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Pick your favorite iconic car from any decade....
- Thread starter Iridescentone
- Start date
Decade: 70s
Place: Soviet Ukraine
Car: The one
The only
Zaporozhets "Zapo" 968
The power
The luxury
The status
Place: Soviet Ukraine
Car: The one
The only
Zaporozhets "Zapo" 968
The power
The luxury
The status
Those appear to be more or less copied from NSU.
Other eastern 'copy's' that I remember.
The Lada 1200.
Which was a copy of the Fiat 124.
And a number of Zastava's were also Fiat copy's.
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After WWII, the Soviet Union a lot of machine equipment was "lifted" from Western European plants and re-purposed to build cars in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries under Soviet control. Volkswagen, Opel, and Fiat were particular favorites.
Are you kiddin' me? Color doesn't matter; this car looks incredible in whatever clothes it's wearing... but this silver is mindblowing.
See more here...
Lamborghini Restored A Breathtaking Miura SVJ, One Of Only Four Ever Made | Carscoops
See more here...
Lamborghini Restored A Breathtaking Miura SVJ, One Of Only Four Ever Made | Carscoops
I forgot about the Renault copy's by Dacia.
Renault 8 (also manufactured under licence in Italy by Alfa Romeo)
Dacia 1100
Renault 12
Dacia 1300
Actually, both the original Lada and most of the Zastava offerings (600, 750, 1100, 1300, 1500..) were licensed by Fiat even though they often differed from the originals in some respects. Dacias were also licensed by Renault.
Now, as for "inspired by"...Volga GAZ 21 is one of my all-time favourites
Not to forget Stalin's own ZIS
But there were some interesting vehicles coming out of The Warsaw Pact countries as well:
Wartburg (East Germany)
Škoda (Czechoslovakia)
Isn't Dacia a sub-brand of Renault? Sorta like SEAT (pronounced SAY-yacht) and Skoda are regional sub-brands of Volkswagen?
For these Eastern Bloc copies and whatnot I believe it's mostly the bodywork and interior that's more or less directly copied. As far as I've read, at least the Zaporozhets and Ladas and such, they had Soviet designed and built motors, drive trains, and possibly frames and suspension as well. I believe the interiors were often somewhat original in design too, though I'm less certain of that.
At any rate, I love the "je ne sais quoi" of Soviet products. They have a lovely sort of utilitarianism and just the right jankiness. Plus I've always just been enamored by Eastern Europe.
On that note, I present my second pick (which I thought about briefly after posting the Zapo):
Decade: mid 60s-70s
Place: Soviet Union
The UAZ-452!
Forget the VW Van
The legacy!
The potential
At any rate, I love the "je ne sais quoi" of Soviet products. They have a lovely sort of utilitarianism and just the right jankiness. Plus I've always just been enamored by Eastern Europe.
On that note, I present my second pick (which I thought about briefly after posting the Zapo):
Decade: mid 60s-70s
Place: Soviet Union
The UAZ-452!
Forget the VW Van
The legacy!
The potential
Attachments
Dacia has been building cars under Renault's license for decades.
Back in those days, SEAT was building cars under Fiat's license and Škoda was completely independent. All of that changed in the early 90s I believe.
Lamborghini should have stuck with that sort of design. So much nicer looking (IMHO) than all those angular, '80s excess looking cars.
Actually, maybe, they should have stuck to making>
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My thought exactly...elegance over excess.
Fortunately, Enzo did not stoop so low............
Well, Lamborghini did start as a tractor manufacturer and Enzo Ferrari made fun of that fact on every occasion, according to the interview with late Mr. Lamborghini that I read decades ago. As beautiful as some of his cars undoubtedly were, Mr. Ferrari didn't seem like a nice guy to me whatsoever...
To this day, I'd take a Miura over any Ferrari...but I digress...
Always loved the look of Alfa Romeo Montreal
