1987 Lada Niva from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Master brake cylinder

Front driver side calipers

Oil Leaks (not much, but probably the gasket)

Electronics not that great

Starter motor

Some rust repairs in the lower front panels and various other places

Bent parts of the suspension system, front and back.

Cracked diff housing.

Most problem have been my own fault either through lack of care or going too hard while off road (). I am still absolutely amazed at it's resilience. I haven't been very easy on this car as I only paid AU$1600 for it, but the amount of fun I've had in it versus how much I've spent on it.. well.. I think I'm breaking even :)

The niva is built like a tractor and could probably be used as one if needed. It has amazing torque. It's OK on the highway, I can do the speed limit most of the time. Up hill at 100kph is a bit of a fantasy though.

This car has been through a lot in it's life, the previous owner had taken it though the desert and made some mods to accommodate for this, such as dual tanks and air-con.

Extremely strong for it's size. No matter how badly I've damaged this car it has never failed to get me home. Some cars limp for an hour or so, but the niva seems to limp for weeks. I've towed several people out of trouble with it. Once while it was limping.

When the starter motor died I used the crank for a couple of weeks until I could book it in to get fixed.

This car isn't for somebody who knows nothing about cars and has never changed a tire. I would say that while i've owned it i've treated it like a project and have constantly made fixes and upgrades to it. I've had much fun.

The previous owner wasn't a Russian automotive journalist by any chance? Our mag took 3 Niva's through the Sahara to Timbuktu in '88, I think... White Niva's, but I don't remember whether they had air-con or not...