
Ch1pbutty
Super Poster
VIP Member
Quite badly actually. There was no 30 odd years of no imports. All of the Ladas that the Soviet Union saddled them with, which were spewers of pollution when new, are now old. Some stereotypes are hard to crush.
My family bought a Fiat 124 sedan new in 1970. Interesting design, pitiful craftsmanship. This model was rebadged as the original Lada when the Soviet Union bought the tooling from Fiat after it had become obsolete. They then continued to produce them for almost 30 more years, even unloading them on unsuspecting European buyers at discount prices in order to get hard western currency. A friend of mine in Barcelona bought one new in the ‘90s. The steering wheel came off when he was on the freeway. These are the cars that are now polluting Cuba.
The only way forward for automotive technology is to experiment with and perfect new concepts.
My father was a motor engineer and specialised in these, ahead of their time; But he said the hydraulic suspension was a bugger to fix with no shortcuts!

Is The Citroen DS The Most Innovative Car Ever Built? | Motorious.com
Here is a 1974 Citroen DS DS23 Safari estate offered by Bonhams with its world famous hydro-pneumatic suspension
