5 ms·

"The necessity is mother of invention." Russians were "hungry" and they had to work with what little they had. Their western counterparts were "well fed" and "

• taneq 8y ago
  > Their western counterparts were "well fed" and "lazy" in comparison. There was no need to be inventive and creative at every step of the process. That doesn't seem entirely fair. The western counterparts could never have sold this car, any more than the Soviet engineers could have sold the Chevy. They weren't being fat and lazy, they were just designing for their target market.
  • gsich 8y ago
    I think they could have. Most people need a car to get from A to B. They take the cheapest one in most cases.
    • nradov 8y ago
      The cheapest cars such as the Nissan Versa or Mitsubishi Mirage don't sell particularly well in the US. Only the most desperate consumers are willing to drive around in penalty boxes.
      • gsich 8y ago
        Both look like normal cars.
        • nradov 8y ago
          From a distance perhaps. Up close the build quality isn't great. And riding in them for more than a few minutes is rather unpleasant, at least compared to a decent car like a Honda Civic or something. The cheapest cars really skimp on noise insulation, seat supports, and suspension damping to hit those price points.
          • LoSboccacc 8y ago
            I agree on most point but why would more damping could increase costs? Apart from the fact that one can increase ground clearance and soften the spring, thus resulting in stronger damping, the cheap gas monotube suspension price isn't really sensitive on the damping force required for normal applications
  • village-idiot 8y ago
    They did sell these cars in England, pretty decently at that. The gas ones that is.
    • village-idiot 8y ago
      Why the downvotes? They sold 300,000 Ladas to the British by 1997. It’s no Beetle, but that’s still pretty decent.
• andai 8y ago
  "Stay hungry." —Steve Jobs