Closing out this trip and crossing the 100 countries mark, I wanted something to really mark the occasion. Getting to this point had taken a full decade and certainly had it’s share of hiccups. It was also a great excuse to get my hands on something I’d been admiring from a distance for a number of years.
The humble Lada is not gonna win any “Red light Grand Prix” races. Hell, it can barely get going out of a red light. If you ever get passed by a Lada, it’s probably because you’re already stopped on the side of the road. And… look, I can’t really pitch the Lada to you on safety either. A single viewing of a Lada crash test dummy video and you’ll appreciate why it earned a “1 Star” crash test rating. The thing is an absolute death trap. This is a car meant for navigating barren terrain on lousy, muddy roads. It’s meant to tolerate extremes in temperature and to be easily repaired and maintained.
In the USA, I’d say it’s a great replacement for a golf cart. That is, driving at low speeds to go on a grocery run or maybe a date night that doesn’t involve getting on any highways. I will say that other cars seem to give you a polite distance and it definitely attracts a lot of attention from other motorists. You’ll likely hear stories from random folks who grew up with this as the family car. It’s honestly been a pretty fun project/money pit.
Our first stop was a car lot in Chininau that specialized in restoration of Soviet-era autos.
There was a small selection of Lada, but nothing that really fit what we were looking for. We have here a beige 2101, red 2102 wagon, and a beige 2106. All of these were in good exterior condition but pretty extensive wear on the interiors.
Our next stop was meeting a private seller at a storage lot. Classic Ladas seemed to generally be priced from about $500 to $2500. For this beauty, the owner was asking for $5k. Our broker initially felt this was unacceptably excessive, until seeing the car in person. The car was in excellent condition on exterior and interior and had less that 5000 miles on it. Still had QA stickers from Soviet production line, all original paperwork and repair kit, even the factory tires with minimal tread wear.
Completely original interior
The owner was not budging on price and claimed to already have a tentative buyer from Germany.
Although the price was certainly higher than other Ladas, this seemed like one that was actually in a condition to warrant importing and maintaining as a collectible. Does it look like this guy is open to negotiation?
With a deal well struck, we organized final sale at a local bank.
Purchasing a car in Moldova for export required a few formalities, naturally. It seems you can't easily transfer ownership and registration from a Moldovan citizen to a foreigner. We completed sales contract with transfer to our friend, a local who was acting as our broker and export agent.
After the transfer of a big sweaty pile of cash and bunch of old men repeatedly counting it and arguing in Russian and Romanian, the sale was complete.
The keys are mine!....
But not for long.... This is the last time I saw the Lada in person for a number of months.
In the interim, I got WhatsApp updates from Moldova. The Lada went through a full spa treatment of new tires, some small body repairs, and routine maintenance items before beginning the voyage to USA. This is the final picture in Moldova as it was loaded on a flatbed truck and driven all the way to the port in Germany.
In Germany, the Lada was loaded on a ship bound for Georgia, USA. Along with fleets of new Audis & BMWs, the Lada shared space with an assortment of oddball cars being imported as well as personal vehicles of US military being brought home.
I got some help at the port in Georgia getting this baby loaded up, none of us could figure out how to put it in reverse :-D
Once home, an assortment of tweaks ensued: new whitewalls, trim cleanup, a period-appropriate stealth car stereo, and an aftermarket A/C using stock vents and trim.
Born in 1985, originally requiring a multi-year waiting list and costing as much as a small apartment, this minty 2103 is living out her retirement in a yuppy enclave with impeccably maintained roads and no traffic. Gone are the days of getting stuck in Rasputina muck and hand crank-starting in the freezing cold.