Renze
Elite Member
Those werent the Fiat 124 copies anymore..I had one, 06 model, my father had 03 model.
VAZ (?!?) Tested a Fiat 124. In Russia, these cars were used like America uses pickup trucks; often on rough unpaved rural roads.
Spring and strut towers cracked so they used thicker steel in several parts of the car to adapt it to Russian roads. They also used a newer Fiat engine than Fiat originally used in the 124.

Fiat 124 - Wikipedia
VAZ-2101 - Wikipedia
I think your 03 and 06 models were likely the Lada Samara ?

Lada Samara - Wikipedia
During that era, the Dutch importer saw a decline in sale because the prices rose to the level of a Japanese car, which was obviously better. Right now, they are an independent garage (not importer nor dealer) and have toured the USA with their tractor pullers a couple of years ago...