How do Communists manage to get by with horrific cars?

For years, East Germans managed to make use of the Trabant. To this day the Cubans manage to get around in Russian Ladas which are essentially identical to a Yugo. Add all the Chinese cars to the mix. How do these people manage to make it work?

Google or YouTube “Russian driving” and you will find out real quick why no one gives them nice cars.

If you can find the FULL LENGTH episode of BBC Top Gear devoted to communist cars, you will laugh so hard it will scare your pets.

Here's a condensed version...but I'm telling you, the full length episode is worth looking for.



"Aluminium has all the braking properties of.............CHEESE!" :lamo

I sat in one at a car show several years ago.....the owner told me , "dont sit down hard on the seat"; not something that inspires faith in engineering.

Maybe good public transportation, but most likely they've never driven decent cars.
Ignorance is bliss kinda thing.

Bum said:

I sat in one at a car show several years ago.....the owner told me , "dont sit down hard on the seat"; not something that inspires faith in engineering.

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Probably a built-in whoopee cushion.
Now that's technical innovation at its finest !!!

radioman said:

Probably a built-in whoopee cushion.
Now that's technical innovation at its finest !!!

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Complete with gravity feed gas tank sitting on top of the engine under the hood.

Bum said:

Complete with gravity feed gas tank sitting on top of the engine under the hood.

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That prevents fuel pump failure.

ttwtt78640 said:

That prevents fuel pump failure.

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But does wonders for an engine fire. :mrgreen:

Bum said:

But does wonders for an engine fire. :mrgreen:

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Yep, and that boosts new car sales.

ttwtt78640 said:

Yep, and that boosts new car sales.

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Soviet capitalism or planned obsolescence?

SDET said:

For years, East Germans managed to make use of the Trabant. To this day the Cubans manage to get around in Russian Ladas which are essentially identical to a Yugo. Add all the Chinese cars to the mix. How do these people manage to make it work?

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Humbling, isn't it?

Those Cubans have to make things last. They will drop a V8 into a Yugo if that's all they have. They can keep a 100 year old refrigerator working. The Russians are pretty much the same. Our "disposable" society spoils us. In many countries they learn to make do. The best example of that is India. they can keep anything running; not as designed perhaps, but running.

Waddy said:

Those Cubans have to make things last. They will drop a V8 into a Yugo if that's all they have. They can keep a 100 year old refrigerator working. The Russians are pretty much the same. Our "disposable" society spoils us. In many countries they learn to make do. The best example of that is India. they can keep anything running; not as designed perhaps, but running.

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Oh please, no one who knows anything is questioning the ability of these cars to run virtually forever, OR the ability of Russians and Cubans and the like to get creative when solving problems.

The issue is if these communist cars were ever any good EVEN WHEN NEW, and the answer to that is: NOPE.
They come out of the factory designed poorly, they run poorly, some of them have catastrophic failure right off the showroom floor, etc.

So while it is certainly possible to KEEP an old Russian car running, what you get for your efforts is a car that ran like dog crap from Day One, and now runs like worse dog crap, but at least you have running dog crap for a car.
And yes, in these countries, at least running dog crap beats walking but not by much.

PS: Most commonly, if the Cubans need to keep a Yank Tank or any other car running, they don't drop in a V8, they drop in an old four cylinder diesel tractor motor.

Waddy said:

Those Cubans have to make things last. They will drop a V8 into a Yugo if that's all they have. They can keep a 100 year old refrigerator working. The Russians are pretty much the same. Our "disposable" society spoils us. In many countries they learn to make do. The best example of that is India. they can keep anything running; not as designed perhaps, but running.

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I have seen the Afghans produce home made scrap carburetors to keep old Russian ZIL trucks running.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

Oh please, no one who knows anything is questioning the ability of these cars to run virtually forever, OR the ability of Russians and Cubans and the like to get creative when solving problems.

The issue is if these communist cars were ever any good EVEN WHEN NEW, and the answer to that is: NOPE.
They come out of the factory designed poorly, they run poorly, some of them have catastrophic failure right off the showroom floor, etc.

So while it is certainly possible to KEEP an old Russian car running, what you get for your efforts is a car that ran like dog crap from Day One, and now runs like worse dog crap, but at least you have running dog crap for a car.
And yes, in these countries, at least running dog crap beats walking but not by much.

PS: Most commonly, if the Cubans need to keep a Yank Tank or any other car running, they don't drop in a V8, they drop in an old four cylinder diesel tractor motor.

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Why are you picking on the Russians? I once foolishly bought a brand new Chevy Vega. Within a year it was a rust bucket. Broke down constantly. And burned oil by the gallon. I actually had a smoke screen behind me. And the Ford Pinto wasn't much better. Or the infamous Gremlin. We have been just as capable of making crappy cars as the Russians. They just make them lots cheaper. In fact, most of our current production domestic brands are crap.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

Oh please, no one who knows anything is questioning the ability of these cars to run virtually forever, OR the ability of Russians and Cubans and the like to get creative when solving problems.

