4×4S.ORGTHE REGISTRY LADA · HISTORY · WORKING

History · Working · 1977 → today

Working Nivas

The Niva at work: Soviet and Russian collective farms, veterinary and medical services, foresters and geologists from 1977; Bronto’s marsh and tundra conversions for the gas fields of Siberia since 1997; Antarctic stations for more than a decade at −54 °C; a 2131 at 5,725 metres in Tibet in 1999; and the Paris–Dakar with the French Poch team in the 1980s.

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9VEHICLES3CHAPTERS0MAKERS49YEARS

The Niva was designed for rural Soviet work — the vet’s car, the forester’s car, the agronomist’s car — and it did that job for forty years across the Union and then across Russia. Its unibody made it light and its permanent four-wheel drive made it capable on the farm tracks and winter roads it was built for.

Abroad, the Niva sold as a cheap capable small 4x4 in France, Canada, Britain and Japan and took on expedition work its makers did not plan: the Antarctic stations, the Tibetan altitude record and the Dakar entries of the 1980s. Bronto’s low-pressure-tyre conversions are its specialist end, built for Siberian marsh and tundra.

3 chapters, 1948 → today

1Soviet rural service (1977–1991)1977 – 19912Expedition and sport1981 – 19993Russia and export (1993–)1993 – present
194819601975199020052025
11977 – 1991

Soviet rural service (1977–1991)

2 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTER

Farms, vets, foresters, geologists; the amphibious 2122 prototype.

Registry records · chapter 1

Niva VAZ-2121 and 21213 (1977–)1977VAZ-2122 Reka amphibious prototype (1976–85)1976–85
21981 – 1999

Expedition and sport

2 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTER

The Dakar Nivas, Antarctica, the Tibetan altitude record.

Registry records · chapter 2

Niva in the Paris–Dakar (1980s)1981–90Niva in Antarctica and at altitude1990
31993 – present

Russia and export (1993–)

5 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTER

The 2131 and 2329, Bronto, the British Cossack, the diesel, the Niva Travel.

Registry records · chapter 3

Niva VAZ-2131 five-door and 2329 pick-up (1995–)1995Bronto Niva conversions (1997–)1997Niva Cossack and Hussar (United Kingdom, 1995–97)1995–97Niva 1.9 diesel (1999–2007)1999–2007Chevrolet Niva and Niva Travel (2002–)2002

Sources

  1. Lada Niva — Wikipedia
  2. VAZ-2121 — Wikipedia

Working vehicles in the registry

9 records, oldest first.
VAZ-2122 Reka amphibious prototype (1976–85)1976–85 · RussiaNiva VAZ-2121 and 21213 (1977–)1977 · RussiaNiva in the Paris–Dakar (1980s)1981–90 · RussiaNiva in Antarctica and at altitude1990 · RussiaNiva Cossack and Hussar (United Kingdom, 1995–97)1995–97 · RussiaNiva VAZ-2131 five-door and 2329 pick-up (1995–)1995 · RussiaBronto Niva conversions (1997–)1997 · RussiaNiva 1.9 diesel (1999–2007)1999–2007 · RussiaChevrolet Niva and Niva Travel (2002–)2002 · Russia