All you need to know about Lada
Born: 1970
Nationality: Russian
It was a four-year gestation period, but surprisingly efficient in the Soviet Union of the time. After an agreement between Fiat and the Soviet government to build a car factory at Togliatti, 600 miles south-east of Moscow, the first VAZ 2101 rolled off the production line. Based on the Fiat 124, it was colloquially known as the Zhiguli after a nearby range of mountains.
Togliatti itself was a new city, part of a massive new industrial complex in the area based around the construction of the Lenin Dam.
That first Lada had "luxurious" vinyl trim and rubber mats and - essential in Russia - a full toolkit for do-it-yourself maintenance.
Three years after introduction, the car was exported as the Lada 1200 to Britain, where it eventually had carpets added to the specification. It was cheap, familiar in shape, and was actually very successful in Britain over the next two-and-a-half decades.
Back in the USSR, the VAZ 2101 rapidly became ubiquitous as the equivalent of a "people's car", even if only a very small proportion of the people could afford it. The standard of its local success can be gauged by the fact that it was eventually put in the record books as "the Russian Car of the Century".
Despite the Lada jokes that eventually built up around it, the car was pretty robust and worked well in the very severe conditions of its homeland. It was available in saloon and estate forms, and the original 1.2-litre engine was later complemented by a 1.5-litre which grew to a 1.6.
In 1977, a boxy 4WD small SUV was added to the range. When pitted against more sophisticated offerings in western markets, it proved well able to hold its own as a tough and reliable vehicle. In 1983, a larger and more powerful car the VAZ 2107, based on the Fiat 125, was introduced and became the Riva saloon and estate in markets on this side of Europe.
The first Lada not based on old Fiat technology was the Samara, which appeared in the latter half of the 1980s as the 110 in Russia, powered by a 1.3-litre engine with a US-made injection system.
Around this time the company also developed a number of "buggy-type" vehicles under the brand name MARSH which never made it to Western Europe. In 1990, the total production from AutoVAZ reached the 13 million mark.
In 1997, the 17 millionth car was produced, a 110 (Samara), and today that nameplate and its hatchback and estate derivatives are the mainstay products for a company which has built over 20 million vehicles since it first began production.
The brand disappeared from the Irish scene in the mid-1990s, and a couple of years later the British importers also dropped out, mainly because the cars couldn't meet local emissions standards. However, it comes as a surprise to Irish motorists who travel to Greece and other countries in that part of the world that Lada dealerships are alive and well and their vehicles are carrying bargain-conscious motorists around the place reliably and in fair comfort. France is a good market too, and the Lada name is also familiar in every South American country.
Last year, the latest edition of the Niva SUV rolled off the production line as an AutoVAZ-GM joint venture, and that co-operation is also extending to the production of an Opel Astra for local sales.
The Niva, badged as a Chevrolet in local markets, are likely to appear soon in Europe with an Opel badge.
Lada concept cars are a regular feature of the main motor shows and, while they don't have the mechanical or the visual sophistication of the offerings from the more familiar European, American and Pacific Rim makers, they indicate that nobody should write off Lada.
Certainly, the 12 million-plus motorists who are still driving behind the badge haven't done so.
Best Car: Niva 4WD
Worst Car: Riva of the early 1990s, because it showed that Lada jokes had a basis in fact.
Weirdest Car: The brand hasn't developed to that stage yet.