When in 1974 AvtoVAZ had to choose a name for the novelty, Niva was by no means the only option.
Lada Niva (now Niva Legend) was born 45 years ago. For a long time, the VAZ-2121 was almost the only model of the largest Russian car manufacturer, which, along with the numerical index, got a short and easy-to-remember name – Niva.
It could not be, because among the submitted proposals there were also Geyzer (translated from Russian as Geyser), Роса (Dew), Гамма (Gamma), Вираж (winding) and even Туман (Fog). The name Нива (Druva) was suggested by the designer Valery Semushkin, but critics immediately appeared, reminding that a grain harvester is produced with that name, to which the specialist pointed out that “everyone will forget about the combine, but the machine will remain”.
Another legend is also known, that is, the name Niva was created by combining the first letters of the names of the main designer’s children – Natalija, Irina, Vadims and Andrejs.
Be that as it may, the designer turned out to be right – Niva is still being produced without major technical and visual changes. True, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions, the production of the model has been temporarily stopped.
The latest information shows that AvtoVAZ produced the first “simplified” Niva copies. This version of Niva does not have ABS and airbags. It is reported that series production will start in July.
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