Half a century ago, all cars in the country were of three "types— - Zaporozhets, Muscovites and Volga. But at the end of the sixties there were rumors: soon something special will appear. Fourth! It's about him.
One day, in the mid-sixties, Dad came home from work and said:
— We will buy Fiat!
And what is a Fiat? Any Soviet child of the sixties knew perfectly well that there are only three types of cars: Zaporozhets, Moskvich and Volga. Not counting, of course, various Seagulls, as well as extremely rare foreign cars parked in front of embassies and other representative offices.
The table of ranks of those times was quite understandable. Doubts about the superiority of the Volga over a Muscovite or a Zaporozhets simply could not arise — why argue about the advantage of a large salary over a small one? To match the authority, there was also a solid price of GAZ-21: 5602 rubles! Moskvich-408 - simpler and cheaper: 4511 rubles 27 kopecks. Well, Zaporozhets is already a lifelong cause for ridicule: even in the era of scarcity. The "humpback" of the latest model cost 2,400 rubles, and the new ones that replaced it, the "big-eared" ones, went for 3,000. There were no other machines in nature. True, in the International Lottery of Solidarity of Journalists, some exotic things were played out — the Gadaer Wartburg, and the Czechoslovak Skoda, but the average resident of the country did not even have a rough idea of what, in general, it was about.
The news that a certain fourth car will soon appear on the roads, which, in terms of quality, mass and accessibility, will score everyone else, did not leave anyone indifferent. It was not just about a new subcompact: the prospects of a different automotive era loomed - with hospitable car dealerships, civilized service, the highest quality and something else terribly tempting. It didn't take much — to build a new factory and... and, in general, that's it!
Soviet people are not frightened by construction sites. The remains of the flooded Stavropol were baptized in honor of Palmiro Togliatti (an Italian communist who recently died in Yalta). Then, recruitment was announced for an unknown VAZ, at the same time famously erecting a virtually new city, providing VAZ residents with both apartments and not bad salaries. Moreover, new structures with an emblem in the form of an old Russian rook began to appear all over the country - shops, car service stations. And it was, of course, great. Communism appeared over the horizon.
However, at first the fate of Fiat did not work out. The stupid name of Zhiguli (Zhiguli, zhiguli, zhiguli) only increased skepticism — the buyer met the Italian novelty very coldly. The waiting list waiting for the Moskvich-412 in 1970 contemptuously ignored postcards inviting them to buy some VAZ-2101 instead of a normal car. Garage "councils of elders" also made fun of the imported "toy" - they say, what kind of car can't even unscrew the wing? And the first Zhiguli that appeared "in public" generally caused confusion: why are they some kind of matte? It later turned out that the owners, stunned by the excess of feelings, were in no hurry to remove the protective wax layer from the machines. Skepticism was also promoted by the price — an "affordable" toy with a Hungarian radio cost 5605 rubles! However, the new Volga GAZ-24 at that time already had a dizzying price tag of 9150 rubles, so they did not give Zhigulenka to head the price table of ranks…
But then everything was according to Bulgakov. Remember, in the "Master ...", when a ladies' store was opened in a variety show and "a brunette came out in such a dress that a sigh swept through the entire orchestra seats"... And here it broke clean...". So it is here — it broke clean, and distrust collapsed overnight. Very quickly it turned out that the brand-new Lada, sparkling in the sun, elementary start in the cold, easily put the speedometer arrow to the right to failure, they know how to close the doors silently, and in terms of comfort they have no competitors at all. The mere fact that the VAZ-2101 easily let three passengers into the back seat instantly transferred the Togliatti car into the universal category. On this — and to the country, and to work, and on vacation, and to the store, and with a mistress, and just drive along the highway. The possession of Zhiguli for many years has become an indisputable sign of the owner's respectability. If you have a Lada, then everything is fine with you.
The first "Lada", in general, was very different from its Italian relative. Upper camshaft, rear drum brakes, modified suspension, increased ground clearance. However, any bolt, on the head of which the joyful vase-maker found the FIAT inscription, confidently worked for the Western image of "zero-first" — in the minds of the absolute majority of consumers, it was a full-fledged Foreign Car. Note that all fasteners for new cars were made according to "their" standards with strict tolerances: once the tightened connection itself was never loosened. (Although the factory soon learned how to under-tighten these bolts, and the operation "broach" came into use, which has nothing to do with broaching before launching a rocket from the cosmodrome.)
