...and this year's automotive design prize goes to...

[a10 gf]

**** Avtotor **** for creating the great Russian electric car.

[Sav]

New postie van?

[muskrat]

G'day E.
I had to look that one up  . Fugly 
http://tinyurl.com/ycxu3p69
"Now we finally understand why Russian soldiers were stealing washing machines from Ukraine. They needed them to paint them red and put wheels on them," a social media user comments on the photos of the Amber.
Cheers

[a10 gf]

Thw ruskis looked long at this (see attach.) and found it an ugly proof of western decadence and debility.
Glad they now can show the world what real beauty and real tech advancement looks like.

Reddit:
"Looks as if the teletubbies made armored personnel vehicles"
"Now that's a looker init? Imagine rolling up to a date with that beauty"
"It’s super reliable and quality vehicle. Is coincidence that all critics fall from window"
"‘Wait, I have this drawing that my 5 year old did at school. Let’s turn it into a car.’"

[muskrat]

Ha, I'd rather have a Lada Niva 
https://www.drive.com.au/news/lada-niva-to-reach-50th-anniversary/
Cheers.
Merry Bah Humbug 

[Rex]

For a large country with a supposed efficient manufacturing base has the USSR/Russia/Eastern Bloc ever produced a sellable vehicle that could compete with European or Asian vehicles without massive subsidies?
Voshkod, Lada, Volga, Neval, Ural, CZ, Tatra, Moskvich, Trabant, Skoda etc all sub-standard Commie-Bloc rubbish, and even then they weren't generally available to the proles.
{Before anyone points out that CZ made great motocross bikes, I know. Shame that skill wasn't transferred to the crap they sold as commuter bikes}

[BSA_54A10]

Command economies can be good beingthat resources that are not renewable. like iron, steel & even plastics can be controlled so they are not wasted
However where there is no incentives or quality control the system falls down
Add very low wages (because the oligarchs are stealing vast amounts of money ) and you get rampant corruption & thieft.
We in the west are forced to see vehicles as a status symbol and not just a means of gettig yer bm to work.
Australian made cars wee not that much better with door gaps you cous put your fingers through , panels that did not line up
Doors that were welded to the hinges because they did not fit & hinges welded to the frame and some times both
However most Eastern block cars ran , were easy to maintain and very durable
Plus you did not get the BS of forcing buyers to buy ever increasing engine sizes if you wanted the extras like air con & power steering.
We were going to buy a 1600cc Nissian but to get the air & steering had to buy the 1800cc
Next year the 1800cc was not powerful enough so you had to get the 2000cc And of course the next model change, which was supposedly lighter & more aerodynamic, you guesses it the 2000cc engine was not powerfule enough to run the air & power steerting so it had to be the 2400cc , Then the 2600cc etc etc etc
The 1/2 ton Escort apparently needed the 2000 cc engine while my 1.5 ton L300 got by fine with a 1600cc engine .

and lets no talk about the mini's where you had to put a washing up glove ofer the dizzy or it stopped in the lightest rain

[Worty]

For a large country with a supposed efficient manufacturing base has the USSR/Russia/Eastern Bloc ever produced a sellable vehicle that could compete with European or Asian vehicles without massive subsidies?
Voshkod, Lada, Volga, Neval, Ural, CZ, Tatra, Moskvich, Trabant, Skoda etc all sub-standard Commie-Bloc rubbish, and even then they weren't generally available to the proles.
{Before anyone points out that CZ made great motocross bikes, I know. Shame that skill wasn't transferred to the crap they sold as commuter bikes}

Skoda??  I would imagine that was before VW took it over.  In fairness to the Lada, it wasn't pretty or refined, but it was sturdy and reliable (like the T34 tank).  I think it was developed from the Fiat 128 (I had one of those and it was rubbish).

Russia doesn't seem to give a hoot about how the West does things.  It tends to do things in its own time, in its own way, and doesn't seem to bother with how the West sees things.  Even Churchill's summary of the Russians shows that they are a people unique to themselves (like the Chinese).

I think the West often makes the mistake of criticising Russia for doing things differently, and poorly at times, but fails to realise that this is just how Russians are.  Some older Russians even thing that Stalin was a great man, despite being a lunatic mass murderer.

[limeyrob]

Yes but it needs a lot of space for all those lead acid batteries