Convertibles based on VAZ-2108

At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, Deutsche Lada, the official German importer of AvtoVAZ products, brought to the German market a car with a landau type body called Lada Samara Fun. The alteration of the body was carried out by a third-party specialized company, Bohse Automobilbau GmbH: there, the entire rear part of the roof was cut off for the standard VAZ-2108 hatchback, along with the rear pillars.

The space above the rear row of seats turned out to be completely open, and a transparent sunroof was built into the rest of the roof above the front seats. To protect against bad weather, a removable awning with celluloid “windows” was provided. The rear of the body and the luggage compartment were covered with plastic lining, and there was a small cover for access to the trunk.

And in the photo below, taken in the mid-1990s in St. Petersburg, there is another car, like two peas in a pod, similar to the Lada Samara Fun. But instead of the VAZ boat on the radiator lining, it has a completely different emblem with the letter “B”, and a larger plastic hatch is mounted in the roof. What is it?

The answer can be found on the trunk lid, where the “Bohse Safari” signs are glued. Yes, this is practically the same car as the Lada Samara Fun, made by the same company Bohse Automobilbau GmbH, but sold not through the Deutsche Lada dealer network, but through other European dealers outside of Germany.

And this convertible based on the VAZ-2108 was built in the late 1980s in Belgium. Unlike the Germans, the Belgians developed a fully open version of the VAZ-2108. The roof was cut off already behind the A-pillars and the windshield frame. To protect against the weather, a fabric awning with a folding mechanism was provided. In order to ensure the necessary rigidity of the body, the supporting base was subjected to serious reinforcement, after which the mass of the convertible increased by 70 kg compared to the standard VAZ-2108 hatchback.

For the first time this cabriolet was presented in 1990 at the Brussels Motor Show under the name Lada Cabrio. But later it went on sale under the more original Lada Natasha brand.

The last attempt to establish industrial production of a cabriolet based on the G8 in Europe was made thanks to the Czech representative office of AvtoVAZ, CS AutoLADA. Under her leadership, the DESIGN KRAL studio and the EIDK company built a convertible, advertised under the Lada Bohemia brand. A characteristic feature of this car was a powerful safety arc behind the doors. In the original version of 1993, the car had native front lighting, later, in a revised version of 1998, it was replaced by headlights from the VAZ-2110.

In 1998, “Bohemia” was shown recently at the MIMS exhibition. Moreover, the Czechs even handed out funny leaflets to the visitors of the stand, printed in Russian, but with errors)) It is clear that the cabriolet did not cause real consumer interest here, because right on the days of the exhibition, the financial crisis was already beginning to flare up in the country … In the Czech Republic, about the success of Bohemia ‘ was not heard either. So, apparently, the matter was limited to the construction of the pair of cars that appeared in the photo in the booklet …