Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
Russian media have enthusiastically reported about the discovery of rare right-hand drive Ladas spotted rusting away in a Scottish scrapyard.
Although Ladas that used to be described as skips on wheels have traditionally been extremely cheap, so few now remain that they have become vintage collectors pieces especially among Russians.
British Lada expert Ed Hughes told the BBC how the rise in value of the Lada was in part because of its unusual shape, saying: “There is nothing like it on the road. They’ve now become a fashion statement.”
But he also added that the market was also being driven by the fact they were being shipped back to Russia and Eastern Europe. He said: “There’s a small but avid market for Ladas in Eastern Europe, specifically for nice right-hand drive models made for export to Britain.
It is unclear what sort of prices Russians are prepared to pay for the vintage motors which they are amazed were actually produced to be sold to the “capitalist West”, but a couple of years ago a rusting broken down 1979 Lada Niva was put on sale of the classic car organisation alongside Aston Martins and other VIP motors where it was expected to raise 75,000 GBP.
The latest stock of the classics which have been reported in Russian media together with pictures were apparently located in the north-central British city of Glasgow. The pictures were posted on social media where they were picked up by Russian media.
The Russian Lada and Samara cars were shown under caption noting that some of them have parts missing as they seem to be on sale for spares.
The Kaiser identified as a red Niva model, another red VAZ-2108 Lada Samara and the same model in gold indicating it was a rare limited edition vehicle.
The special thing that raises the value though is the position of the steering wheel located for the British market, and underlining the fact that it was a car that had been sold to the ‘capitalist’ West.
Russian media reported that Lada cars were really popular in the United Kingdom where they were sold from the mid-70s to the late 80s in large numbers.
After that interest declined and eventually 1997 sales the UK stopped.
Local reports say there are 49 Lada cars officially registered in United Kingdom remaining today.
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