Background
Russian car manufacturers were involved in rallying during the 1960s with Moskvitches and Volgas but in the 1970s it was the turn of Lada. The Volzhsky Automobile Factory who had bought the design and tooling for the old Fiat 124 series, extended their factory in Samara with two 1.8 km production lines and started making the Lada 2101 in 1970. By the end of the 1970s, uprated models were being used in Soviet Union rallies.
A driver called Stasys Brundza had been doing well on events like 1000 Lakes, Swedish and Acropolis Rallies. When he suggested to Lada that he be allowed to manage the construction of a limited edition of the latest 2105, they gave him the green light. As he was a Lithuanian living in its capital, Vilnius, the cars were built by Vilnius Fabrik Tuning Sport – hence the VFTS – and run in rallies by Brundza Tuning.
The specification was not dramatic. The engine was a 4-cylinder, 8-valve, 1.6 litre engine breathing through twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors giving some 165 bhp driving through a five speed gearbox to a live rear axle. Quite a lot of weight was saved by the use of fibreglass panels so that the original car weighed in around 920 kilograms on its first evolution while a second later evolution saw aluminium components added which brought the weight down to 820 kilograms. The gearbox was unusual in that first gear is on the “wrong” side of the “H” forward and off to the right.
This car
Was one of the original factory team cars. It eventually wound-up rallying in Hungary where it most recently won its class in 2006 driven by the Hungarian champion, Laszlo Szabo. The current owner has restored the car to the works livery in which it competed with Brundza on the 1985 New Zealand Rally. The car regularly takes part in Slowly Sideways demonstrations and is a regular on the rally stage at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Technical
Engine: 1,569cc four-cylinder,8V SOHC
Induction: Twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors
Body: Monocoque 4-door saloon
Transmission: Five speed (modified Lada four-speed) straight cut gearbox, RWD
Suspension: Double wishbone with anti-roll bar at front. Coil springs and telescopic dampers at rear.
Power: 165 bhp,