Well here it is... NEW Skoda logo & design concept (new Octavia) from Geneva!

[Inego]

Hey, Brocky used to import Ladas - they must be good Actually, the Niva was surprisingly OK for its time - the Samara a pile of stinking poo......

The Niva's were OK in rallying here, weren't they?

[spellbound]

Hey, Brocky used to import Ladas - they must be good Actually, the Niva was surprisingly OK for its time - the Samara a pile of stinking poo......

The Niva's were OK in rallying here, weren't they?

Business associate rented part of his warehouse in footscay in the 90's to the lada importer .

While visiting one day is saw the corraled returned samara's , beyond repair .

Best trick was the gear shift that suddenly came out of the box while moving .

[jayen]

Hey, Brocky used to import Ladas - they must be good Actually, the Niva was surprisingly OK for its time - the Samara a pile of stinking poo......

The Niva's were OK in rallying here, weren't they?

Hang on a tick . . . I had a Samara during my uni days (all I could afford) and I can personally vouch for them as a decent cheap car. The story behind their import is interesting but this isn't the forum. They were easy to work on if you had to, and like any bit of machinery it required a reasonable maintenance regime . . . and of course like any other car if the mechanic was careless then you might have problems. After two mechanic installed water pumps, I did the third myself and never had a water pump problem again . . . never took it to a mechanic again either. But the plastic in them was terrible and lasted only a few months in Australian conditions. I'll admit it wasn't a great car but it did ride and handle okay. I don't know much about the Niva but a bloke I used to work with saw one while he was out bush bashing in his Land Cruiser and was surprised at their capability.