OT a really quick lada

[jay]

No really! it's pretty amazing what you can do!

and no it's not the lotus one!

and the rest of the pretty decent pics can be found here:

http://englishrussia.com/?p=1144#more-1144

http://www.geogreeting.com/view.html?zes3Jepv+vO3jHJy+!8mAXb+OD

 

[Carroll]

Greatly under-rated motors, Ladas. Never really been cool, but good, solid, honest cars. Quite successful as a rally car and the standard body was so strong, it did'nt need to be seam-welded for motorsport use. The O.H.C. engines they used were quite modern in their day and very tough - could be tuned almost indefinatly. They used them in serious single-seat racers in Estonia.

The young fools at Lotus who did the famous 'Top Gear' one a few years back said they could'nt do anything with the Lada engine and so stuck in a twin-cam FIAT unit instead.

- What they never checked was a that a British bloke had already modded a beige-coloured 1600 Riva saloon to over 170 BHP - partly by fitting Lotus pistons in the standard Lada engine block....

 

[Buzz]

they were slightly time-limited on topgear though. maybe it was quicker that way?

Buzz
The champion of the Bravo 1.4 & now ex owner of a Bravo 1.8

 

[Carroll]

Maybe it was a time thing with them.

It was a long time ago, but I remember Top Gear showing a shot of the 3 Lotus guys looking at the Lada with the bonnet up, just shaking their heads and one of them said, "Well, can't do anything with that" and another suggested the FIAT twin-cam transplant, (which was a good call as they obviously did'nt realise what could be done to the Lada unit)

Ironic though that some of the Lotus parts they could have used must have been somewhere nearby at the factory....lol