Lada 2101 and Lada 2102

The exact same green Lada 2102 station wagon you see above, my father had as a 1984 model back in

1986, and he owned it until 1992. And being from Baerum, I was naturally teased for my dad driving a

Lada. But I always thought the car was cool, with its leather-wrapped steering wheel and that lovely

vintage car smell that I can still recognize to this day.

Both the Lada 2101 and 2102 could be started with a crankshaft, which is somewhat similar to old Model

T Fords from World War I and the world's first Benz from 1886. So you could find technology that was

about 70 to 100 years old in these Ladas when my dad drove one.

Back in 1991, after dancing to Michael Jackson at a Christmas party in kindergarten, my dad had major

trouble getting up the hill with his Lada 2102 on the way home. On top of that, my brother had carved and

cut the steering wheel with a knife a couple of months earlier, and the car was now running on 3 cylinders

instead of 4.

This was in 1991, when the fashion of the '80s with Amy Grant's "Baby Baby" transitioned into the '90s

fashion with Nirvana and "Smells Like Teen Spirit." About 4 months later, my dad's Lada had to surrender.

In April 1992, my dad was jacking up the car to change to summer tires, but due to rust in the channels,

the jack just sank and said, "sink, sink, sink."

(This is how you can pimp your Lada. The sedan version is also available as the Turkish Tofas Fiat 124,

the Spanish Seat 124, the South Korean Kia 124, and the original Italian Fiat 124.)

You can pimp the Lada 2101-2102 into real surf and picnic cars, just like in the pictures above,

with plenty of room for cute babes. Imagine driving barefoot in one of these to Hønefoss via E16, passing

Krokskogen with Vazelina Bilopphøggers blasting from the speakers. Or maybe have a picnic by a quiet

pond and look for the Nøkken or Huldra.