On April 5, 1977, the first copy of the VAZ-2121 Niva rolled off the assembly line of the Volga Automobile Plant. It looked like this:
However, the history of the Niva car, which is still produced with relatively minor changes, begins at the turn of 1969–1970. Then AvtoVAZ was given the task of making a car that would be suitable for rural residents. He must ride through the fields and calmly leave deep mud puddles. In general, we needed an all-wheel drive, compact and unpretentious car.
In fact, there were no competitors at that time. For example, the UAZ-469, produced since 1971, with its canvas top, was too utilitarian, and the Land Rover Series II was inaccessible to the inhabitants of the USSR. If you look globally, the Niva became the first SUV with a monocoque body, six years ahead of the Jeep Cherokee.
Development lasted almost seven years. Then we prepared several prototypes. Some of them now seem rather strange. Here is one of the very first. It was made in 1971:
A notable feature of this prototype was the transfer case, which allows, with the help of the most common switching, to turn a four-wheel drive car into a front- or rear-wheel drive. However, due to technical features, it was decided to abandon this design.
In 1973, they prepared a variant with a solid body and permanent all-wheel drive. He looked much more familiar:
At that moment, the prototype already looked like the car that would roll off the assembly line four years later. For greater reliability, we decided to use permanent all-wheel drive with a center differential. In principle, the second version was considered successful, but a few improvements still needed to be made. For example, add a tachometer and a triangular window in the door. The third prototype has already been put on state tests, and the fifth already looked almost completely identical to the production model.
And then April 1977. The first copy leaves the assembly line, by August of the same year a thousand pieces were assembled, by March 1978 – already ten thousand. The car turned out to be very popular, even despite the high price of nine thousand rubles. At the same time, he was accepted not only in the USSR, but also abroad.
For some reason, it is especially important for us that work is appreciated abroad. For example, James May, the former host of the British auto show Top Gear, called the Niva an outdated car, but nevertheless confessed his love to him:
As a piece of farming or landowning equipment that you buy once and then keep forever as it gradually becomes part of your landscape, the Niva is quite a good option. Left-hand drive in the field won’t be a problem, and it has a wonderfully utilitarian interior that can be hosed down and will really appeal to those who actually ride off-road. The car is perfect for its purpose, and few things in this world can be said the same.
Former Top Gear host
How many people are also able to talk about Niva? In fact, no. My colleagues admit that this is a legendary car, but it has no place in the modern world. The fact is that the biggest changes were made in the early 1990s, when a five-door version appeared, and also, finally, a normal tailgate was made. Initially it was like this:
Then they changed it to this:
Restyling and the release of a new version were forced. Since the 1980s, work has been going on on the second generation of the SUV, but the crisis has greatly hampered development. Here is one of the design options of those years:
In 1993, a prototype with a familiar design was shown:
But in 1998 there was a default. The launch of the SUV was postponed for a few more years. By the end of the decade, it became clear that it would not be possible to put this car into production on its own. The Americans came to the rescue, with whom a joint venture GM-AVTOVAZ was created.
They decided to produce the car under the Chevrolet logo, transferring the Niva brand to it. Since then, the old Niva has been produced under the 4 × 4 brand.
Shniva was produced almost unchanged until March 2009. Then the Shnivy is restyled. Moreover, the well-known bodywork studio Bertone is engaged in it:
In 2014, the second generation Chevrolet Niva concept was shown at the Moscow Motor Show:
Subsequently, a “civilian” version was registered:
The car was quite suitable for the Chevrolet line of those years. Funds were found even despite the crisis caused by the sanctions in 2014, but new difficulties appeared. First of all, this is the uncertain position of AvtoVAZ itself – the production is something joint, therefore both parties must agree. The unspoken reason is the development of Niva-3. This car could compete with the second-generation Chevy Niva, and this was already some kind of cannibalism. In 2018, they showed a concept drawn by Steve Mattin with great respect for the original Niva:
In theory, the American side could well start making a car on its own, but only this required investments of a completely different kind: rebuilding the line, building a new welding shop, as well as a new warehouse, and purchasing new components. For example, the checkpoint could be taken from the Gazelle.
But this did not happen. At the end of 2019, AVTOVAZ bought out the share of GM. The company is now called Lada West Togliatti. Together with it, the Niva brand is returned to AvtoVAZ, so LADA 4 × 4 and Chevrolet Niva are renamed – now they are LADA Niva Legend and LADA Niva Travel. The latter, by the way, received another restyling by the end of 2020:
The presentation of the “Niva” of the third generation was postponed a bunch of times. First they promised 2015, then the end of the decade. Then 2021, and the new design, unveiled in January 2021, symbolized another transfer. Then they said that the car will definitely come out before 2025.
It was assumed that the Niva Legend would be produced “for several years” and after the release of the third version – the car is easy to maintain and cheap.
But after February 24, the future of the Niva is in question. According to Bloomberg , Renault is trying to find a way to get rid of its 68% stake in AVTOVAZ. If this happens and a buyer is found, then the third-generation Niva project will once again have to be abandoned.
In this case, most likely, the retirement of the very first generation will be postponed for a few more years, and the car currently being developed, which was supposed to be based on the CMF-B platform, will go into oblivion. How many more round anniversaries of the original LADA Niva we will see, one can only guess. This is very sad, given the fact that Tolyatti is my hometown. And especially considering the fact that in the zero years I myself worked on the assembly line of the plant. Then I really hoped for the future development of the plant.
