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You have no idea what you are talking about. First lada, for instance, was not a "soviet" car. It was a product of FIAT. Ural Motorcycle was really a BMW creat
by readhn 8y ago
You have no idea what you are talking about.
First lada, for instance, was not a "soviet" car. It was a product of FIAT. Ural Motorcycle was really a BMW creation etc. etc.
Henry Ford helped build some of the first Soviet cars (starting in 1929). By 1935, the Soviets had produced 100,000 Ford-designed vehicles.
Soviets often "borrowed" western product designs and presented them as miracles of soviet industry.
- bch 8y agoUral was not a BMW. It was a Russian product based off an (old) BMW design. There’s a difference. Construction and materials don’t naturally follow just because they liscensed a design.
- readhn 8y agoRussians acquired the design and production techniques for BMW motorcycles and sidecars from Germans. Basically german tech reproduced in russia. "According to official accounts, after lengthy discussion, the BMW R71 motorcycle was found to closely match the Red Army's requirements. Five units were covertly purchased through Swedish intermediaries. Soviet engineers in Moscow dismantled the five BMWs, reverse engineered the BMW design in every detail and made molds and dies to produce engines and gearboxes in Moscow."
- Fins 8y agoFiat that the USSR bought wasnm't exactly a pinnacle of automotive engineering to begin with (as an American joke goes, FIAT stands for "Fix it again, Tony", doesn't it?) Initially, while all the Italian equipment was operating within design tolerances, Italian expendables were used, and designs weren't tweaked, it wasn't terrible for what it was. But that did not last long, and quality went downhill. To add insult to injury, Lada (or strictly speaking Zhiguli, Lada was the export name, and those were built slightly better) was a highest-end car a normal person could buy (after waiting in line for a few years, of course) without being "somebody".
- tonyedgecombe 8y agoThe Fiat 124 won care of the year in 1967. Although like most Italian cars of the era they didn't like the salted roads and damp air of Northern Europe. The Lada was quite different[1], in particular it was heavier to cope with Soviet roads. [1] https://jalopnik.com/the-first-lada-was-way-more-than-just-a-re-badged-fiat-1722260844 https://jalopnik.com/the-first-lada-was-way-more-than-just-a...
- Fins 8y agoBut "Car of the year" doesn't mean that it was better than a Ferrari, or a Royce either. Also, Fiat lacked Soviet build quality.
- EugeneOZ 8y agoYeah, I survived 33 years in Russia and have no idea what russian cars are, lol. I know all of that stories about FIAT. There's even anecdotes in Russia about the fact that they can't even copy Fiat without making a bucket with screw-nuts instead of a car. Name of the factory where Lada is being produced: VAZ, locals call this car TAZ ("pelvis").
- Fins 8y agoI would think "TAZ" in this case would be bowl, not pelvis.