Rally Dakar 2022

Legendary Lada Niva will compete in the Dakar 2022 

The idea of ​​seeing a Lada Niva again competing in the special stages of the Dakar Rally is curious. Even more so when the project was not officially born by the Russian car manufacturer, but through a private team.

Initially, this work was started by Swiss Mario Yakober and Sladan Milich, and after a while, the efforts of the two enthusiasts accidentally arrived at the brand's factory in Togliatti, where they decided to support the brave team, but in an informal way.

The competition all-terrain was built on the base of the 1984 'old Niva' VAZ-2121. The unit had traveled 82,000 kilometers, and was found and acquired in Novosibirsk last year. Furthermore, all the transformation work was carried out in Russia, it seems, with the help of Mario's Russian wife.

It should be noted that the Red Legend team wants to participate in the so-called Dakar Classic, which will be disputed with vehicles that have raced the Dakar during the last century. Serious modifications are prohibited by the regulations for this class.

In this way, veteran Lada Niva's preparation for the raid was reduced to complete disassembly, troubleshooting, installing a safety cage, bucket seats with multipoint belts, and the necessary navigational instruments. The 1.6-litre gasoline engine and all-wheel drive system were kept unchanged.

After the first moments of planning and tuning the car, the Swiss team has now started a long journey from Novosibirsk to the start of the Dakar.

Of course, the first stop was made in Togliatti, where they visited the Museo AvtoVAZ, the Lada Racing Hall of Fame and, as informed by the brand's official page on Facebook, “they carried the energy in the place of origin of the Lada Niva”.

At the same time, a photo session was organized, thanks to which we can assess the competition all-terrain, both outside and inside. We can see that the old vehicle received additional optics, lower shields and mud skirts. The cabin was fully illuminated and the front panel was completely replaced.

Remembering that Lada Niva participated more than once in the Dakar Rally. From the late 70's to the mid 90's, both factory cars and all-terrain vehicles prepared by French distributor Jean-Jacques Pock tried to conquer the famous raid. The victories, however, did not happen, but Niva managed to leave his fingerprint on the race.

The next Dakar Rally will take place in January 2022 and will be held in Saudi Arabia.

Autonews