Cars of Eastern Europe by Andy Thompson

[Matt Bodycombe]

For those of you who like the old Skodas this will be a great read. It is well written and there are lots of good photos too with a big section on Skoda. It is available for £20 on Amazon

http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BookFeature_CarsEasternEuropeView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001

[Brian69]

Ah, but a pedant would point out Czechoslovakia wasn't in Eastern Europe ;-)

My uncle had a Moskovich in the '70s - it was truly dreadful.

[Matt Bodycombe]

Well pedant or not Skoda and Tatra are featured! Did they import the Moskovitch into the UK? I know the Volga was marketed at one point. In fairness to the old Russian cars, if they were looked after they were very reliable and tough. I was always quite fond of the old Lada Riva. A friend of mine at Uni had one and it was a tough old thing that could stand all sorts of abuse, was very tail happy and had a surprisingly sweet and revvy 1.3 OHC engine. The Lada Niva 4 x 4 was a terrific little thing too.

Edited 2 December, 2012 by Matt Bodycombe

[Tommy_TadPole]

Ah, but a pedant would point out Czechoslovakia wasn't in Eastern Europe ;-)

My uncle had a Moskovich in the '70s - it was truly dreadful.

Where was it then?

[Brian69]

Well pedant or not Skoda and Tatra are featured! Did they import the Moskovitch into the UK? I know the Volga was marketed at one point. In fairness to the old Russian cars, if they were looked after they were very reliable and tough. I was always quite fond of the old Lada Riva. A friend of mine at Uni had one and it was a tough old thing that could stand all sorts of abuse, was very tail happy and had a surprisingly sweet and revvy 1.3 OHC engine. The Lada Niva 4 x 4 was a terrific little thing too.

They definitely imported Moskovitches into the UK - the make features in Classic & Sportscar's A-Z 1945-1970, which covers every car available for purchase in the UK during the aforementioned years.

Where was it then?

Central Europe.

[seboni121]

We had a moskovitch in the early 80's we loved it

Pretty sure ceckoslovakia was and still is in the east? Although its Central Europe its still a member of the Eastern European federation / community, although this may be totally wrong

Edited 2 December, 2012 by seboni121

[Brian69]

Czechoslovakia is no more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe

[seboni121]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe

[seboni121]

Central east ?

[Brian69]

Central east ?

You'd start an argument in an empty house.

[seboni121]

You'd start an argument in an empty house.

Oh yeah that's me Brian , I can have an argument with myself and still loose it ....., I'm pretty pathetic really as many here would agree with!, they'll be here in a mo no doubt

[@Lee]

We had a moskovitch in the early 80's we loved it

Pretty sure ceckoslovakia was and still is in the east? Although its Central Europe its still a member of the Eastern European federation / community, although this may be totally wrong

And Israel's not in Europe but they enter Eurovision

[P6bJOHN]

Moskvitch in GB

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/moskvich-412-510383.html

[Brian69]

Moskvitch in GB

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/moskvich-412-510383.html

Interesting article - it must've been a 412 my uncle had.

[Matt Bodycombe]

Apparently the Moscvitch above had a fairly decent engine: a rip off of the old BMW 1500 OHC engine. Actually the engine in the Lada Riva is a nice fizzy engine: again OHC and a good revver but it was blighted by the car's 1 tonne weight. Always been fascinated by these cars as I said and the history behind them. A guy called Julian Nowill wrote a good book on East European Cars but that is sadly long out of Print as is Dave Randle's "A True History of Skoda" with second hand copies going for about £80. Another great book is the two volume L & K Skoda which I managed to blag for free from Skoda's(Czech) publicity department because I told them I was researching old Skodas lol.

Maybe the Andy Thompson book should have been called behind the Iron curtain lol but it does cover East European cars to the present day like the new Skodas, Dacias and the Hungarian made Suzuki Swift. As i said go have a read

Edited 3 December, 2012 by Matt Bodycombe

[skodanorman]

Dear Santa...

[Matt Bodycombe]

Just got my copy today and definately worth the money: loads of good photos and interesting text so hope Santa delivers for you

[Brian69]

I remember going to Vilnius and Minsk in 1997 - the majority of cars (in Minsk anyway) were still Russian. Every taxi seemed to be a Volga 24 - the equivalent of 50p seemed to take you wherever you wanted to go - no idea what any of the fares actually were - just waved the 50p note equivalent and the driver always seemed happy.

 

[Matt Bodycombe]

I thought black Volgas were the preserve of the KGB only meester Brian :p

[Brian69]

I thought black Volgas were the preserve of the KGB only meester Brian :p

The taxis in Minsk were all blue from what I can remember - could only find pictures of black ones.

Perhaps KGB operatives doing a bit on moonlighting .

[Mr Ree]

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/18/07/2010/122285/Lada-Niva-back-on-sale-in-UK.htm

Only £7,995 for the van version too!! ;o

[P6bJOHN]

I love this video which was highlighted in the Hemmings newsletter: Enjoy the madness of Tatra 603 publicity 'road test'

The narrator at the end apparently says:

"We are witness to Tatra 603 car trials. The car is safely under control in every situation. Excellent suspension is guarantee of comfortable ride even on poor surfaces. Air-cooled engine works great in all climatic conditions. The Tatra 603 is extremely reliable and stable even under the hardest trial and service conditions. Yes, there nothing else to do than congratulate the Tatra 603’s characteristics.”

The pilot is Czech racing driver Jaroslav Pavelka

Edited 16 December, 2012 by P6bJOHN

[skodanorman]

Imagine the road presence you'd have in a 603!

[Matt Bodycombe]

Just seen this: Tatras are awesome. I don't know about a 603: very exensive and a bit slow now lol. The 70s-90s 613 is a different matter: 3.5 V8, aircooled, 200bhp, sound the business. Even they are up for crazy money now :(

[PaulOH]

I remember seeing a bronze 613 parked outside the Czech Consulate in Dublin about 15 years ago - it looked mad - like a large BMW took a fancy to a Talbot Alpine. It would´ve been marketable in Western Europe during the 70s and 80s had the engine been in the front.