The last throw of the dice for Lads selling cars in the UK. 1.5 litre engine with catalytic converter but still with a carburettor. Unfortunately forced out on account of the emissions regulations. As well as the competition from Proton and Daewoo as mentioned. I think I had that brochure...maybe one I got from the Great Yarmouth Motor Show in Eastern England. I once got overtaken by a Lada Riva estate on a roundabout in my old Mini. I'll never live that down!
I sold Ladas in the early 90’s. They had a very loyal following and were literally like driving something from the ‘60s which they essentially were. A gear change like swinging a pool cue in a bucket and steering akin to a cross channel ferry. But they were charming, absolutely reliable and reasonably comfortable.
That's an interesting video. Earlier in the Lada's life in the '80s, there was a much bigger range including a 1.2, 1.3, and, in case you don't remember, a rather flashy 1.6 SLX that featured headlamp wipers, a rev counter, two-piece wheel trims, and a vaguely 'Vanden-Plas'-ish posh chrome grille.🙂'Retro Ratchet' channel tested a beige 1.6 SLX a few months back. If you can, try to find a brochure that features the earlier range. I think the Riva range was reduced in wake of the smaller Samara.
In the 1990s all the taxis in Hull were white Rivas. I recall in the 1980s they were better equipped with headlight wipers. I liked the look of them too, probably because of their 1960s FIAT roots. You should compare the Riva with the Polish-made FSO which I guess was another Ex-FIAT design.
These are nowadays surprisingly expensive to buy in the UK, if any restored or tidy ones come up for sale. They are classics now I suppose. They resisted the rust better than most as well, I thought. I actually remember the Riva being popular with self-employed taxi drivers in certain parts of the UK. Also, they were well-known for featuring comprehensive tool kits with each car, although no mention of it in this brochure. We did not see any interior pictures either. I would have liked to see the battery gauge, illuminated glovebox and underbonnet lighting, three very useful features that my 2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara does not have.
I had this very brochure at around 13. Thé 1.5 was strangled by the addition of the catalyst which struggled to work with the carburettor; Autovaz stubbornly avoiding fitting fuel injection. It lost about 14 bhp from pre catalyst levels. Probably as they were being asset stripped at the time. 2 of our scout leaders had them - 1 a denture salesman and the other a teacher I think! So not all were owned by elderly. I suspect even towing that caravan would have been difficult but at least the estate got under bonnet sound insulation to hide the struggling.
They were roomy, had comfortable seats, a big boot, and a very powerful handbrake. The biggest issue was the steering: The wheel had about 3 or 4 inches of free play when you were driving along, meaning constant corrections required, and, when parking (ie very low speed) the steering was LUDICROUSLY heavy. A petite woman would really really struggle.
I think the fact the Fiat 124 was introduced in the 60’s and was sold in various markets and in different forms until the 90’s, is a tribute to the original design. By the time it had morphed into the Lada it had much heavier duty suspension and beefed up underside to cope with local Russian roads, also ideal for the UK..! Another great vid.
Nice video, lets be honest, the Lada Riva was a car based on the Fiat 128 and was an old design but was robust and had a lot going for it. My mum had one in the early 90s, it didn't ride any less than a Mk2 Ford Escort 1300L to be honest. By the time this brochure came out, many second-hand ones were being shipped back to Russia to keep their ones going as the UK looked after their models better. So it was worth them coming here, buying one for £200, and shipping it back to Russia. My mums one went to Poland as she sold it and a guy flew from Poland and I met him at Heathrow, he then paid for it and drove it back home the same day.
That is interesting I’ve always wondered what the process was to get them back to Russia - did someone just knock on your door and ask if you wanted to sell?
@@quarterlight mum had it for sale in the autotrader magazine and had over 50 calls about it. Mostly from people who wanted to take it back to Eastern Europe
A car which had all the necessary things to drive. Pure transport, very robust but very rusty soon. In Germany it was sold as the Lada "Nova". It had a 1.5l engine with 75HP.
They was an old fella I knew who had a fancy 1600 model in red with a chrome grill and headlight wipers attached must have been the range topper back then
The Lada was based on the mid 1960s launch of the Fiat 124, but the Lada differed from the Fiat with stronger engine and bodywork. Ladas were available in Britain from 1974, the 1200, 1300 and 1600 with twin headlamps. The Riva was really the facelifted model of the earlier cars. And then there was the FSO 125P similar shape to the Lada based on the Fiat 125 slightly bigger 124. (Triumph 1500 was a slightly bigger Toledo of similar shape).
