What happened to Ladas, why no one bring them in when chery and geely is here

[Verve]

Wonder why no one brought in the ladas

 

THey may be dated, but solidly built cars with simple engines, may have been a good proposition for a cheap opc with minimal maintenance

 

IMHO still better than the china cars

 

The Lada Nivas were well commended for its robustness and off road ability - able to withstand punishment

 

I also find that the ladas have a some what muscular appeal to their design - poor man's range rover defender perhaps

 

Also remembered a friend having a lada samara, the gears required brute force to shift but the engine note , and the way the car moves - feels like a chunk of brute force being propelled against the road, quite a nice feeling

[Felipe]

er...i tot ladas are todays skodas???

[Verve]

skoda if i am not wrong is another co - lts like kia and hyundai before they merged under the same owner

[Zhihao]

the samara was one tough russian tank...and a drinker as well...7-8/km...

 

its a car designed to be bashed around...but i dun agree wif minimal maintenance...very wrong!

[Normal_aspirated]

Lada is Russian........

[Zhihao]

err...no no bro...

 

skoda and lada diff...

 

they launch in s'pore abt the same time and abt the same price...the skoda favorit(nt too sure if spelt correctly) always come in white color one and also lada samara and niva...

 

but somehow or rather...sinkies prefer the lada more than the skoda...slowly skoda die off and kena eat by VW and now make great cars...

 

if i nt wrong, lada still alive..."golden eye"(james bond) all the police car are lada...

[Albeniz]

>Also remembered a friend having a lada samara, the gears required brute force to shift >but the engine note , and the way the car moves - feels like a chunk of brute force >being propelled against the road, quite a nice feeling.

 

A PTI used to drive a Lada Samara many years back. The car was noisy. It sounded like sitting in a helicopter. Sellers used to get rid of the Lada Samara at a price lower than its paper value. Buyers probably have to top up cash for repair.

Nobody renewed the COE for Samara after its first 10 years.

[Geogeo]

My dad used to owned one. Damned stable car. I still remember how stable it is when speeding at almost 140Km/h on expressway before I spotted TP coming fast behind me. But too late then. I was clocked 112Km/h on a 80Km/h limit. That was also my first speeding ticket within my PDL . Luckily speed not exceeded 40Km/h, if not sure kenna court case. Moreover I was a NSF then, borrowed my dad's car to book in camp for CO parade as I was very late. Uncle TP don't want to give me chance after explaining my situation. Then, I was in my smart No.4. Thought got chance, but nope, no way.

 

Anyway, that was more than 10 yrs ago.

 

Sorry guys, for most of the non-thread related story. It just that seeing this thread on Lada Samara reminds me.

[Verve]

yup it sounds like a tractor engine but when you rev it combined with the feel of " a chunk of mass" being hurled forward, you feel like you're a little " invincible"

[Alfc]

This thread brought back nice memories. The Lada Samara was the first car i drive more than 10 yrs ago. It may be a controvesial car but it has served well for more than 10 yrs in my family as a spare car then. No doubt some pple would be embarassed to be driving or sitting in one, I would still cherish that feeling till today. Its somewhat different.

Yes, the major mechanical fault it had then was overheating but was quite easliy dealt with when we installed a second bigger renault radiator fan to it. Its really a basic car with many parts interchangeable with other makes (we also change to a toyota carburetor). Its even cheaper than a daihatsu charade at that time. Its no longer brought in after some time as it could not compile with our emmision standards (no cat converter).

[Vit4wd]

The Skoda Rapid (not Skoda Favorit) was launched at the same time as the Lada Samara.

 

The favorit was lanuched later to replace the Rapid.

 

Skoda Rapid

http://images.google.com.sg/images?q=skoda...images&ct=title

 

Skoda Favorit

http://images.google.com.sg/images?q=skoda...images&ct=title

 

Lada Samara

http://images.google.com.sg/images?svnum=1...=&q=Lada+Samara

 

Lada Niva SUV

http://images.google.com.sg/images?svnum=1...lr=&q=Lada+Niva

[Tanjkp]

Cheap must come with nice look nowaday. With dated design and eng, they become obselete fast and CMI.

[Hades]

Yea! Tats the only car that can challenge Volvo head-on man ...

[Zhihao]

opps...thanks for the correction!

[Julian]

I remembered that when Lada was here in late 80s, it was the cheapest car around even cheaper than the Hyundai Excel. It was 1991 when my dad replace his Stellar with an Elantra which cost him $49k then and my dad's friend looking at the Samara which is only $29k only.

 

The cheapest other than Hyundai then were the cars from the Eastern Block.

 

Lada (Russia) - Based on old Fiats and best selling Eastern Europe car then in Singapore. The new Lada I saw in Greece wasn't really a beauty but still more original than Chinese cars who copy other makers.

 

Skoda (Ex-Czechoslovakia) - Skoda Rapid was the cheapest "Coupe" then. Remember another cars sold then was the Favorit. Think Skoda based on Fiat then also.

 

Yugo (Ex-Yugoslavia) - Remember there was a Yugo Sana ($39k then) and a Yugo Tempo (based on a Fiat Panda). Looks better than Skoda and Lada but sold the least number of cars, think almost none, don't know why. No news of this maker, maybe die off already.

 

Dacia (Romania) - Never made it to Singapore. Old Dacia based on a Renault 12. New one is the Dacia Logan, some markets batch as a Renault Logan.

 

FSO Polonez (Poland) - Never made it to Singapore. It is huge as a hatchback, also available as saloon and stationwagon. Looks better than Skoda, Lada then.

 

Seat (Spain) - I know it's not from Eastern Europe but the quality of the Seat then was as good as an East European car. Cars all based on old Fiats then.

[Genie47]

The only good Lada is the Niva. It will compete directly with the Landrovers. The Landrover is more domesticated while the Niva is more rugged. You don't scratch a Landrover but you decorate a Niva with scratches, dents and punctured holes from elephant tusks.

[Vit4wd]

Yugo Sana at S$39K and Elantra at $49K in 1991?

 

That makes the brand new Lancers and Sunnys at <$50K & Wiras, Savvys, Picantos and other 1l cars like Picanto, Getz, Spark, Kelisa etc. at

 

Kudos to the govt for bringing down the ARF (Additional Registration Fee - a form of tax)) & making cars more affordable for all Singaporeans!

Edited December 4, 2006 by Vit4wd

[Gibto]

in 1991 $49k could buy a 3 room flat.. which appreciate to $150k today.. i know because my mom bought her flat then!.. hee

 

imagine if someone is choosing between a Elantra and a 3 room flat then?...hee.

Edited December 4, 2006 by Gibto