Automotive

Lada keeps it rugged with 4x4 Vision concept SUV

Lada keeps it rugged with 4x4 Vision concept SUV
The Lada 4x4 Vision concept could point the way to a successor for the mighty Niva
The Lada 4x4 Vision concept could point the way to a successor for the mighty Niva
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Lada 4x4 Vision: urban-capable 4WD concept
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Lada 4x4 Vision: urban-capable 4WD concept
Lada 4x4 Vision: perhaps, like the Niva, it might be at its best off-road
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Lada 4x4 Vision: perhaps, like the Niva, it might be at its best off-road
Lada 4x4 Vision: a car to explore outback Russia in
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Lada 4x4 Vision: a car to explore outback Russia in
Lada 4x4 Vision: attractive look
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Lada 4x4 Vision: attractive look
Lada 4x4 Vision: a compact SUV
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Lada 4x4 Vision: a compact SUV
Lada 4x4 Vision: not a bad looking fella at all
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Lada 4x4 Vision: not a bad looking fella at all
Lada 4x4 Vision: sporty interior
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Lada 4x4 Vision: sporty interior
Lada 4x4 Vision: colorful dash
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Lada 4x4 Vision: colorful dash
Lada 4x4 Vision: colorful dash and interior
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Lada 4x4 Vision: colorful dash and interior
Lada 4x4 Vision: steering wheel
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Lada 4x4 Vision: steering wheel
Lada 4x4 Vision: textured, modular seats
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Lada 4x4 Vision: textured, modular seats
Lada 4x4 Vision: appears to have a topographical mapping service for off-road use
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Lada 4x4 Vision: appears to have a topographical mapping service for off-road use
Lada 4x4 Vision: T-shaped sunroof looks great
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Lada 4x4 Vision: T-shaped sunroof looks great
The Lada 4x4 Vision concept could point the way to a successor for the mighty Niva
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The Lada 4x4 Vision concept could point the way to a successor for the mighty Niva
Lada 4x4 Vision: top 3/4 angle
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Lada 4x4 Vision: top 3/4 angle
Lada 4x4 Vision: top rear 3/4 angle
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Lada 4x4 Vision: top rear 3/4 angle
Lada 4x4 Vision: quite the looker
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Lada 4x4 Vision: quite the looker
Lada 4x4 Vision: deep X in the sides looks terrific
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Lada 4x4 Vision: deep X in the sides looks terrific
Lada 4x4 Vision: ground clearance looks decent, and it should handle some steep approach angles
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Lada 4x4 Vision: ground clearance looks decent, and it should handle some steep approach angles
Lada 4x4 Vision: just a concept at this stage
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Lada 4x4 Vision: just a concept at this stage
Lada 4x4 Vision: chunky grille
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Lada 4x4 Vision: chunky grille
View gallery - 21 images

Famously Russian car company Lada has released a funky, chunky 4x4 concept SUV that maybe, just maybe, might end up being the successor to the famous Niva. With a deep and cool-looking X-shape in the doors and a hyper-modern interior, the 4X4 Vision concept is likely to capture a bit of attention.

Remember the Lada Niva? I sure do, I spent valuable hours of my early 20s pushing one that a friend owned when it wouldn't start. She'd bought that quirky little box of a thing because it was cheap and charming and basic. She was unable to sell it, because it exhibited typical Niva levels of fit, finish and reliability. They were renowned for being easy to fix, if you had some mechanical knowledge, but even easier to break, often doing so without any assistance whatsoever, and we used to take bets on which parts would fall off when we took it for a drive.

To be fair, it was a poor fit for urban conditions with perfectly sealed roads. The Niva reportedly excelled when the roads turned to sludge, with its light weight, low-ratio transfer gearbox, diff lock and hose-outable interior. In fact, the Niva is still on sale in Russia, largely if not wholly unchanged from what it looked like in the '70s.

In the last few years, Lada has owned as much as 20 percent of the Russian domestic car market. And last week, the company presented a pretty nice-looking concept at the 2018 Moscow International Auto Show that many are speculating could carry the Niva name forward into a new century.

Lada 4x4 Vision: a compact SUV
Lada 4x4 Vision: a compact SUV

The 4x4 Vision, though, couldn't look further from the humble Niva. Its chunky design looks tactical-tough, like a military jerry can on wheels. The chunky X-shapes carved out by its side lines look like something Nissan might be kicking itself for not inventing on the X-Trail, while the grille wouldn't be out of place on a Ford concept. The t-shaped sunroof also looks super cool, and the wheel-at-each-corner stance should offer impressive off-road performance going over steep angles.

Lada 4x4 Vision: colorful dash and interior
Lada 4x4 Vision: colorful dash and interior

And then there's the interior. Golly gosh. The heavily textured seats look nothing less than futuristic, the bold black/grey/luminescent orange color scheme looks young and sporty, and the colorful dash and infotainment system – which appears to include topographical mapping – looks pretty out there as well.

It's not a bad looking vehicle at all. It's just a concept, but it sure looks like something that could be popular. If it goes.

Source: Lada

View gallery - 21 images
2 comments
2 comments
EUbrainwashing
Back in the day when the Old LADA Niva's were being sold in the UK I would buy and sell them as used vehicles (originally because the standard Vitara wheels & tyres I was taking off new cars with bigger wheels I was selling fitted on the Nivas and looked great). So I found a market and the Nivas sold well if you put the bigger modern looking wheels on them and if you sorted the central drive-line transfer-box by mounting it a fraction lower and balanced the two prop-shafts to make them then run nice and smooth.
So my point is these Lada's were well designed - outstanding off-road - and had a very advance drive-line for the day BUT the production quality failed them; relentlessly building and delivering them with a known and resolvable fault.
I used to double my money every time I re-sold one. That is the advantage of capitalism over socialism.
KaiserPingo
Awfull car ! Looks like some Dacia thing.
The Niva is a much more pretty and timeless design.