However, I didn't want to think about anything bad then. Friends of the parents — a wealthy single couple - in 1970 bought themselves a white "Zhiguli" from the first batch: I had a chance to ride in it several times (as a passenger, of course: I was only 15). To be honest, for me it was space - especially after Dad's "hunchback". My father also liked the car, but he grumbled for a long time that we didn't need such a car and that the Zaporozhets was also a car. In general, as a result, the parents got into debt for several years, and in June 1972, the beaming father came home on brand-new light blue Lada. Let me remind you that there were seven color options at that time - from cherry to dark green.
To be honest, in those days I never heard the term "penny". When asked what kind of car you have, they usually answered "first", less often - "one". On the road, the "first" easily overtook anyone, and the claimed 62 hp seemed the limit of dreams. However, there were also problems unknown before.
For a brand-new car, the kind uncles hanging around the service station and the car shop immediately offered "tuning", which could not be refused. First of all, they pressed their hands on the rear panel of the body — a beautiful trunk at the same time ... opened without a key! The price of tuning is 1 rub.: for this money, they quickly screwed some kind of protective bracket to the lock mechanism. Another innovation - also for 1 rub. - the owner meekly paid when another kind uncle came up with a screwdriver and showed how easy it was to unscrew the glass from the taillights — yellow and red. The solution was simple: the mounting screws were twisted from the inside!
The next object for improvement was the gas tank — more precisely, its hatch. With this, we drank to the fullest — once on the road, the car began to twitch slightly, then shook violently and eventually stood firmly on the side of the road. We found out the reason about an hour later, when we dipped a long blade of grass into the neck of the gas tank — its color seemed strange. In general, my dad and I tore the gas tank out, after which we shook stones, rags and some other abomination out of it for a long time. Then they stopped a passing traffic police crew and asked for help: there is no more gasoline! The young policemen nodded sympathetically, braked some soldier on the ZIL and together poured out of him a dozen liters of 76th gasoline! They helped us — and for free!!! On this gasoline, we hobbled to the gas station, where we had already splashed the native 93rd. And then I conducted an independent tuning, having looked at the recipe from a handy neighbor: I drilled a hole in the flanging of the gas tank hatch cover, made a steel cable with a hook and fixed it inside the trunk. To refuel, now you had to open the trunk a crack, but it was worth it. Lockable tank plugs appeared on sale much later, and at first only in the "Birch" - for certificates. No certificate — free. We didn't have any certificates.
Speaking of gasoline. A liter of 93rd then cost 10 kopecks. Full tank — 3-90. So, it soon became clear that a lot of wealthy people turned out to be outright greedy. To be honest, it was unpleasant to watch how a solid colonel in a hat and with a salary of five hundred drains the 76th from the truck, motivating it by the fact that otherwise "you will remain without pants." However, well, his…
The next object for tuning is decorative wheel caps, in which you could look like in a mirror. My father seemed to feel a trick and did not want to install them, but I insisted: it's beautiful! It ended up that after a couple of weeks we went with three caps instead of four: one evaporated into the world space. And, of course, there is not a damn thing on sale. In general, when it was possible to buy a replacement, they simultaneously installed a homemade protection with a personal key on each hood.
As for serious breakdowns, I was the first to give up... Well, of course - the camshaft! But then we were fabulously lucky: about the 7th thousand mileage it was quietly changed under warranty. It was a little later that he became super-deficient for many years. The roller turned out to be excellent and served until the very end. But the incomprehension in the brain remained: so who was to blame for the fact that the rollers were attacked by pestilence? Changing the native technology? Bad oils? Or maybe all at once? By the way, many research institutes then, as if by chance, opened all sorts of research and development projects for the development of a program for CNC machines for the manufacture of some object of strategic importance with cams protruding in different directions.
I remind you: Zhiguli became the first domestic car with a developed network of service stations and shops. But then everything is sad. There are no spare parts. And any SRT is the envy of the Italian mafia: they never dreamed of it. Who has seen the naive, in general, film "Traffic police Inspector", he remembers the corresponding role of N.S. Mikhalkov — he played just the director of such a service station. Therefore, every trip by car in any direction was necessarily accompanied by a visit to the nearest vase shop - they say, what do you have? If you see blocks wrapped in oiled paper for 7-60 — run to the cashier: brake pads give! If the tail is on the street, the oil has been delivered! And if there is a queue with a record somewhere, then perhaps they are recording on tires. Or for 6ST-55 batteries.