The issue is if these communist cars were ever any good EVEN WHEN NEW, and the answer to that is: NOPE.
They come out of the factory designed poorly, they run poorly, some of them have catastrophic failure right off the showroom floor, etc.

So while it is certainly possible to KEEP an old Russian car running, what you get for your efforts is a car that ran like dog crap from Day One, and now runs like worse dog crap, but at least you have running dog crap for a car.
And yes, in these countries, at least running dog crap beats walking but not by much.

PS: Most commonly, if the Cubans need to keep a Yank Tank or any other car running, they don't drop in a V8, they drop in an old four cylinder diesel tractor motor.

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I have noticed that also. One notable exception is the 235 CID Chevrolet straight six. After conversing with several Chevy owners in Cuba, I was surprised that several had their original 235.

Bum said:

Soviet capitalism or planned obsolescence?

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It's all the people can afford. And if the liberals here have their way, only the rich will be able to afford cars. We light have to lower our standards to such cars.

Waddy said:

Why are you picking on the Russians? I once foolishly bought a brand new Chevy Vega. Within a year it was a rust bucket. Broke down constantly. And burned oil by the gallon. I actually had a smoke screen behind me. And the Ford Pinto wasn't much better. Or the infamous Gremlin. We have been just as capable of making crappy cars as the Russians. They just make them lots cheaper. In fact, most of our current production domestic brands are crap.

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The Vega was indeed a giant goose egg for GM but I take exception to your description of the lowly Pinto.

Based upon the tests performed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and by the tremendous publicity generated over the problem, Ford agreed to recall all 1971 through 1976 Ford Pintos and 1975-76 Mercury Bobcat sedan and hatchback models for modifications to the fuel tank. The modifications included a longer fuel filler neck and a better clamp to keep it securely in the fuel tank, a better gas cap in some models, and placement of a plastic shield between the front of the fuel tank and the differential to protect the tank from the nuts and bolts on the differential and another along the right corner of the tank to protect it from the right rear shock absorber. Recall notices were mailed in September, 1978 and parts were to be at all dealers by September 15, 1978.

I take exception because you bring up one defect, namely an inability of a 1970's compact car to sustain a (according to NHTSA rules) THIRTY MILE AN HOUR rear end collision. I would be interested to know how many other 1970's compacts would would survive such collisions without any risk of fire. Updated variants of the famous Pinto engine still live on today. This Ford inline 4 is also one of the most dependable engines made.

What's next? The Corvair? The VW Beetle suffered the exact same defect, and so did numerous swing-axle vehicles of that era. The Corvair's issue was resolved by the middle of Year Two.

The Gremlin? Tell me, in your opinion, what was wrong, defective or unsafe about the Gremlin, please.
Tell us all specifically how US brand vehicles are "mostly crap".
Most Gremlins racked up well over 200 thousand miles or more in service, and the AMC straight six lived on as the 4.0 six cylinder in Jeep vehicles all the way up until 2006. And the venerable AMC 6 is considered one of the most durable engines ever made.

The Lada started out as a well made reasonably priced Fiat 124. As a Fiat 124, it's a pretty good car.
Once the Russians got hold of the design, they RUINED it in ways which are specifically pointed out, namely suspension degradation, degrades in braking and steering, and ultimately, replacement of the original Fiat engine with a lesser power plant.

Chaika sedans were not even available to ordinary Soviets, only high ranking government officials and dignitaries owned them.
And here's the amazing thing...EVEN these HAND MADE special order vehicles, like the Chaika, which was loosely based on finagled 1958 Packard blueprints in part, was a rolling disaster.



So, your claims about cost are also meaningless, because if a hand made Chaika were ever to be sold retail, it would have cost more than the equivalent of a brand new top of the line MBZ S-Class to the average Soviet.

But there's good news! The Soviet Volga sedan, pictured below, turned out to actually be a pretty decent car, not too far removed from an early 1960's "Chevy II" style Nova.



So, why am I picking on Russian cars? Because I've ridden in and driven them.
And I've owned several American made compacts of the same era.

Lord of Planar said:

It's all the people can afford. And if the liberals here have their way, only the rich will be able to afford cars. We light have to lower our standards to such cars.

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In Cuba, it has nothing to do with "afford". Difficult to attain state authorization is required to buy a vehicle manufactured after 1/1/1962.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

The Vega was indeed a giant goose egg for GM but I take exception to your description of the lowly Pinto.

