FIFTY YEARS OF LADA IN THE UK

Fifty years ago, visitors to the London Motor Show saw an unfamiliar marque displayed on Stand 152. The Moskvich sold by Satra Motors Ltd. was an established sight in the UK, but Earls Court was the first time most Britons encountered its fellow USSR product - a Fiat 124 clone named Lada. The sales publicly claimed:

For a new car, the Lada looks and sounds strangely familiar. From its no-nonsense, clean lines to its pedigree 1198cc engine, capable of speeds up to 90mph and since this is a speed one is rarely allowed to reach, the Lada is never strained. It’s also surprisingly gentle at the fuel pumps.

Earlier that year, The Observer found the Lada was “built like a train and over rough rutted tracks it rides like one, with no scuttle shake or body rattle”.

It is pleasant to report that the tedious sub-Little and Large ‘Lada jokes’ of the 1990s and early 2000s have largely vanished. The brand’s story marks an important chapter in mass motoring. On the 19^th March 1965, the then Soviet Union Premier Alexei Kosygin made a speech envisaging a future that included the large-scale production of cars for the family motorist. There was to be a 15-year plan focused on the growth in building passenger cars from 201,000 per annum in 1965 to 1.2 million in 1975.

Such an ambitious scheme required a Western partner, as the USSR lacked the experience, expertise, and tooling for mass automobile production. The authorities approached several Western car makers to assist in establishing a “factory to produce two thousand mid-sized passenger cars per day in two shifts of seven hours”. On the 15^th August 1966, the Minister for the Soviet Motor Industry and Fiat signed a general agreement that Turin would sell the manufacturing rights to the new 124 to the VAZ - Volzhsky Automobilny Zavod - concern. The agreement was worth £20.7 million,

Fiat assisted in adapting the 124 for the USSR and acted as a general consultant for the project. Turin also advised about Western machine tooling and trained some 2,500 VAZ workers in Turin. In addition, 1,500 “advisers” from Italy supervised the installation of the imported equipment, and over 1,000 Fiat engineers helped develop the vast new factory 600 miles southwest of Moscow.

VAZ named the plant Tolyatti in honour of Palirmio Togliatti, the former Chairman of the Partito Comunista Italiano, and by 1968, they sent a batch of 8 124-Rs (‘R’ for Russia) to Siberia for extensive testing. On the 19^th April 1970, Fiat’s chief instructor, Benito Guido Savonia, drove the first VAZ 2101 off the production line. It may have resembled the 124, but VAZ’s engineers made over 800 changes to the design.

One significant alteration was in the 2101’s construction, as it was made from metal 30% thicker than that of the Fiat - resulting in a weight increase of nearly 200 lbs. The suspension was two inches higher than the 124 – at that time, the authorities paved only the main highways, and the Soviet Union had over 200,000 km of dirt tracks. Some rural areas were devoid of any form of road.

Under the bonnet, the 1.2-litre engine gained a chain-driven overhead camshaft and a sealed radiator; the USSR’s climate might vary from 50 C in summer to minus 60 C in winter. A starting handle would be invaluable during sudden battery failure, while a vast tool kit was essential. In case you were stranded, the 2101 also came with reclining front seats. Further changes included a strengthened gearbox, rear aluminium brake drums instead of the 124’s discs, an enlarged clutch, and leaf springs instead of the Fiat’s coils.

The Soviet price of the 2102 was 7,200 roubles, the equivalent of three years’ wages for the average worker, but in Western export markets, it was a cheap family saloon. It wore the Lada badge overseas, and by 1973, VAZ had installed a production line for RHD models. In May 1974, Satra took delivery of the first UK-market ‘Lada 1200s’ on Carnaby Industrial Estate. The price was £980.83, which represented incredible value for money. The advertisements boasted, “we think the ex-works price should be where your spending stops, not where it begins”.

The Lada was a tempting proposition for the customer who wanted a car with four doors and a large boot but whose budget would run only to a Mini or a Hillman Imp. The specification included two-speed wipers, a cigarette lighter and that vast tool kit, while its appearance was not overly anachronistic. By contrast, the Moskvich’s looks harked back to an era of drainpipe trousers and Shane Fenton records.

Car magazine thought the Lada offered “unpretentious and sensible motoring with high value for money”. Autocar’s test concluded: “At a time when motoring costs seem to be going through the roof, this is a car that merits serious consideration”. By 1975, Satra ceased importing the Moskvich, and the Lada was en route to becoming part of the British motoring landscape.

The Lada 1200 gained further publicity via the endearingly shoddy Anglia Television show Sale of the Century – which was possibly the origin of many of the jokes. The “Quiz of the Week” ran from 1971 to 1983, with a car often as the jackpot. Commercial television regulations of that era imposed a maximum value of £1,000 on game show prizes, which posed few problems in SOTC’s early years. However, the 1970s was the decade of hyperinflation, resulting in the producers having a choice of progressively fewer cheap vehicles.

So, amidst music centres apparently made from chipboard and a selection of truly horrendous “leisure wear”, the announcer John Benson would proclaim “This week’s star prize!”. Viewers would then be treated to the sight of a hostess wearing a fixed grin emerging from the driver’s seat of a Lada 1200 saloon. The studio audience’s cries of amazement tended to sound suspiciously dubbed at such moments.

Such promotion of the Lada brand was logical – SOTC had enviable viewing figures – but it confirmed in the mind of the nation’s automotive snobs that it was a sub-par marque. Yet, as The Observer noted in 1973 – “the Russian car industry could become an important competitor in Western markets”. Thanks to the Lada 1200, that proved to be the case.