I thought you had pretty stiff emission laws in the States. Lada was banned from sending cars into the UK because they couldn't meet our not so stiff emissions.
The Lada motors are not Fiat but are built around a Fiat designed motor, even with the rest of the car most parts are not interchangeable, the door handles will not interchange and the same for the wheels.
I had a 124 Fiat that I used as a taxi and found it a good little runner. When I came to change it I decided to go the Lada route and bought a Lada saloon and a second hand estate as a back up car.
Both cars went round the clock twice, 200,000 miles with never a problem, possibly the most reliable cars I have ever owned.
In 82 I gave up the taxis and moved to the States. After I returned home I bought a second hand Riva estate car and apart from a cam belt snapping I had no problems with that car either until the new emission laws came into force.
Each year when the MOT test was due I had to weaken the mixture half a mile before the test centre and turn it back again after the test.
Eventually the MOT figured out what was going on with them and stopped the import of them.
Good little cars though IMHO.
Sam.
