maksim grishin, in the blue hood, works at the treasury department. >> ( translated ): we've just seen a guy in a simple carburetor lada, with a few parts stripped to decrease the weight, and it drove better than imported cars. >> reporter: stanislav tarasov switched from toyotas to ladas. >> ( translated ): i think the boys are expressing their patriotism. and another thing, domestic cars are more accessible. the more you drive, the better you get. >> reporter: ladas are old school emblems of the cold war. across the soviet union and the eastern bloc, they were the everyman car. they were based on a fiat design, made more sturdy for cold russian winters, and ery 23 seconds.ced a ladat was ♪ ♪ soviet commercials portrayed them as family friendly and unquestionably solid. ♪ ♪ advertisements for the four- wheel-drive niva model included the soviet national anthem, and sent a lada into space. ladas are still in production, and some sport new designs. at the track, most don't look like much. mostly they're race-worthy, even if some young russians don't see the soviet past with nostalgia. >