Any Lada Niva fans here?

I've always sorta wanted one of these. I have a coworker who is a Russian national who had a friend in Moscow who restores them. Cost will be $5-6000. Then 3 guys drive 3 of them to Finland, where they're put in a container and shipped to Long Beach. If I want pre-1990 models (to pass customs easily) that's quite do-able.

I think I can get 3 of them to Long Beach for $25-30000. Do you think there's a market for the other two?

There's always a market for weird cars, but it's limited.

I drove one once, they are rather...rustic. The one I drove had a Fiat dohc engine fitted as getting parts in Canada for the original one was apparently too difficult.

I'm one of those folks that would really want one. But not at those prices. They are a quirky toy with little to no redeeming qualities, not something you'd pay in the 10k range for IMHO.

and I have a 2 litre fiat Twin Cam sitting around doing nothing too...

Yes, I would love one...for $2-3k.

I would consider 10grand if all the body and trim parts were there and in good nick. I do not want to even think about trying to replace any that are missing

I like them, but probably not $10K worth. Though one like this would tempt me.

I've owned three - fantastic vehicles. Lada folks tend to be on the frugal side of things and I bet there aren't too many willing to pay $10k even for a perfect one. The later fuel injected ones are much better.

I loved those things when they first came out. Common sense kicked in so I never owned one. I just saw one on the road about a week ago. It still looked sharp. I just checked Kijiji for Ontario and nothing is listed for sale. I'm guessing most of them returned to their basic elements many years ago.

There was a small specialist dealer in Edmonton that sold Daihatsus and Ladas. I looked at a Niva seriously when I was 17-18. $7K for a brand new 4x4....it was tempting. However I was unsure about getting parts for a vehicle from the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, I backed off. Cool little trucks and far as I know, quite reliable.

Nivas pop up on Kijiji in Alberta for sub $3k quite regularly.

Proof