Norwegian gearheads on the right Way

(Renault Express was featured in the superhit movie "Ronin" starring Robert De Niro. And in the film, there were several Renault Express cars that took a beating. You can catch the car scene here .) Renault Express and Fiat Fiorino are two box vans that were popular in Norway in the year 2000. Only a few of them were sold because they never really caught on in Norway. In 2000, they had a price tag of 70,000 NOK, which was considered a cheap car on the market back then. I stumbled upon this car in a newspaper called "Arbeiderbladet" when I was in my last year of elementary school. Just imagine driving this car like a feisty Frenchman with a loud exhaust system, or jazz it up with tinted windows, cool wheels, and a wunderbaum air freshener like a true Norwegian countryside car enthusiast!

(Modern Lada 2106 from 2005) Lada 1500/2106-2103! I was in my mama's belly in 1987, the same year a Lada 2103/2106 classic was featured in a James Bond film called "The Living Daylights," this car also supposedly got stolen from my parents by some youngsters in my old neighborhood who are still on the loose. The Lada was found smashed up a couple of kilometers away and down some steep slopes under a railroad underpass. Could it be that these car thieves were inspired by Lada's rallying efforts in Canada in the early 1980s? Or maybe it was the insane car chase sequence in James Bond's "The Living Daylights" that got 'em all motivated? Either way, they managed to fix up the Lada, and it lasted a good 5 years. These cars are tough as nails and can take a beating! Lada 2106 and 2103 were also darn cool rally cars and were produced all the way up until 2005, how 'bout that! And since they were made until 2005, you can still get your hands on 'em t...

(Lada Niva, ca 1977)   (Lada Niva, ca 1977 )  Lada Niva is easy to repair and a blast to drive off-road. It can be styled in military colors to blend right into the terrain, making it a perfect vehicle for hunting and outdoor activities. There ain't no terrain this car can't conquer! There was this guy responsible for maintaining a lousy gravel road where I grew up, and he drove a 1996 model Lada Niva as his work van. In that construction company, I noticed his colleague drove a Skoda, so it seems like old Eastern Bloc cars were the go-to in that firm. I received a picture from a buddy of a Lada Niva he spotted in a garage complex in a housing cooperative near Warner Arena in Asker. Apparently, it belonged to an elderly couple who imported it from Russia, and it looked like a recent import. I've attached the picture below. And a while back, I saw an 1980 model Lada Niva with old DC (Oslo) license plates, which means that car must've endured quite a beating over the yea...

(The Teachers Lada 2107) (This car was the last off the production line in 2012) Lada 2107 / Lada Riva, they sold plenty of 'em in Norway in the 80s and 90s, but nowadays they're a rare sight in the Norwegian car market. You can still find models up until 2012 in Russia, where they were especially popular. These cars are prone to rust in the channels and usually don't last longer than 10 years. However, if you're a true car enthusiast who shows love for these models, you can enjoy one for many, many years. To stay in the know about these cars, it's recommended to join a Lada Club, for example there is one in Lier in Norway, which specializes in these models. Worth mentioning that Lada 2107 (Riva and Classic) were also popular as rally cars. There was this spry old retiree who was an orienteering runner in the club with my folks when I was little, and he owned a Lada 2107. He was real strict and used to get downright furious with me when I couldn't always behave...