Soviet cars beyond the ugly duckling stereotype

Great responsibilities stem from a great power, and a great car often comes along, too. If American presidents from the 1960s travelled on shiny Lincoln Continental, such as the one that John Fitzgerald Kennedy was tragically shot on in Dallas, the communist party’s most prominent members circulated on the huge and edgy ZIL, super modern but in their own way. The 114 from 1964 and its evolutions are considered as the quintessential limousines of the Soviet world.

Tatra was at the forefront of experimentations on car aerodynamics since the 1930s. The legendary T77 from 1934, alongside the Chrysler-De Soto Airflow from the same year, was the very first car to be visibly modeled in order to reduce its air resistance. Furthermore, it inspired Ferdinand Porsche for the conception of the Volkswagen Beetle. The 603 from the 1950s continues the same research line, reviving many solutions already adopted before the war. Pre-production models even featured the typical central rear thin, which never made it to the assembly line. It is remembered as the official car of Czechoslovakian communist elites for almost two decades.

Skoda inaugurated the 1960s with the launch of the first series of the Octavia, a mid-size car which premiered at Leipzig’s Motor Show in 1959, and was later developed in different body types, including the “Combi” estate. In 1996 the name Octavia was revived for the first model to be developed completely after the merger with Volkswagen, which contributed significantly to the Czech brand’s success on European markets.

The Moskvick 408 was one of the leading models of Soviet Union’s car export, managed by Autoexport, the agency created by Moscow’s central government to this effect. It is estimated that up to 55% of all Moskvich 408 were sold abroad, and particularly in Finland. Its silhouette shows slight Western influences. The small “fins” framing rear lights, for instance, are reminiscent of European saloons from the beginning of the decade, themselves inspired by the monumental and extremely sharp American tails from the 1950s.

The reunification of the G.D.R. and of the German Federal Republic, that is of the Western and the communist bloc, took place on board of a Trabant 601. The latter was the Beetle of East Germany, with the crucial difference that no Golf ever came to replace it, and that its production continued with no substantial updates from 1964 to 1990. It was tenderly nicknamed as the “Trabi”, and it is to present one of the few Soviet cars which have attracted collectors’ interest.

The ZAZ 966 was a small car combining most of the flaws that Soviet vehicles were usually blamed for, in the first place a very bad reliability. Its silhouette was closely reminiscent of the NSU Prinz, which premiered on the German market almost one decade earlier. Fun fact: not even Bepi Koelliker, who imported it to Italy, could turn it into a success.

The Renault Group is responsible for the brilliant second life of Dacia, which since 1999 has become as a credible competitor to established mainstream brands on the European market, and beyond. The collaboration between the two brands, though discontinuous, has more ancient roots. The 1100, launched just two years after Dacia’s foundation, in 1966, was based on the Renault 8. The assembly line was Romanian, but all its components were imported from France.

In the former Soviet Union countries the acquisition of a car was a complex procedure, submitted to governmental approval, that could last for years. Moreover, one or more specific models were reserved to each social group, from high officials to simple factory workers. Most of the times the buyer was even denied the possibility to choose his or her car’s color. SMZ’s vehicles, for instance, could be bought solely by disabled people. They embody in a sense the most extreme outcome of this fully planned car distribution.

In 1970s Russia the Gaz 24 “Volga” was considered as a luxury car, ranking just below the large limousines manufactured by ZIL and by Gaz itself. An attempt to export it in the Western world, where the Volga were often modified with Peugeot and Rover components and mechanic parts, was all-in-all unsuccessful.

Among all the Western powers, Italy had the strongest and most ambiguous relationship with the Soviet Union. The complex diplomatic and commercial links between the two countries framed the agreement signed in 1966 by Vittorio Valletta, at the time FIAT’s CEO, and Moscow’s Minister for car production. This resulted in the construction of a huge production plant in Togliatti, and in the reincarnation of the Italian FIAT 124 in the full-fledged Soviet Lada 2101 “Zigulí”.

The UAZ 469 was designed as the off-road vehicle for the Red Army, to replace the Gaz 69, that the Soviet military forces were equipped with at the time. The project development was tumultuous and never-ending, lasting throughout the 1960s. A version for civil use was also realized, sold in all the Soviet Union countries and on just one Western market: Italy.

The Skoda Super Sport “Ferat”, produced in just one sample and launched at Brussels Motor Show in 1972, is a decidedly atypical object for Soviet car production. The Czechoslovakian supercar’s most impressive feature was certainly its single access door, tilting up jointly with the windscreen and roof. The “Ferat” remained a prototype, and no mass-produced Skoda ever adopted this spectacular solution.

The Lada Niva is a not uncommon case of Soviet car which survived the collapse of the Communist bloc with no major changes. More than two and a half million Niva have been produced since 1977, with no interruptions and with just a few minor updates to the original vehicle. Some contemporary observers consider is as the forerunner of today’s SUVs. Besides the technical and mechanic differences, it is undeniable that when it made its appearance on the Western markets, at the end on the 1970s, it became a trendy object, though for a niche clientele.

When Vittorio Ghidella rejected the first project for the FIAT 127’s replacement, that was already at an advanced stage of development, the maquettes were sold to the Zastava. The main Yugoslavian car manufacturer transformed them in its compact car Yugo, which premiered at Belgrade Motor Show in 1980. From the Balkans, the Yugo made its comeback in Italy in 1991, in the guise of the Innocenti Koral, and was also exported in the US. Its countless reliability issues, combined with its awkward silhouette, made it rightly or wrongly a regular feature in the top ten of the worst cars in history.

The Favorit saloon, and its Format estate version, are the last project by Skoda before the merger with Volkswagen in 1991. Similarly to the Lada Samara, from the same age, they represent a transitional phase of Soviet car industry, that even before the dissolution of the communist bloc was activating a difficult process of update. Its results were contradictory, also in terms of style: the Favorit and the Format were designed by Bertone, but they can hardly be considered as the Turin-based coachbuilder’s best works.