From Behind the Iron Curtain

Before the fall of the Soviet Union and before the vehicle manufacturers of Western Europe and America realised they could make cheaper cars by building factories in other countries, if you wanted an inexpensive, new car in the UK you were likely to find yourself looking at a vehicle produced behind the Iron Curtain.Almost every country within the Soviet Bloc had an indigenous car manufacturer, often producing designs derived from older cars once built in Western Europe. Renault and FIAT were the usual suppliers of these designs, but there were others. Czechoslovakia, industrial powerhouse of the Soviet Bloc, would design their very own Škoda rear-engined cars that would become famous in their own right. Desperate for Western currency, manufacturers sold these cars at a bargain price and found a ready market in the UK. Their marque names, such as Moskvich and Lada, are fading from memory now, and their surprisingly capable vehicles slowly dying out.Michael Burgess retells the stories of these fascinating vehicles from behind the Iron Curtain for former owners and fans as well as a new generation of classic-car enthusiasts.