exporting Soviet products. But apparently there’s only so much Smirnoff
vodka the world can drink, so the Politburo was always on the lookout for products the
West could purchase. VAZ had tried exporting its cars as Zhiguli’s,
but that word had proved too hard for westerners to say. The way some Spaniards said it sounded a little
like gigolo – probably not the best association to have! So, they quickly switched to the much easier
“Lada” name in 1973. But in 1974 VAZ saw an opportunity to increase
sales. Fiat ended 124 production, and VAZ saw they
could fill the gap in the market with the almost identical Zhiguli. That is for every country other than Italy,
as their agreement with Fiat explicitly restricted that market. The saloon and estate started appearing in
many European countries, as the Lada 1200 and 2101. It helped the Fiat 124 had been designed for
both left and right-hand drive, which allowed it to be sold pretty much worldwide. Lada’s big selling point was their low price
– just £979 in the UK in 1973, that’s about £12,000 today
($15,000 USD, €13,000, $21,000 AUD). That’s a great price for what amounted to
a Fiat 124 that could survive harsh conditions, and the design was only 7 years old. By 1973 there were 268 Lada dealers across
the UK. In 1974 the Zhiguli got an update both in
Mother Russia and abroad. The engine got a boost to 1.3L, seats were
more comfortable, and the interior and exterior were given a spruce up. By now VAZ was producing three quarters of
a million cars per year, making it the 3rd most productive factory in the world. But the waiting list for Soviets was still
over a year. The Zhiguli was updated to the 2106 model
in 1976 and outside the USSR it was known as the Lada 1600. As you might think from the name, the car
got a larger 1.6L engine, by boring out the block and increasing the stroke. It wasn’t much more powerful than the old
1.5L engine but it had more torque. Expensive chrome parts were replaced by cheaper
options, as was the case with western cars at the time as well. The premium model got modern conveniences
such as headrests on the front seats.No major changes to the shape were made apparently
in reverence to the original Fiat design, but also likely due to the significant cost
it would incur to do the work! Despite this car being out of date in the
West, in the USSR it was the most sought-after car. There were better cars – such as the GAZ
or ZIL, but these were reserved for party members or state officials. Of the cars regular people could get, this
was the one to have. NSU had produced a Wankel rotary engine in
the 1960s, and it had caused such large debts, NSU had been forced into a takeover by VW. But what was left of NSU gave VAZ permission
to use its ill-fated engine in 1974. Production began in 1976, but it would take
until 1978 until they started appearing on the Zhuguli. They were only available to the Soviet police
and KGB, and eventually twin-rotor models appeared with 140hp and a 0-60 time around
9 seconds. Unlike Mazda, the engine never went into volume
production, but like Mazda, VAZ stuck with the engine, producing their last in 2004. By now VAZ had produced 4M cars, and was exporting
the Zhiguli to Canada, as the Lada Signet. All this export cash bought new technology
such as 30 welding robots from Japan that were installed in the VAZ factory between
1977 and 1981. With increased production at the VAZ factory
the Soviet waiting list was now down to around a year. Further work was done on the Zhuguli with
a new 1979 model. Again, these were minor changes usually done
to reduce costs, such as integrating all the rear lights into a single unit, but there
were some improvements – such as cloth seats. 4 years later it appeared in Western Europe
as the Lada Riva, initially only as a 1.3L saloon, but 1.2L and 1.5L engines would arrive
the following year. Lada received a large advertising budget to
try and increase their market share. In the UK the car went racing in the Lada
Challenge Trophy in 1982, and the same year the company sponsored a snooker event known
as “The Classic”. Steve Davis scored the very first televised
maximum break at the Lada Classic in 1982, winning his very own Lada Riva in the process. Sadly, Stephen Hendry was too young to bag
his own Riva! Yes, that was just a reason to show the only
photo I have of someone who’s famous! Buyers of the Lada were either sympathetic
to Soviet causes and wanted to support them, or were looking for a deal, as the Riva remained
a very inexpensive car that could be easily maintained. Or maybe they liked the by now retro looks
of the Riva! But for most people this was a car you bought
with your head, and not your heart. Lada continued to add small improvements like
a 5-speed gearbox, and an SLX model with slightly different trim. But by now everything Soviet was seen as out
of date, and the Riva, like Škoda’s and Yugo’s, were soon the butt of jokes that
had been used on cars years before the Riva had ever come along. The Riva was sold as far afield as New Zealand
where the Soviet Union had done a deal with the New Zealand Dairy Board. The USSR got mutton and butter, and the Kiwi’s
got Riva’s. Many of them were pressed into service as
taxis. VAZ had been working on a new car for several
years. The Samara had appeared in the Soviet Union
in 1984 and made its way to British shores in 1987. But Riva production continued, and it was
sold as a less expensive alternative to the already low-priced Samara. This would lead to a peak in UK sales in 1988
with 30,000 Lada’s sold, up from 20,000 two years before. And all that foreign cash was needed more
than ever as the Soviet economy struggled. Communism ended in 1991, but the newly separate
Russia still needed to pay the bills, so production of the Zhiguli continued. Very few changes appeared, but to allow the
car to continue to be sold in Western Europe, fuel injection and catalytic converters were
added in 1992 to comply with emissions rules. And Lada celebrated selling 1/3M cars in the
UK in 1995. But with more people buying the Samara than
the Riva, and western cars becoming more popular in Russia – for those who could afford a
car – the Riva’s days were numbered. The Russian economy went into meltdown in
the late 1990s, and this meant VAZ had problems getting components to make its cars. With the Samara coming bottom of the 1996
and 1997 JD Power survey in the UK, Lada quietly exited the UK market. Back in Russia production continued, where
it was still one of the cheapest cars available. And VAZ would start branding its cars as Lada’s
in its home market. Looking again for outside help, they signed
a joint venture with General Motors in 2001, but a more stable future came with Renault
in 2008, and the French company would eventually get a controlling stake in the ex-Soviet company. With a focus on new Lada models, Zhiguli production
ended in 2010 after 40 years and an amazing 17.75M cars. In 2000 Russian magazine “Za Rulem” did
a poll for the best domestic car of the 20th century. The Zhiguli won hands down. It shows the affection Russians have for the
car that it remains popular on the second-hand market. Like the Beetle, Zhiguli’s can be found
all over the world, in such random places as Brazil, Cuba and Angola! You would think that’s the end of the Riva
story, but surprisingly, the car was still being produced in Egypt! Production had started in 2002, and it would
go on until 2015, almost 50 years since Fiat started producing the 124. When Oscar Montabone designed the 124 in the
mid-1960’s, it’s unlikely he would have expected it to have lasted in production this
long! But it’s a testament to a solid Italian
design that was improved by the USSR to make it car that went on, and on, and on.
Ah the classic zhiguli. Parents had one in late USSR. When it wouldn't start in the winter, father would bang on the hood and it would crank up
This guy does great car stories.
The Lada is one hell of a sturdy car. A friend of mine's grandparents in Prague had one and it was a fun drive. Heavy as a tank and all manual but fun to drive.
The Lada sold well in the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire.
Another great video on this car is the third episode of James May’s Car of The People.
In 1980 my father and his brothers all purchased brand new Lada's. My father got a blue one, my uncle got a yellow one and my other uncle got a brown one. By 1985 my cousin used all three to create one running/driving Lada that was still mostly broken.
They were without a doubt the worst vehicle ever sold in Canada. I still remember the way the blower motor sounded like a screaming chicken on cold mornings. And how itchy the seats were due to the horse hair poking out from inside.
hell yeah
Zhiguli! So many fond memories. Also the reason I never want to live in a commie country ever again.