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 The saloon superseded the Fiat 1300 and was the basis for several variants including a station wagon, a four-seater coupé ( 124 Sport Cou ...

manufactured in Russia and the Soviet Union by AvtoVAZ (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 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
/ref> The designation is named after the

Zhiguli Mountains The Zhiguli Mountains ( rus, Жигулëвские горы) or simply Zhiguli ( rus, Жигули́, p=ʐɨɡʊˈlʲi), are a range of wooded mountains located in Russia on the right bank of the Volga River, inside the Samara bend. The mountains ...

by the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

, 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 The VAZ-2101 ''" Zhiguli"'', commonly nicknamed ''" Kopeyka"'' (for the smallest Soviet coin, 1/100 of the ''Ruble''), is a compact sedan car (''small class, passenger car, model 1'' in Soviet classification) produced by the Soviet manufacture ...

VAZ-2102 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

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 nati ...

VAZ-2104 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

VAZ-2105 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is ...

VAZ-2106 The VAZ-2106 Zhiguli (alternatively Zhiguli 2106) is a sedan produced by the Soviet (later Russian) automaker VAZ, and later, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, also by Russian Izhevsk Avto and Ukrainian . In export markets, it was known sim ...

, VAZ-2107, with modifications indicated by an extra digit, see

List of AvtoVAZ vehicles This is a list of vehicles designed or produced by AvtoVAZ, a Russian carmaker best known under its Lada brand. Current models * Lada 4x4 (Lada Niva/VAZ-2121) - off-road vehicle **Lada 4x4 3-door **Lada 4x4 5-door **Lada Niva Urban 4x4 3-door ...

. The longest-living model was VAZ-2105 (1979-2010). After the

collapse of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

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

References

{{reflist VAZ vehicles Car brands Soviet automobiles