Thanks for the video) i enjoyed it very much) I knew people that had lada Riva's and they really liked them) also my mum's cousin owned a succession of lada's from the 1970's until the early 90's) the last one he owned was a red Riva with wash wipe on headlights and a chrome front grille surround) and Spot lights: i remember the lada dealers later became either proton or Daewoo dealer's) mum's cousin later bought a new : red daewoo nexia in 1996 from Halfords the, car spares/ accessory retailer i believe . .
There were quite a few,around my area in Somerset. An Italian heritage family ran the dealership,and the local Italian heritage community bought them.The garage went on to sell FIATS.
I don't remember the Lada Riva saloons and estates being sold in Australia. Lada did, however, sell the Niva, which was a three-door 4x4 wagon based on the Fiat 124 from the sixties. Damn tough little things, and cheap. They were probably the only competition for the little Suzuki 4x4 wagons that are called the Jimny these days. My late wife's parents were Latvian, and we were friends with an old Latvian couple who had helped her when she first moved to the area where I lived. They were vehemently anti-communist, and rejoiced with the fall of the Soviet Union. The old man always liked the Lada Niva, but never bought one. He had an early sixties Volkswagen Beetle, and eventually replaced it with a front wheel drive Subaru Leone saloon. We would spend hours talking about history and languages, and I remember him telling me back in the nineties that Vladimir Putin was the most dangerous man on the planet. He certainly knew what he was talking about. Ladas were cheap, simple and tough. The badge was a stylised Viking longship. All the government legislation for safety features, and the computerisation of everything, has meant that the days of cheap and cheerful motoring are long gone. Apart from where I am in the Philippines. That's another story, however.
It had CLOTH SEATS . Something they should have never abandoned , today, in favour of unconvincing "leather" seats, which are sweaty in hot weather, freezing in winter. And these are nice colours inside, not dull grey or black
Affordable, roomy, tough and reliable. Not bad cars at the time, I quite liked them. Popular as taxis as well, which is usually a good sign. The thing is that although Ladas were outdated by early-mid '80s standards they were not massively so. After all, there were quite a few more expensive European cars not actually that much younger still available new/nearly new at around the same time . . . think Allegro, Ital, Fiat 128, Renault 12, Avenger, Simca 1100 etc. 10 years on of course Ladas were hopelessly outdated and could not compete with newer budget rivals.
I had 2 laddas one as my first car and another one a bit later reliable cars but the steering was really heavy the first thing I did was fitting a small Rallye steering wheel ooh the wisdom of yuoth😅
As my family had both lady and skoda distributor franchises I can tell you that those mpg where miles put lucky to get 20mpg . And the steering was so heavy. The skoda where much better cars . Better built than lada. But saying that the lada riva was built like a Russia tank they whereva go away where car . We used an estate like van it carried well over 1.5 ton of sand and hard core etc it was a good work horse . Never let use down even in winter.
I'm about to move house, and have been looking for a cheap estate car as a temporary workhorse, to help out. Staggering how the prices have increased in recent years. What I wouldn't give right now for an opportunity to buy a Riva estate, six or seven years old for £300 as was possible in the mid 1990s. Would have been perfect for the job. Or a Daewoo/Hyundai of the era in estate form for that matter.
People mocked the Lada Riva. They were antiquated, agricultural, virtually antique by the early 90's - by the late 70's to be honest - the QC was terrible. But brand new, especially after the USSR failed, they were being sold off in the UK for literally thousands of pounds less than a base model Mini Metro or Ford Fiesta. The flimsy plastic indicator stalks would snap off in your hand, akin to the Fiat 126, and Citroen 2CV. The door winders too, often became detached ...silly things: the interiors had a tendency to fall apart. But in the 80's, there was another brand of 1960's Fiat cast off that was probably even cheaper to buy brand new, and with QC standards ,in comparison, that made the average Lada seem like a Rolls-Royce....the Polish FSO. Jokes aside, the Skoda Estelle was not really a bad car for what it was..
Had a couple of Ladas in my time and i like them. They were very reliable and did what they said on the tin. Ps what would you choose a Riva or an Ital ? (:
I bought a new Estate in the late 80s. Apart from fitting the regular consumables over 78,000 miles, it never broke down. It was good for car camping and nobody was going to steal it. I had a very well paid job so could afford a Mercedes, Jaguar etc. but I went for the Lada as it was a very decent car and super cheap for the spec's on offer. The money I saved? I spent it on motorcycles and living well. Thanks for your quirky channel 😉
It was a cheap affordable way for Brits to get a car, but with ancient technology married to Italian design, made for a forgettable regrettable driving experience ie heavy steering, poor fit and finish quality issues, filmsy trim etc, but if you could look past that, and forgive this car's woes, you got at least got a tough, if uninspiring, car that at least got you to work and back everyday with rock solid rock hard Russian verve.
