I am familiar with the Lada's But I was not aware of a Zaporozets until I stumbled on this auction. If I was interested in an old Soviet car I think I would opt for the front engine RWD Fiat derived Lada. This car supposedly has a 40HP air cooled rear engine. It does look to be in good shape, but for $10,000 they could post more than the 3 exterior pictures IMO http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-Other-Makes-/142199290249?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368
I see I forgot to paste the pictures, Oops. I didn't realize there was a Soviet car collector culture in the USA? Who knew?
The vehicle was built in the Ukraine. Therefore, Soviet and not Russian. Here, a couple Hungarians use the drivetrain for a chopper: Doing burnouts with one:
My apologies, my Social Studies knowledge was turned inside-out with the fall of Soviet Communism, so if I speak of something as "Russian," it's because I think "Soviet." Anyway, the Soviet designs were a bit staid, but certainly very hardy.
No need to apologize. Journalists and some other historical distorters earn big money for doing likewise. Their turning inside out is most often deliberate and not an honest mistake as in your case. It used to be a saying, here in Germany, where women trapped behind the wrong allied occupation sector would say, "Better to have a Russian on your belly than an American flying over your head". Which meant that surviving rape was more likely than surviving arial bombardment. Little was she aware that the Soviet army consisted of many more ethnic groups besides Russians.
It kind of looks like a cross between a BMW 2002 and a Corvair. At least the worst attributes of both cars combined into one.