Based upon the tests performed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and by the tremendous publicity generated over the problem, Ford agreed to recall all 1971 through 1976 Ford Pintos and 1975-76 Mercury Bobcat sedan and hatchback models for modifications to the fuel tank. The modifications included a longer fuel filler neck and a better clamp to keep it securely in the fuel tank, a better gas cap in some models, and placement of a plastic shield between the front of the fuel tank and the differential to protect the tank from the nuts and bolts on the differential and another along the right corner of the tank to protect it from the right rear shock absorber. Recall notices were mailed in September, 1978 and parts were to be at all dealers by September 15, 1978.

I take exception because you bring up one defect, namely an inability of a 1970's compact car to sustain a (according to NHTSA rules) THIRTY MILE AN HOUR rear end collision. I would be interested to know how many other 1970's compacts would would survive such collisions without any risk of fire. Updated variants of the famous Pinto engine still live on today. This Ford inline 4 is also one of the most dependable engines made.

What's next? The Corvair? The VW Beetle suffered the exact same defect, and so did numerous swing-axle vehicles of that era. The Corvair's issue was resolved by the middle of Year Two.

The Gremlin? Tell me, in your opinion, what was wrong, defective or unsafe about the Gremlin, please.
Tell us all specifically how US brand vehicles are "mostly crap".
Most Gremlins racked up well over 200 thousand miles or more in service, and the AMC straight six lived on as the 4.0 six cylinder in Jeep vehicles all the way up until 2006. And the venerable AMC 6 is considered one of the most durable engines ever made.

The Lada started out as a well made reasonably priced Fiat 124. As a Fiat 124, it's a pretty good car.
Once the Russians got hold of the design, they RUINED it in ways which are specifically pointed out, namely suspension degradation, degrades in braking and steering, and ultimately, replacement of the original Fiat engine with a lesser power plant.

Chaika sedans were not even available to ordinary Soviets, only high ranking government officials and dignitaries owned them.
And here's the amazing thing...EVEN these HAND MADE special order vehicles, like the Chaika, which was loosely based on finagled 1958 Packard blueprints in part, was a rolling disaster.

View attachment 67268462

So, your claims about cost are also meaningless, because if a hand made Chaika were ever to be sold retail, it would have cost more than the equivalent of a brand new top of the line MBZ S-Class to the average Soviet.

But there's good news! The Soviet Volga sedan, pictured below, turned out to actually be a pretty decent car, not too far removed from an early 1960's "Chevy II" style Nova.

So, why am I picking on Russian cars? Because I've ridden in and driven them.
And I've owned several American made compacts of the same era.

Click to expand...

They're crap..Pure crap. Can go 200K if you put loads of money into them. Not any better than the Russian junk.

SDET said:

For years, East Germans managed to make use of the Trabant. To this day the Cubans manage to get around in Russian Ladas which are essentially identical to a Yugo. Add all the Chinese cars to the mix. How do these people manage to make it work?

Click to expand...

The communists made very good heavy duty and military trucks, their cars were garbage. But you must also understand their logic, they were designed to be cheap enough, while expensive enough to employ x amount of people. The masses in those countries used mass transit or walked everywhere, cars were for important business men and politicians, or select people in rural areas or the disabled.

One of their ugliest vehicles the ussr gave out for free, to the disabled, you can tell by the design luxury and style were not intended, but rather to be very cheap and to be effective to the disabled or to certain rural communities lacking mass transit, this was I believe the smz, a car so ugly even a mother could not love it yet it served it's purpose.

I can tell an account from someone I met who lived under soviet rule, they got a truck, a very nice truck, technically though it was not his families truck, it was given free of charge to his small farm which his family ran, yet both the farm and the truck were state property. The truck was intended for supplies and farm equipment runs due to it's rural location, the state paid for the gas, however they would punish for using it for anything other than farm business, whether it be the family that ran the farm or the other employees, as all was state property and there to improve farming production, not there for their own liesure.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

The Vega was indeed a giant goose egg for GM but I take exception to your description of the lowly Pinto.

Based upon the tests performed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and by the tremendous publicity generated over the problem, Ford agreed to recall all 1971 through 1976 Ford Pintos and 1975-76 Mercury Bobcat sedan and hatchback models for modifications to the fuel tank. The modifications included a longer fuel filler neck and a better clamp to keep it securely in the fuel tank, a better gas cap in some models, and placement of a plastic shield between the front of the fuel tank and the differential to protect the tank from the nuts and bolts on the differential and another along the right corner of the tank to protect it from the right rear shock absorber. Recall notices were mailed in September, 1978 and parts were to be at all dealers by September 15, 1978.

I take exception because you bring up one defect, namely an inability of a 1970's compact car to sustain a (according to NHTSA rules) THIRTY MILE AN HOUR rear end collision. I would be interested to know how many other 1970's compacts would would survive such collisions without any risk of fire. Updated variants of the famous Pinto engine still live on today. This Ford inline 4 is also one of the most dependable engines made.

