I will say this very quietly, because maybe then I won't get drowned out by the ensuing laughter. I owned one of the first Ladas to come over from Russia. My then husband loved being different and decided that, as we were living in Germany and winters were very very cold, the best car to get would be one from Siberia! GREAT!!!!!
So, it arrived, fanfares blazing and looked ... well, unbelievably boring! No niceties at all! Stop, I must correct that. It had in its boot all the spare parts you could imagine with which to rebuild the engine and gearbox (in case they died while out on the icy tundra!), all neatly packed into an amazing huge canvas holdall that took up almost the entire boot!
This was the car that we were told would never rust!!! Hmmm ..... Well, by the end of the winter it had more rust than a 200 year old metal wheelbarrow!
Granted, I know the company has since come on a fair bit. But would I ever have a Lada again .... no, never, not even in my wildest dreams! Mind you, we were the talk of the town for a fair while! That was however probably because our Irish Wolfhound barely fit into the car and had to stick his head out the window to be comfy! Ah well!