I had a Lada Riva 1300SL, for my first car. I am probably the youngest Lada driver who could legally drive one on the road, as I passed my driving test in that car aged 17. From childhood, I always had a fascination with Eastern European and Soviet cars, possibly stemming from my socialist political beliefs, and naive desire to create a better world. My parents kindly offered to buy a car for me to learn to drive in, I begged my bewildered dad to buy a Lada, Škoda, or FSO. My dad, who was a Ford man, thought I would learn the errors of my ways, and soon trade in my Lada for a Ford Fiesta, or Vauxhall Corsa, however my Lada love affair went from strength to strength. Once again with the kind help of my parents, for my second car aged 20, I bought a brand new burgundy Lada Riva 1.5E saloon, identical to the models featured in this brochure, it cost only £3995 on the road in 1993!!!, around half the cost of the neighbours new Astra. Strangely this brochure has no mention of the impressive toolkit supplied with every Lada, which included, an inspection light, a stirrup pump, tyre gauge, and even a tyre lever!!. I went on from that car to a Riva 1.5 E estate, then a Niva, then a finally a Samara, before imports ended, and I could buy no more Lada’s, which is when I moved to Škoda, my current Škoda being a Fabia SE comfort. As for my Ford loving dad, I even convinced him of the benefits of low cost motoring, when his Fiesta was due a change, he replaced it with a Lada Samara. Although I wouldn’t say he loved Lada’s like I did, he did appreciate what robust, durable, and value for money transportation they offered. Great times of bargain basement motoring, sadly gone forever. If I could go back, I would travel my Lada journey all over again ❤.
The last throw of the dice for Lads selling cars in the UK. 1.5 litre engine with catalytic converter but still with a carburettor. Unfortunately forced out on account of the emissions regulations. As well as the competition from Proton and Daewoo as mentioned.
I think I had that brochure...maybe one I got from the Great Yarmouth Motor Show in Eastern England. I once got overtaken by a Lada Riva estate on a roundabout in my old Mini. I'll never live that down!
Maureen & Dave, from Driving School, had an estate.
Lada was the first brand to arrive in Brazil when car imports were authorized in the early 90s. Here, the Riva was called Laika.
Interesting
Me my dad had 3 ladas very reliable always started first time last one we had k reg one 1.5 £500 he paid
I never expected seeing “crumple zone” and “Lada”…..
I sold Ladas in the early 90’s. They had a very loyal following and were literally like driving something from the ‘60s which they essentially were. A gear change like swinging a pool cue in a bucket and steering akin to a cross channel ferry. But they were charming, absolutely reliable and reasonably comfortable.
That's an interesting video. Earlier in the Lada's life in the '80s, there was a much bigger range including a 1.2, 1.3, and, in case you don't remember, a rather flashy 1.6 SLX that featured headlamp wipers, a rev counter, two-piece wheel trims, and a vaguely 'Vanden-Plas'-ish posh chrome grille.🙂'Retro Ratchet' channel tested a beige 1.6 SLX a few months back. If you can, try to find a brochure that features the earlier range. I think the Riva range was reduced in wake of the smaller Samara.
In the 1990s all the taxis in Hull were white Rivas. I recall in the 1980s they were better equipped with headlight wipers. I liked the look of them too, probably because of their 1960s FIAT roots.
You should compare the Riva with the Polish-made FSO which I guess was another Ex-FIAT design.
These are nowadays surprisingly expensive to buy in the UK, if any restored or tidy ones come up for sale. They are classics now I suppose. They resisted the rust better than most as well, I thought. I actually remember the Riva being popular with self-employed taxi drivers in certain parts of the UK. Also, they were well-known for featuring comprehensive tool kits with each car, although no mention of it in this brochure. We did not see any interior pictures either. I would have liked to see the battery gauge, illuminated glovebox and underbonnet lighting, three very useful features that my 2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara does not have.
I had this very brochure at around 13. Thé 1.5 was strangled by the addition of the catalyst which struggled to work with the carburettor; Autovaz stubbornly avoiding fitting fuel injection. It lost about 14 bhp from pre catalyst levels. Probably as they were being asset stripped at the time. 2 of our scout leaders had them - 1 a denture salesman and the other a teacher I think! So not all were owned by elderly. I suspect even towing that caravan would have been difficult but at least the estate got under bonnet sound insulation to hide the struggling.
They were roomy, had comfortable seats, a big boot, and a very powerful handbrake. The biggest issue was the steering: The wheel had about 3 or 4 inches of free play when you were driving along, meaning constant corrections required, and, when parking (ie very low speed) the steering was LUDICROUSLY heavy. A petite woman would really really struggle.
