Lada Oka

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Oka

Oka (also known as Lada Oka and VAZ 1111) is a city car designed in Russia in 1983 by AvtoVAZ featuring a 750cc SOHC 2-cylinder engine. The car was originally produced by AutoVAZ but later all production was transferred to SeAZ factory in Serpukhov and SeverstalAvto (formally owned by Kamaz) in Naberezhnye Chelny, the car is also produced in Azerbaijan by the Gyandzha Auto Plant). The name comes from the Oka river in Russia upon which Serpukhov is situated.

[edit] History

This extremely cheap, lightweight and simple car has taken the plume of ZAZ Zaporozhets, the pariah of USSR automotive industry. Zaporozhets was developed in 1975 as the "people's car" and served its purpose for almost ten years as a low-end transportation and occasion for cruel jokes. There was only one Soviet car more basic, and that was the special vehicle for disabled people, SZD. Initially, when Serpukhov factory engineers came up with the project for Oka, they turned to their VAZ colleagues.

The tiny car was to be a replacement for the SZD and featured a simple motorcycle engine. Andrei Rozov, one of the lead VAZ engineers, designed a new one from scratch, but then decision was made to implement the "chopped in half" VAZ 2108 4-cylinder engine instead. It was 1983, and the first Soviet front-wheel drive automobile, the 2108, was ready to hit the market; so the Oka initiative quickly became the next "people's car" project, the one that "every factory engineer can afford".

The inspiration for Yuri Vereschagin, VAZ exterior designer that created Oka, came from Japanese Daihatsu Cuore. Tightly restricted by project specifications, he did his work hardly believing that the car is going to make it to serial production.

Nevertheless, its comparatively satisfactory technical characteristics and low price (as of now, it sells for about $3500) allowed it to lead a prolific career in the turbulent years to come.

As of 2006, there are four versions of Oka distibuted: basic VAZ 11113 Oka made by either ZMA (Naberezhnye Chelny) or SeAZ factory (33 hp, 125 km/h max, 3.2 litres per 100 km), "custom" VAZ 11301 Astro (49 hp) and VAZ 11113-27 Toyma - commercial use subcompact with a cargo compartment instead of two rear seats.

[edit] Usage

In its evident city car role, the Oka is considered highly unfashionable, and is a clear statement of inability to buy anything cheaper. Still, it is widely used by local delivery companies and lively old men. Its road agility and acceleration rate (quite surprising for its appeal) prevented it from taking Zaporozhets' place in folklore (which takes its delight in the awkwardness and slow speed of the former).

Its small size and weight, however, gives birth to a multitude of funny (and often true) stories involving several men carrying Oka away from its parking place.

Like its brethren VW Beetle, it often attracts the sentiment of the owner, so various customized and tuned versions are inevitably exhibited at local exotic cars festivals.

There is a restyling scheduled by the manufacturing company for 2007; it will not affect anything but the bodyworks, lights, interior design and features. Reportedly, there are no positive prospects for Oka-2 and Oka-3, Lada's concept city cars in development for years.