page_title: Lada Niva
section_title: Uses of the Niva
hierarchical_section_title: Lada Niva / Uses of the Niva
caption_attribution_description: Русский: LADA 4x4 AПСEnglish: LADA 4x4 APS
context_page_description: The Lada 4×4, formerly called the Lada Niva or VAZ-2121, is an off-road vehicle designed and produced by the Russian manufacturer AvtoVAZ specifically for the rural market, although models made for urban use are sold. It is marked under the Lada brand.
  It was the first mass-production off-road vehicle to combine a unibody architecture with a coil-sprung independent front suspension, and is a predecessor to current crossover SUVs, nearly all of which follow this format; it inspired the Suzuki Vitara. The Lada 4×4 uses a worm-and-roller steering box carried over from the VAZ-2101 sedan and the original Fiat 124 sedan on which it was based. Pickup and emergency-van versions are produced by VIS-AVTO.
  Following the demise of the Land Rover Defender in 2016, the Niva is the longest running four wheel drive vehicle still in production in its original form.
  In August 2020 Lada took over production of the Chevy Niva rebranding it as the Lada Niva.
context_section_description: In Russia and Europe, the Niva has been used as an ambulance, a military vehicle, and by various police forces and utility companies. It also served for a time as a vehicle for lifeguards on beaches in the Netherlands. The Croatian Army was notable as being the only army that used Nivas (taken from civilians during the wartime) as their standard military 4×4 vehicle due to serious lack of proper military vehicles, such as UAZ-469 or GAZ-69 (which were also in use), until it was later replaced by British Land Rover Defender and Austrian Puch G, which are still being used today.
  Transmanche-Link, the commercial consortium that built the Channel Tunnel between England and France, used a fleet of 45 Nivas to aid in the enormous project. Each Niva accumulated in excess of 70,000 kilometres (43,000 mi) off-road during its employment, and after construction had been completed in 1993, the fleet was sold off to a local dealer.
  In Brazil, the Niva was the best-selling off-road vehicle during the early 1990s. In fact, the Niva was so cheap that even with the 85% importation value tax, it was less expensive than Brazilian competitors such as the Envemo or Gurgel. It sold so much more than the Gurgel Carajás, that Gurgel discontinued production in January 1991. The Niva was the first imported 4×4 in the Brazilian market, following then-Brazilian president Fernando Collor's decision to permit the importation of foreign vehicles in 1990. In the Brazilian market, a used 1991 Niva in good condition costs about R$11,000. Competition and higher importation value taxes forced the Niva to be retired from the Brazilian market. Even so, thousands of Nivas remain in use in Brazil.
  Nivas have been driven on land, up mountains, through mud, and even under water.
  It was the first wheeled vehicle to spend more than 10 years in Antarctica, where the classic VAZ-2121 Niva (Lada Niva 1600) was used by the Russian (formerly Soviet) Antarctic Expedition for transportation of personnel and goods, communication between Antarctic stations, towing boats, and where it covered more than 40,000 km (24,855 miles) in 1990–2001, thus operating at temperatures down to −54°. Niva also conquered the North Pole in 1998, when the lengthened VAZ-2131 Niva (five-door model) was dropped by parachute on ice and successfully completed its route operating at an average temperature of −30°, thus becoming the first wheeled vehicle to spend time there. Also, it had set the world record of highest point ever reached by a motorized vehicle when another VAZ-2131 climbed to the 5200-m-high base camp on Mount Everest in 1998 and even higher just a year later, on 16 September 1999, when the similar Niva belonging to Saint Petersburg extreme expedition team reached a height of 5725 m on a Tibet mountain during off-roading.
caption: Lada Niva fire appliance
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