I was considering buying a new one ( saloon) in '89/90, as they were only £3,300.
I think the fact the Fiat 124 was introduced in the 60’s and was sold in various markets and in different forms until the 90’s, is a tribute to the original design. By the time it had morphed into the Lada it had much heavier duty suspension and beefed up underside to cope with local Russian roads, also ideal for the UK..! Another great vid.
Thank you
Nice video, lets be honest, the Lada Riva was a car based on the Fiat 128 and was an old design but was robust and had a lot going for it. My mum had one in the early 90s, it didn't ride any less than a Mk2 Ford Escort 1300L to be honest. By the time this brochure came out, many second-hand ones were being shipped back to Russia to keep their ones going as the UK looked after their models better. So it was worth them coming here, buying one for £200, and shipping it back to Russia. My mums one went to Poland as she sold it and a guy flew from Poland and I met him at Heathrow, he then paid for it and drove it back home the same day.
That is interesting I’ve always wondered what the process was to get them back to Russia - did someone just knock on your door and ask if you wanted to sell?
@@quarterlight mum had it for sale in the autotrader magazine and had over 50 calls about it. Mostly from people who wanted to take it back to Eastern Europe
I think you will find it was based on an earlier Fiat 124.
124 .
It was a 124 .
A car which had all the necessary things to drive. Pure transport, very robust but very rusty soon. In Germany it was sold as the Lada "Nova". It had a 1.5l engine with 75HP.
Really enjoyed this
Thank you
They was an old fella I knew who had a fancy 1600 model in red with a chrome grill and headlight wipers attached must have been the range topper back then
The Lada was based on the mid 1960s launch of the Fiat 124, but the Lada differed from the Fiat with stronger engine and bodywork. Ladas were available in Britain from 1974, the 1200, 1300 and 1600 with twin headlamps. The Riva was really the facelifted model of the earlier cars. And then there was the FSO 125P similar shape to the Lada based on the Fiat 125 slightly bigger 124. (Triumph 1500 was a slightly bigger Toledo of similar shape).
I like the colour matched grille on the white one!
Yes indeed
There's something very endearing about the Riva.
I think so too
Thanks for the video) i enjoyed it very much) I knew people that had lada Riva's and they really liked them) also my mum's cousin owned a succession of lada's from the 1970's until the early 90's) the last one he owned was a red Riva with wash wipe on headlights and a chrome front grille surround) and Spot lights: i remember the lada dealers later became either proton or Daewoo dealer's) mum's cousin later bought a new : red daewoo nexia in 1996 from Halfords the, car spares/ accessory retailer i believe . .
Thank you and yes I remember Halfords selling the Daewoo
There were quite a few,around my area in Somerset. An Italian heritage family ran the dealership,and the local Italian heritage community bought them.The garage went on to sell FIATS.
My mate's mum bought a new Samara, in '89. It was really cheap.
I don't remember the Lada Riva saloons and estates being sold in Australia. Lada did, however, sell the Niva, which was a three-door 4x4 wagon based on the Fiat 124 from the sixties. Damn tough little things, and cheap. They were probably the only competition for the little Suzuki 4x4 wagons that are called the Jimny these days. My late wife's parents were Latvian, and we were friends with an old Latvian couple who had helped her when she first moved to the area where I lived. They were vehemently anti-communist, and rejoiced with the fall of the Soviet Union. The old man always liked the Lada Niva, but never bought one. He had an early sixties Volkswagen Beetle, and eventually replaced it with a front wheel drive Subaru Leone saloon. We would spend hours talking about history and languages, and I remember him telling me back in the nineties that Vladimir Putin was the most dangerous man on the planet. He certainly knew what he was talking about. Ladas were cheap, simple and tough. The badge was a stylised Viking longship. All the government legislation for safety features, and the computerisation of everything, has meant that the days of cheap and cheerful motoring are long gone. Apart from where I am in the Philippines. That's another story, however.
It had CLOTH SEATS
. Something they should have never abandoned , today, in favour of unconvincing "leather" seats, which are sweaty in hot weather, freezing in winter. And these are nice colours inside, not dull grey or black
Totally agree
My dad used a baige d reg one as a taxi in 1990 he loved it, although some of his fairs would take the mick
"Comfortable independent suspension", but not in the rear 🙂
Affordable, roomy, tough and reliable. Not bad cars at the time, I quite liked them. Popular as taxis as well, which is usually a good sign. The thing is that although Ladas were outdated by early-mid '80s standards they were not massively so. After all, there were quite a few more expensive European cars not actually that much younger still available new/nearly new at around the same time . . . think Allegro, Ital, Fiat 128, Renault 12, Avenger, Simca 1100 etc. 10 years on of course Ladas were hopelessly outdated and could not compete with newer budget rivals.
