Take me to your Lada: Cuba’s passion for a little Russian box

The rugged Soviet-era car is 50 years old – and in Havana, classic models still sell for the price of a house

Landy is a stylish man. He has an ageing crooner’s slicked-back hair, the short-sleeved cool of a Miami Beach architect, and a terrible, terrible Lada car.

He’s my go-to chofer in Havana, which sounds a little grand, but it’s more economical than buying one of these babies, which will set you back £15,000. It’s also why, despite the windows having no handles (a wrench is passed back) and the rear seat containing a loose spring like an unkind proctologist, Landy fusses over it like a baby.

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