August 11, 2020

A Win for the Lada


A Win for the Lada
Ah, a true Soviet icon. Charles01, Wikimedia Commons

A recent report from Russia's AutoStat analytical agency has revealed that Russians are going back to old favorites.

Over the last six months, Russia's domestically-produced Lada has been the most popular new car in the country, with 126,600 units sold. This was followed by KIA (88,900) and Hyundai (66,800).

In the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, the Lada was ubiquitous and regarded as an inexpensive, if cheaply manufactured, vehicle. However, its simplicity meant that the Lada was easy to repair and maintain. One model, the Lada Riva, was the third-best-selling automobile of all time, following the VW Beetle and Ford Model T.

Fortunately, the carmaker has seen some updates since its Soviet counterpart. The jokes, however, have remained. Our favorite:

A man walks into a Lada dealership and says, "I'd like a hubcap for my Lada." The dealer shrugs and says, "Sounds like a fair trade."

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Moscow and Muscovites

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Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
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Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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