Are the jokes over? Dan McLaughlin in Moscow reports on the sports car that could transform Lada's image.
The jokes are myriad, their theme consistent. What do you call a Lada with a sunroof? A skip. With a sunroof and twin exhausts? A wheelbarrow. Why does a Lada have a heated rear window? To warm your hands on when you're pushing it.
And so on.
But the latest offering from makers of the cut-price Russian runabout could finally silence a world of witty detractors.
Avtovaz, which builds the Lada, hopes the new Revolution sports car will transform its image from that of a purveyor of cheap and nasty transport into the marque of choice for the burgeoning ranks of Russian billionaires.
The 1.6 litre, 165 bhp Revolution accelerates to 100 kph in 6.5 secs and can reach 240 kph, insists Avtovaz, which has brought together its best engineers to create and develop the car at its base in Togliatti, a city on the southern reaches of the Volga river that proudly calls itself "Russia's Detroit".
A faster, 210 bhp racing Revolution is expected next year, along with a road-going, two-seater model. It's not clear how many will be made, but Lada hopes it will become an exclusive sports car for Russia's young, rich and patriotic.
"It's important for Russia that this is our car, built by our own engineers. It's great to show that we make something like this too, not just foreigners," said former karting ace Kiril Ladygin last month at an airfield-cum-racetrack outside Moscow, where he had just won the first of a season of races between Revolutions.
Work on the car began in autumn 2001 and it made its public debut last summer, drawing admiring glances at the Geneva and Frankfurt motor shows for its complete lack of resemblance to any of the more than 20 million Ladas churned out since 1970.
"It has a Russian chassis and a Russian engine, and very few parts come from elsewhere," said Ladygin's team boss, businessman Ruben Shumeyev, who received his Revolution from Avtovaz just two days before the race.
"Generally it handles well. It's still raw but we'll work on it from here, of course. This is where it all begins."
Lada is selling the car at what it calls an introductory offer price of €31,000 - and there's a €7,000 entry fee for each of this season's seven races at airfield circuits outside Moscow and St Petersburg. The firm hopes to have 15 to 20 Revolutions lining up on the grid later in the season.
The price for the road car has not been decided, but it's likely to be tens of thousands of euros less than that for the latest arrivals to Russia's growing fast-car market.
Ferrari and Maserati started selling their creations in Moscow last month, finally joining the top-of-the-range Mercedes, BMWs and Audis that already tear around a city which, according to Forbes magazines, is home to more billionaires than any other.
In Moscow to open the city-centre showroom, Ferrari - and now Fiat - boss Luca Di Montezemolo said he expected to sell about 100 cars here this year. He pinned particular hopes on the Maserati Quattroporte to lure customers away from luxury German marques that are already becoming passé among Russia's fickle beau monde.
The Prancing Horse and its Maserati stablemate will be distributed through Mercury, a firm that already panders to most of the whims of Moscow's elite, whether they crave designer jewellery, high fashion or a Lamborghini or Bentley.
About the only exclusive toy Mercury can't provide is a Rolls-Royce, which chose another partner with whom to open an official Moscow dealership in April. It has earmarked 24 cars for sale in Russia this year, from showrooms at Number One, Red Square, overlooking St Basil's Cathedral and the tomb of Vladimir Lenin.
Despite his loathing of the aristocracy and his avowedly austere lifestyle, the Communist revolutionary may well have approved. He reputedly owned nine Rolls-Royces during his time in the Kremlin, including one which Russian engineers fitted out with skis at the front and caterpillar tracks at the rear, to allow him to travel in comfort around his snow-bound estate outside the capital.
In an increasingly crowded sports car market, Lada's Revolution faces a battle to turn the heads of Russia's rich. But chief designer Andrei Ruzanov says the car offers something original to a growing band of wealthy - and fickle - young drivers: "We have two new versions under development and the road car should be ready next year. We are always pushing ahead - if you stand still, you die."
Ruzanov says the Revolution project could transform the unenviable reputation of Russia's best known car maker. It aims to emulate the success of some of the world's finest manufacturers with its own cutting-edge sports car and racing department.
"There shouldn't be any more jokes about us in the West," he says. "Mercedes has AMG. Fiat has Ferrari. Now Lada has the Revolution."