I had 2 laddas one as my first car and another one a bit later reliable cars but the steering was really heavy the first thing I did was fitting a small Rallye steering wheel ooh the wisdom of yuoth😅
As my family had both lady and skoda distributor franchises I can tell you that those mpg where miles put lucky to get 20mpg . And the steering was so heavy. The skoda where much better cars . Better built than lada.
But saying that the lada riva was built like a Russia tank they whereva go away where car . We used an estate like van it carried well over 1.5 ton of sand and hard core etc it was a good work horse . Never let use down even in winter.
I'm about to move house, and have been looking for a cheap estate car as a temporary workhorse, to help out. Staggering how the prices have increased in recent years.
What I wouldn't give right now for an opportunity to buy a Riva estate, six or seven years old for £300 as was possible in the mid 1990s. Would have been perfect for the job.
Or a Daewoo/Hyundai of the era in estate form for that matter.
Absolutely those days are sadly long gone
People mocked the Lada Riva. They were antiquated, agricultural, virtually antique by the early 90's - by the late 70's to be honest - the QC was terrible. But brand new, especially after the USSR failed, they were being sold off in the UK for literally thousands of pounds less than a base model Mini Metro or Ford Fiesta. The flimsy plastic indicator stalks would snap off in your hand, akin to the Fiat 126, and Citroen 2CV. The door winders too, often became detached ...silly things: the interiors had a tendency to fall apart. But in the 80's, there was another brand of 1960's Fiat cast off that was probably even cheaper to buy brand new, and with QC standards ,in comparison, that made the average Lada seem like a Rolls-Royce....the Polish FSO. Jokes aside, the Skoda Estelle was not really a bad car for what it was..
Had a couple of Ladas in my time and i like them.
They were very reliable and did what they said on the tin.
Ps what would you choose a Riva or an Ital ? (:
I would go Riva just because im a bit fascinated by budget motoring
I bought a new Estate in the late 80s. Apart from fitting the regular consumables over 78,000 miles, it never broke down. It was good for car camping and nobody was going to steal it. I had a very well paid job so could afford a Mercedes, Jaguar etc. but I went for the Lada as it was a very decent car and super cheap for the spec's on offer. The money I saved? I spent it on motorcycles and living well. Thanks for your quirky channel 😉
Thank you
VAZ 21063 👍
It was a cheap affordable way for Brits to get a car, but with ancient technology married to Italian design, made for a forgettable regrettable driving experience ie heavy steering, poor fit and finish quality issues, filmsy trim etc, but if you could look past that, and forgive this car's woes, you got at least got a tough, if uninspiring, car that at least got you to work and back everyday with rock solid rock hard Russian verve.
I had a Lada Riva 1300SL, for my first car.
I am probably the youngest Lada driver who could legally drive one on the road, as I passed my driving test in that car aged 17.
From childhood, I always had a fascination with Eastern European and Soviet cars, possibly stemming from my socialist political beliefs, and naive desire to create a better world.
My parents kindly offered to buy a car for me to learn to drive in, I begged my bewildered dad to buy a Lada, Škoda, or FSO.
My dad, who was a Ford man, thought I would learn the errors of my ways, and soon trade in my Lada for a Ford Fiesta, or Vauxhall Corsa, however my Lada love affair went from strength to strength.
Once again with the kind help of my parents, for my second car aged 20, I bought a brand new burgundy Lada Riva 1.5E saloon, identical to the models featured in this brochure, it cost only £3995 on the road in 1993!!!, around half the cost of the neighbours new Astra.
Strangely this brochure has no mention of the impressive toolkit supplied with every Lada, which included, an inspection light, a stirrup pump, tyre gauge, and even a tyre lever!!.
I went on from that car to a Riva 1.5 E estate, then a Niva, then a finally a Samara, before imports ended, and I could buy no more Lada’s, which is when I moved to Škoda, my current Škoda being a Fabia SE comfort.
As for my Ford loving dad, I even convinced him of the benefits of low cost motoring, when his Fiesta was due a change, he replaced it with a Lada Samara.
Although I wouldn’t say he loved Lada’s like I did, he did appreciate what robust, durable, and value for money transportation they offered.
Great times of bargain basement motoring, sadly gone forever.
If I could go back, I would travel my Lada journey all over again ❤.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories
Today's equivalent is DACIA!
Looking at the garbage new MGs give me a LADA any day.