Niva
“A Zhiguli engine, Range Rover-style full-time 4WD and a body the size of a hatchback. It went to Antarctica, the North Pole and Everest base camp, and it's still in production nearly fifty years later.”
In the early 1970s the Soviet government asked AvtoVAZ for a car the countryside could actually use. The Niva (VAZ-2121) went into production in Tolyatti on 5 April 1977. It had a unibody, independent front suspension, coil springs all round and full-time four-wheel drive with a lockable centre differential. That last feature was rare in 1977, though the Range Rover had it. Wikipedia calls the Niva the world's first mass-produced off-roader with unibody construction.
The West bought it in big numbers. It was Lada's best-selling export, and Britain had it from 1978 and Canada from the 1981 model year until 1998. Trade sanctions kept it out of the US, which is why American Nivas are 25-year-rule imports. Along the way it became the 1.7 21213 and 21214, grew a five-door VAZ-2131 version, and was renamed Lada 4x4 in 2006 and Lada Niva Legend in 2021.
We cover the whole run on one page, because the 2121 and its descendants are one design that has been updated for almost 50 years rather than replaced. The Chevrolet Niva (VAZ-2123), now sold as the Lada Niva Travel, is a different car.
Every generation
Best Lada Niva years to buy, and which to avoid → · Every Lada Niva recall, by generation →