VAZ-2121 Niva
History
A genuinely new idea: a unitary car body with permanent four-wheel drive and independent front suspension. In effect one of the world's first compact crossovers.
The Niva is the most innovative car the Soviet industry produced and perhaps its most influential. For the first time anywhere, one vehicle combined a unitary passenger-car body, permanent four-wheel drive with a lockable centre differential, independent front suspension and short overhangs. Before the Niva, off-roaders were utilitarian body-on-frame machines; the Niva showed that four-wheel drive could be comfortable enough for daily use. Japanese and European compact crossovers later developed the same formula. Nivas have worked at Antarctic stations, crossed the Sahara and, in 1999, climbed to the Everest base camp.
Production
- Production years
- 1977–present
- Total built
- 2,500,000+ units
- Price
- 9,000 roubles
- Designer
- Pyotr Prusov
Specifications
- Engine
- 1570 cc, 4 cyl.
- Power
- 80 hp
- Top speed
- 132 km/h
- 0–100 km/h
- 21 s
- Gearbox
- 4-speed
- Drive
- Permanent four-wheel drive
- Weight
- 1150 kg
- Fuel consumption
- 13 l/100 km
The first comfortable off-roader with a unitary body
It anticipated the compact crossover
Worked in Antarctica and climbed to the Everest base camp
Still in production after almost half a century
Exported to many countries, including Japan and Australia
