2020 saw another promising celebration with Lada commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first model rolling off the assembly line. It was a historical moment for the Russian car industry, as Ladas proved to be the most popular cars of the eastern block.
Those who have some memories on how it was behind the iron curtain might recall, that in a communist system, high sales and popularity might not go hand in hand. In this case, however, the various successive models attracted a considerable fan base. Lada VFTS replicas are about as numerous as in the case of real racing icons like the Audi Quattro, even if the specs fall far behind.
At the same time, 2020 makes it challenging to celebrate car anniversaries. The Coronavirus cracked down on car events and exhibitions, down to the smaller outdoor events. I can not recall anything particular at the major classic car shows that took place in the first quarter.
Therefore, I would highlight one museum where I encountered an unusually high concentration of finer cars from the eastern block. I wanted to quote the Riga Motormuseum, with parade limos (see “beast one”), pre-war classics and cold war cars.
But I figured I forgot to photograph any Ladas. Somehow, these cars were all left out from Museums with a particular focus on the eastern block. For whatever reason, I failed to find good photos of Ladas, whether I browsed my photos.
From the Wartburg Museum (still coming to Egzostive, but no Ladas, being a brand museum),
August Horch (another great one with a DDR focus, but no Ladas), PS Speicher (again Ladas are too non-DDR), or the Italians, like the MAuto in Turin (the city is the cradle of Lada, and they exhibited a Trabant…).
I was actually surprised to see that the Museum with the best Lada collection is located in the “West”, in Belgium. Still, I must say, the Abarth Works Museum surprised me in many ways.
The Abarth Works Museum is the best place to celebrate the brands 70th birthday
One of the pleasant surprises was the abundance of eastern bloc cars, from Volgas through polish Pobjedas (as in more than one specimen!) and rally versions of various Lada models down to racing versions of Wartburgs (who the hell would come to that idea?).
The other was the top-notch condition of many of the cars stored (I would not go as far as to say, exhibited). Therefore, my favourites of the Abarth Works Museum’s collection will mostly feature cars with racing decals and bucket seats.
A few exhibits merit their own spot in this list, such as the 1.7 Lada racing engine with group B homologation.
I would kickstart with the weirdest, a replica of a Lada 112 race car, that hardly any of us noticed, due to their absence of the global stage. Nevertheless, the Russians developed it under the Super 1600 homologation specification. The Abarth Works Museum has a really lovely specimen rebuilt with a roll cage and authentic Lada livery.
As far as I can tell from internet sources, the car was built according to the rules of the Super 1600 category, but failed on one condition for entering in World Championship races: it was proved to be too long.
The manufacturer requested an exemption that was ultimately rejected, so the car was homologated as a Kit Car and entered only in national championship races, except for one World Championship race, the 2003 Deutschland Rally.
The 112 was not the only strange pairing of racing specifications and inapt Russian technical basis. The Museum has a dull beige Samara (the famous one with all plastics having different shades as standard : ) ) with red racing seats.
Such pairing could only be imaginable in a socialist production where workers laid their hands on whatever they could find. I can not imagine anybody racing a Samara, but believe it or not some Belgian bloke reached 7th at the 1990 Dakar with a Samara. However, as you will see later, it had even less Samara parts than this beige one.
Next up is a Lada Niva, with a Group B specification. For those who immediately associate Group B with Rallye monsters, hold your horses. The only thing that is really group B in this car is the distance to the series production model. For the rest, it is about one-fourth of an Audi Quattro in most aspects.
These race cars were actually entered at Dakar races during the ‘80s. These were the years when Jean Claude Briavoine and Bernard Clerisse raced the Paris Dakar with a Nivas with the help of French Lada importer, Jean Jacques Poch.
Poch Nivas were racing for almost a decade. At their peak, their driver was none less than Jacky Ickx for the 1987, 1988 and 1990 seasons (finishing 7th in the best year, although the Porsche 959 chassis was shaped like a Lada Samara).
Finally, I saved the best for the last, the iconic Lada VFTS. These cars constituted the eastern block’s racing elite, achieving legendary status somewhat similar to the Evos in the West (okay, technically, the EVO is from far East… but, you get my point : ) ).
VFTS stands for Vilnius factory of vehicles, as the company started as a workshop at Vilnius car repair factory. The company was founded and managed by Lithuanian rally driver Stasys Brundza, and became known and respected for the Lada 2105 rally cars, constructed with the freedom allowed by the Group B specifications.
The car in the Museum was acquired from Hungary and features all the gadgetry of a full-blooded race car. The idea was to construct a very light car, deviating from the materials used for the factory Ladas, but still featuring all the equipment needed for racing.
There is hardly any beauty in these VFTS cars, yet the interior’s brutalist functionality has its own aesthetic.