What's next? The Corvair? The VW Beetle suffered the exact same defect, and so did numerous swing-axle vehicles of that era. The Corvair's issue was resolved by the middle of Year Two.

The Gremlin? Tell me, in your opinion, what was wrong, defective or unsafe about the Gremlin, please.
Tell us all specifically how US brand vehicles are "mostly crap".
Most Gremlins racked up well over 200 thousand miles or more in service, and the AMC straight six lived on as the 4.0 six cylinder in Jeep vehicles all the way up until 2006. And the venerable AMC 6 is considered one of the most durable engines ever made.

The Lada started out as a well made reasonably priced Fiat 124. As a Fiat 124, it's a pretty good car.
Once the Russians got hold of the design, they RUINED it in ways which are specifically pointed out, namely suspension degradation, degrades in braking and steering, and ultimately, replacement of the original Fiat engine with a lesser power plant.

Chaika sedans were not even available to ordinary Soviets, only high ranking government officials and dignitaries owned them.
And here's the amazing thing...EVEN these HAND MADE special order vehicles, like the Chaika, which was loosely based on finagled 1958 Packard blueprints in part, was a rolling disaster.

View attachment 67268462

So, your claims about cost are also meaningless, because if a hand made Chaika were ever to be sold retail, it would have cost more than the equivalent of a brand new top of the line MBZ S-Class to the average Soviet.

But there's good news! The Soviet Volga sedan, pictured below, turned out to actually be a pretty decent car, not too far removed from an early 1960's "Chevy II" style Nova.

So, why am I picking on Russian cars? Because I've ridden in and driven them.
And I've owned several American made compacts of the same era.

Click to expand...

The pinto nearly became the safest compact car ever made, what killed it was a few dumb decisions by ford to save a few bucks like reinforcements in the doors and a tank bladder, eliminating those two things which saved something like 3-6 dollars per car made them not only catch on fire but also made it in many cases impossible to leave the burning car, ford had the opportunity to make a cash cow with it and blew it, and the reputation was scarred forever even if the problems were fixed, the reputation was so bad ford had to force dealers to buy x amount of pinto's before they would sell them more popular models just to unload them.


Fyi I have never driven a russian car, I have driven a russian tractor in afghanistan and despite everything working well things were often backwards, the russian contractor who brought it for the locals before I got to use it for off the books renovation uncle sam did not want to flip the bill for said that the old soviet union sometimes did it backwards just so they would not look like copycats. The thing had a goofball reverse where you had to put it into first, then double clutch it and hit another lever for reverse, and pull it out of reverse beforeshifting into second, otherwise the whole thing would lock up, and the guages were backwards, full for diesel was to the left while empty was to the right.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

Oh please, no one who knows anything is questioning the ability of these cars to run virtually forever, OR the ability of Russians and Cubans and the like to get creative when solving problems.

The issue is if these communist cars were ever any good EVEN WHEN NEW, and the answer to that is: NOPE.
They come out of the factory designed poorly, they run poorly, some of them have catastrophic failure right off the showroom floor, etc.

So while it is certainly possible to KEEP an old Russian car running, what you get for your efforts is a car that ran like dog crap from Day One, and now runs like worse dog crap, but at least you have running dog crap for a car.
And yes, in these countries, at least running dog crap beats walking but not by much.

PS: Most commonly, if the Cubans need to keep a Yank Tank or any other car running, they don't drop in a V8, they drop in an old four cylinder diesel tractor motor.

Click to expand...

They will drop anything into anything if need be, I have seen old toyotas pulled with a donkey because locals in afghanistan would not scrap anything that could be salvaged in some way. I have also seen Some goofball truck equal to a 55-58 chevy but written in cyrillic all over, complete with a copy chevy flathead straight six. Not sure which country made it, all I could gather was it was made around the 80's-90's and probably still built made from old equipment bought from gm. The one the locals who were contracted used was so worn out the engine barely had enough compression to run, and they did not have a battery in it or even a starter, they would push start it or take turns wrapping cord around the crank pulley until they could finally pullstart it which took quite a while on a carburated truck with nearly no compression, then when it started and they got it to temp, they would go back to town leaving a train of black and blue smoke as they left.

I always liked Vegas. I admit they had a lot of problems. Some of them literally started rusting on the showroom floor. I've heard this was in part due to them being shipped standing on end. During shipment, water could find its way in to places it might not ordinarily. However, IMO they were the best looking of the '70s compacts and a given a small block engine transplant could avoid the problems with their poorly engineered four cylinder and go like hell besides.

I was in Germany when the wall came down. Suddenly Trabants materialized everywhere. They were entertaining to hear.