I actually saw a LADA today.

Ah lads. Have none of you been to Cuba? Stretch Ladas going around the place and all. Great craic getting a Lada taxi to take ya down the Malecon in Havana.

My great grandfather - man from Yorkshire, always keen on a bargain - brought a Lada when he retired as it would 'see me out'. Unfortunately he passed away after three years, and my Dad drew the short straw in the will. As a teenager of 13, I refused to be seen in it, preferring to walk in the rain.

A couple of years later, Dad was in an accident on the M4, and swerved towards the barrier to avoid going into a brand new Jag. The Lada hit the central barrier and flipped over. Surprisingly they rolled the Lada back onto it's wheels and they tied the bonnet back down, and were able to drive the Lada home. Dad replaced the bonnet, but other than that, drove it for another ten years before he upgraded. I still see the Lada being driven around Wakefield sometimes, twenty years later.

They're tanks, all kids should be forced to drive them for five years when getting their licences - lots of protection, cheap, and no speed (so limited mischief)

on_my_oe wrote: »

My great grandfather - man from Yorkshire, always keen on a bargain - brought a Lada when he retired as it would 'see me out'. Unfortunately he passed away after three years, and my Dad drew the short straw in the will. As a teenager of 13, I refused to be seen in it, preferring to walk in the rain.

A couple of years later, Dad was in an accident on the M4, and swerved towards the barrier to avoid going into a brand new Jag. The Lada hit the central barrier and flipped over. Surprisingly they rolled the Lada back onto it's wheels and they tied the bonnet back down, and were able to drive the Lada home. Dad replaced the bonnet, but other than that, drove it for another ten years before he upgraded. I still see the Lada being driven around Wakefield sometimes, twenty years later.

They're tanks, all kids should be forced to drive them for five years when getting their licences - lots of protection, cheap, and no speed (so limited mischief)

They are meant to be quite a solid car, but everybody hated it because it was slow and apparently unreliable when it came to breakdowns. I did see an episode of Top Gear and Jeremy had this big mallet and he bounced it off the wing of the Lada he had, didn't leave a dent or a mark on it.

When I eas a baby, my Dad got some work in Belgium for a year, he bought a Lada do do the family while we were there.

When the job was finished we moved back to Ireland, they didn't want the Lada anymore so he abandonned it on the site where he worked with the keys in it. About a year later, Dad had to go back to follow up on some stuff and there was the Lada, untouched. So he hopped in it and drove it home. Started first time

We had it for years after, I just remember the rust everywhere on it, we could see through the floor. Eventually died when the chassis rusted through and the car split in half