Lada Riva 1300SL - My Car

Comrades, this is a Lada Riva 1300SL. Based on the same platform as a Fiat 124 (the Italian company having licensed the design to Russian company AvtoVAZ in the 1970s), the Riva’s 1.3L engine makes around 78bhp. Or at least that’s what this car would have, were it a standard one. This isn’t a standard one…

See, a quick look under the bonnet of this ex-Soviet manufactured car reveals a certain Italian company’s name on the engine. No, not Fiat, but Lancia. And here the car reveals its secret - its Fiat/Lancia twin-cam engine, which is mounted to a five-speed manual providing power to the rear wheels.

“We reckon the twin-cam is about 130bhp, so it’s [approaching] double,” owner Ben tells us.

In short, a single-cam engine has one camshaft which controls both the intake and exhaust valves. A twin-cam engine has two - one for intake, and one for exhaust. This means that the timing of the valves can be improved - allowing for more power and efficiency, and higher RPMs.

With almost double the power that it “should” have, how has that impacted handling? Well, it’s certainly quicker, according to Ben.

“The funny thing is that it goes up to 100mph on the clocks, but because of the engine it can easily go off the clocks.”

Ben bought the car around August 2025, with the previous owner having won the car in a raffle run by retro car competition site Retroshite. “My brother, Chris, saw it for sale up in Scotland, so we made the decision to go and have a look at it,” Ben said.

“It drove all the way back without any issues - it was only once it got back that [they started], but luckily it made it back from Scotland okay.”

From there, Ben’s worked to find parts - benefitting from the popularity of them in ex-Soviet countries - and sticker bombing the front left panel. Ultimately though, ensuring the car can continue its journey is what Ben’s focused on.

“I think the main priority is to keep it alive,” Ben mentioned. “You don’t see many of them around any more - I think back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s they were around everywhere, and then at one point they just disappeared.”

Keeping it alive and staying on top of rust is certainly going to be key, as Ladas are notorious for their proclivity towards it. Still, with that in mind, Ben has another idea in mind - drifting.

“[I want to] make it more reliable and as safe as it can be first, and then make it into a bit of a drift car.

“With it being rear-wheel drive and the parts availability for limited-slip diffs in the back, it should do pretty well. A bit of a sleeper.”

While the car is wearing its age - you’d be hard-pressed to find a Lada that doesn’t - it’s always fun to see them. Their simplicity is their charm and, were it not for a Trabant that was also in the car park, it would likely have been the most spartan of cars that day. And what’s wrong with that? The car succeeds in function over form, and shows that electronics, horsepower and features don’t necessarily make a car interesting - sometimes, having none of them is just as good.