Are these available in the UK? Were they at any point? I was looking on ebay just for fun, and there don’t appear to be any.

How did you all survive without them?

Used to be avaliable, but like all the other Ladas got shipped back to Russia.
I bought a Riva and loved it, Paid 85 quid and drove it for a couple of years but it became hard to get parts. Id have loved a cossack.

Still available!

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/lada/niva

Was looking for one a few years back but they all seemed to disappear. We got the crappy petrol engines but over in Russia they got the excellent 1.9td peugeot/citroen engine and then the 2.0 HDI. They have just started bringing them back to the UK.

They were nice, but you could watch em biodegrade beneath you…..used to rot like a pear

I always wanted one, but not sure I’d pay 8k+ for one now!!

Home

one on gumtree a cabrio! yes really!

https://www.gumtree.com/p/lada/lada-nive-cabrio/1184231107

One would hope they were better than the Fiat 124-based Ladas that a company I worked for had; hateful things, everything was vague, steering, brakes, gearbox, handling…

I think that’s the one I had CZ, everything was vague but I loved it. I do want one of those nivas.

I used to drive one daily for work. The boss even dumped it up to its roof in Ullswater. We dragged it out with jcb and drove it home – after drilling a couple of holes in the footwell to let water out.
Awful things.

I more than likely chopped the roof off the cabrio, the firm I worked for had 3 cars a week delivered from lada we would turn them into cabrios then picked up and another 3 cars dropped off.

Mate in Oz had one. Reckoned it was the worst car he’d ever had but the most unkillable 4wd. The best part was you could bash it through the bush and not worry about scratching or bending it because it wouldn’t affect its resale value.

My old man had a Riva. Yes, everything bad about them is true but it started every time and ran. I remember the bright orange thing…

Not the best celebrity endorsement, unfortunately…

Jokes aside, I’d definitely have one. Such great utilitarian charm.

I’d have another one. Great little motors and not that much more thirsty than the current 4×4.

An alternative take on one.

We got the crappy petrol engines but over in Russia they got the excellent 1.9td peugeot/citroen engine and then the 2.0 HDI. They have just started bringing them back to the UK.

Crappy but surprisingly difficult to kill…

Way back in the early/mid-90s my dad used to do engine conversions into them using either Ford turbodiesels or Perkins Prima TDIs (which I think he possibly got from crashed/rotten Montegos 😕 ) Bloody snug fit either way…
Fairly sure he used to insist on rebuilding the steering/suspension/brakes when he had them in. Russian parts in those departments are usually pretty **** awful.

scruffywelder – Member

Fairly sure he used to insist on rebuilding the steering/suspension/brakes when he had them in. Russian parts in those departments are usually pretty **** awful.

I remember taking a look at the steering rack off a Lada Riva and the pinion gear looked like an un-machined casting and the rack looked like one of my apprentices had 1/2 hour on some steel bar with a chisel!

No wonder the steering was “vague/rough”