Zhiguli ( rus, Жигули, p=ʐɨɡʊˈlʲi) was a designation of cars based on the

Fiat 124 The Fiat 124 is a small family car manufactured and marketed by Italian company Fiat between 1966 and 1974. The saloon superseded the Fiat 1300 and spawned station wagon, four-seater coupé (Fiat 124 Sport Coupé, 124 Sport Coupé), and two-seate ...

manufactured in Russia and the Soviet Union by

AvtoVAZ AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftɐˈvas) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ (), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (). AvtoVAZ is best known for its flagship series of ...

(formerly VAZ) during 1970-2012 and somewhat longer in some places abroad. For the majority of export markets however the cars were sold under the

Lada LadaAccording to various sources, the name Lada is derived from a Russian word for Viking longships (). (, , marketed as LADAFrom 2004 onwards Lada is marketed worldwide, including in Russia, using the all-capitals brand name written in Latin sc ...

brand. The car was also manufactured in Ukraine and in Egypt. In Egypt the last car of this model was manufactured in 2014.Lada возвращается в Египет
. The designation is named after the Zhiguli Mountains by the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

, to match the name of the plant ('VAZ' stands for "Volzhsky Avtomobilny Zavod" or "Volga Automobile Plant"). There have been 7 models of this designation: VAZ-2101, VAZ-2102,

VAZ-2103 The VAZ-2103 Zhiguli is a deluxe compact sedan car (''small class, passenger car, model 3'' in the Soviet classification), produced by VAZ, introduced in 1972 and produced until 1984. Better known by its export name Lada 1500 outside of its nat ...

, VAZ-2104, VAZ-2105,

VAZ-2106 The VAZ-2106 Zhiguli (alternatively Zhiguli 2106) is a sedan (automobile), sedan produced by the Soviet Union, Soviet (later Russian) automaker VAZ, and later, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, also by Russian Lada Izhevsk, Izhevsk Avto and U ...

, VAZ-2107, with modifications indicated by an extra digit, see List of AvtoVAZ vehicles. The longest-living model was VAZ-2105 (1979-2010). After the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, a shortage of used cars meant that many export Zhigulis badged as Ladas were re-imported back from the West and hence the Lada brand became well known in Russia and the former Soviet states. The designation name was officially abandoned by the plant in the mid-1990s as Zhiguli was similar to the word

gigolo A gigolo ( ) is a male escort, call boy or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship. The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifestyle consisting of a number of such relationships serially rat ...

(), so AvtoVAZ now uses the Lada brand universally in all markets.

References

{{reflist VAZ vehicles Car brands Soviet automobiles