Hey, folks -

For anyone who's ever wondered what a UAZ looks like, anyone who has ever wanted to drive a Geely, anyone who has ever lusted after a Tata.... there are support groups for people like you. Meantime, why not indulge in your automotive curiousity by visiting the following link?

http://www.autoindex.org

Meanwhile, here is something to wet your whistle. Yesir, this fine machine is a good example of why we won the cold war.

 

I have a Geely scooter

 

Woah, cool. That ought to kill a couple hours at work.

 

...Really? Two stroke?

I see Chinese motorscooters and minibikes everywhere these days. I mean, they are for sale everywhere. But I never see anyone actually riding one...

 

They sell those mini crotch-rockets around here, and everyone loves them! Everyday I See GROWN-*** MEN riding them all over the place. I went and looked at one when I was bored one day, and they have some with alarms and remote starters. How cool is that?

 

Yep, yep...that's exactly mine with the alarm and remote start! I have pics of it on my website.

 

Hey, what do you guys have against VAZ-2104? And by the way, this car has nothing to do with why Russia lost cold war.

 

Well, it ain't a pinnacle of automotive engineering. In fact, take the worst comparable car available in the USA today (or more than a decade ago, for that matter). Poorest refinement, least reliable, least safe, dirtiest emissions (in Ppm Co, HC, NOx) etc - whatever measure you would like to apply. Then, realize that this Vaz (as well as Ladas, Trabants, or Gaz, for that matter) are ALL much, much worse. And yet, this is the best that the old Soviet bloc could muster at the time. In a communist economy, there is no incentive to produce a quality product because there is no risk of going out of business, no reward for picking up market share, no way to complain that the car you drive is a piece of crap that ought to be recalled. Ok, it isn't a reason that the system failed. But, it certainly is indicative of the kinds of things going on behind the scenes that put the USSR far behind the developed world in nearly every meaningful way.

 

Oh, I was going to say something, but juddz' reply was too polite, lol.

 

Oh, man, I so agree with you. The system was run very VERY poorly. Living there for first 15 years of my life was not the best. As a car enthusiast I just could not see how you could say that a car, or even the entire USSR auto industry is responsible for the demise of the USSR. But I am glad that you do understand that. What I believe ruined the USSR is the lack of education and intelligence of the government. Yes, the government had some of the most educated and intelligent scientists and thinkers, just really great minds, but they did not utilize them efficiently. Those great minds were shut down of independence and freedom to explore. They were only told what to do, and that is it. And god forbid you tell the government otherwise. Otherwise, its GULAG for you! And their automotive industry is a great example of that. Most of the VAZ early modles were rip offs of Italian FIATs, or another Euro brand. And the people could not have asked for more from the industry, because the government told them so, "Be happy with what you have." Most Russian cars still sold today do NOT have automatic trannies, or Air Bags, or options such as Cruise Control, Traction Control, Navigation, and the list goes on and on. Fuel Injection is still optional. But anyways. Of all leaders of the former USSR, which was about 5-6 over 70 years period, only 2 had college education. Now, do you honestly think that a high school educated person with street smarts can run a country like the USSR? Hell, NO! The only technology the Russians excelled in was space technology. And all the resources were put towards that, and eventually those resources ran dry, and that is why the US won. The freedoms that US people have allowed the entire country to run like a well oiled machine. But in USSR, the entire population of the country was pushing the USSR not so well oiled machine, and the people eventually got tired. But it seems that I got way off topic.

 

...but in the next century, things will be very different. With a huge percentage of the world's arable land and resources, Russia will some day be a very rich and prosperous country. If the Japanese and the Germans can come back from totalitarianism and the ashes of WWII in only half a century to their current greatness, the same can be expected of Russia probably as well.

Politics aside, and engineering proper cars aside, there are many interesting automotive oddities behind the old iron curtain. Such as the Lada Niva, a rugged little SUV/car crossover of sorts. Or, the stately Tatra sedans with their air cooled V8 engines hanging way out in the back end. Or any number of ZiL limosines, huge imposing formal black cars that served high ranking members of the communist party for many years. Or the notoriously unreliable Moskvitch, which was powered by a small gasoline engine that was originally designed to act as a starter motor to turn over giant tank diesel engines. Sure, it's all bad quality, but it sure is interesting to see this whole other world that has been off limits to us for so long.