In Russia, Car Pedals YOU!

Who said life in Soviet Russia was weary, dreary and ho-hum? Lenin's disciples were obviously doing it for the kids! So much so that they cordoned off swaths of glorious Russian auto factories for production of totally sweet pedal cars. Yes, if dear old dad could roll right in a Moskvitch, there's absolutely no reason his child couldn't enjoy the same Spartan state-built glory in his or her own mode of backyard transport. [English Russia]

Moskvitchin'!

We suppose that surreal is subjective. By and large we'd think of a Ford Taunus stuffed full of overly-turboed Cosworth power as generally, awesome, if a little bit foreign. But when one builds a full-race Moskvitch in primer, with no back window, apparently to allow air-fuel-mixture calibration via inhalation, surreal creeps into our Californian brain. We're assuming that the language is Finnish. And well, the Finns are a somewhat surreal people in the first place — just look, they dress like a cross between circa-1997 emo kids and aged Ulster pub patrons.

Rocket to Russia: Moskvitch 410H

The Soviets Russians recently launched a new-and-improved intercontinental ballistic missile that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said would be easily able to overcome any existing and future missile defense systems. With this recent and disturbing news fresh in mind we bring you the Moskvitch 410H 4X4. According to Autosoviet, the Moskvitch came with a peppy 35 horsepower engine and was available in two colors. The Moskvitch company, which means Moscovite, began life in 1930 as the Youth Communist League Auto Works and went bankrupt in 2002. Make mine a Moskvitch. – Mike Bumbeck More »

Mighty Moscovitie: The Moskvitch 400 in Finland

We may never expunge the happy two-beat and whistle-stop melody line (is that part of "Camptown Races"?) from our heads, but this Finnish TV commercial from the mid-1950s is worth watching if just for the history lesson. Back when the USSR and Finland were semi-allies, or at least regular trading partners, Russian Moskvitch (or "Moscovite") 400s started showing up in Finland by way of the "Moskvitsh Scandinavia" distributorship. The Finns, who had apparently started dressing like American cartoon characters, required economy cars that could withstand the country's extreme weather conditions. Based on the Opel Kadett, which had become the "Moscovite" when Russia "relocated" Opel's factory after the war, the Moskvitch 400 fit the bill. Its high ground clearance, skinny tires and six horsepower engine (or thereabouts) could fit a whole family of hand-drawn Finns and their copious hand luggage. The rest, as the Finns say, is historia. More »