And you thought American cars were crappy … Here are some prime examples of the crappiness that some Ukrainians have to put up with. These cars represent the crappy legacy of the crappy Soviet automotive industry.

This one is called “Moskvitch” (The Moskovite). It’s a tiny compact designed in the 70’s in the USSR. Somehow, these little four-cylinder gremlins are still roaming the streets of the former USSR.

This next one is also a four-cylinder compact (what a surprise). It’s called “Lada”, Model 2105, or simply, “pyatyorka” (means “Number Five”). It was considered a pretty nice car back in the 80’s in the USSR, probably an equivalent of a Toyota. Needless to say, it’s crappy though it looks decent in its boxiness.

I wish I could give you more pics (I have tons), but I’m sitting on the crappy Ukrainian dial-up connection measuring a whopping 33.6 kbps on a good day. Oh, and I get disconnected a lot.

More about my vacation – later …