If you're going to be hanging around Lviv this month keep your eyes peeled for the sight of dozens of Zaporozhets snaking their way through the city centre as die-hard fans celebrate the much-maligned auto that was once billed as the 'people's' car'.
In Soviet days the Zaporozhet symbolized Communism's technological backwardness and crassness but since the 90s, like the Lada, it has taken on an iconic retro status and can count among those that still have a special affection for it, one Mr Vladmir Putin. Now Ukrainan and Germany fans are getting together at a Zaporozhet rally in the city, before embarking on an European tour that will see the car, that was named after a band of Cossacks, cantor through 21 countries including Germany, Turkmenistan, Iran, Serbia and - the daddy of them all - Russia. The troops will be heading for some distinctly Soviet era sites, such as the mausoleum of Roksolana in Istanbul.... |