Russian OKA available in the US?

Apparently, this ( www.okaauto.com )is for real. It has a 750cc engine, a bit oversquare, ripe for tuning (and putting into some other vehicle). I have no idea as to quality, but fear the worst. Has anyone actually seen one?

Looks like an older (90's) Fiat Cinquecento. Big surprise there. They're being offered for SCCA competition purposes, so who knows? No prices, sadly.
-William

Is this Yugo all over again?

And I thought Canada was the king of weird East European cars... back in the 1980's we got Skoda, Dacia, Lada, and Yugo for awhile. As much as these cars fascinate me, be thankful you never got them.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Sherlock:
Is this Yugo all over again?

... back in the 1980's we got Skoda, Dacia, Lada, and Yugo for awhile. As much as these cars fascinate me, be thankful you never got them.<hr></blockquote>
We got the Yugo.

One of Speedvision's earliest slogans was "No Yugos". They had a great commercial with this theme with their "Psycho-Cop" arresting a guy for driving one.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by William:
They're being offered for SCCA competition purposes, so who knows? No prices, sadly.
-William<hr></blockquote>

Prices are listed on the site: $5000 for "race" version, $6000 for "rally" version and $9000 for "pro-rally" version. They also require you to buy their trailer and be an SCCA member "in good standing". The "rally" car comes with a navigator seat as "standard" as well as a heater. The whole thing is pretty comical.

They're obviously trying to pawn off a mini-road car built for the home market as a race car here (since it has no hope of ever being U.S. Fed-certified).

The SCCA does not list these as an approved production race car in their GCR, so it would essentially be unusable as a racer except at an autocross. Smaller clubs like our's might let it run, but it looks like it probably couldn't keep up with the pace car at most events.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by aeronca65t:


Prices are listed on the site: $5000 for "race" version, $6000 for "rally" version and $9000 for "pro-rally" version. They also require you to buy their trailer and be an SCCA member "in good standing". The "rally" car comes with a navigator seat as "standard" as well as a heater. The whole thing is pretty comical.

They're obviously trying to pawn off a mini-road car built for the home market as a race car here (since it has no hope of ever being U.S. Fed-certified).

The SCCA does not list these as an approved production race car in their GCR, so it would essentially be unusable as a racer except at an autocross. Smaller clubs like our's might let it run, but it looks like it probably couldn't keep up with the pace car at most events.<hr></blockquote>

They list the City and Road versions, are those not fed-certified?

I just posted this website on the "Arcane Autos" mail list - the guys who really specialize in stuff like this! one of the guys said he had seen one on the road near Palo Alto, CA running Nevada plates, he thought it was proably a demo unit (or maybe a private car already?)

[ 01-29-2004: Message edited by: Sherlock ]</p>

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Sherlock:
I just posted this website on the "Arcane Autos" mail list - the guys who really specialize in stuff like this! one of the guys said he had seen one on the road near Palo Alto, CA running Nevada plates, he thought it was proably a demo unit (or maybe a private car already?)

[ 01-29-2004: Message edited by: Sherlock ]<hr></blockquote>

One of the guys I work with thinks he saw one here in AR. Said it sounded like a remote controle airplane.

If I weren't already drooling on a Ural, I might consider this as a second car. My commute includes no major roads, and that would suffice. (Plus it is only 1.6 mi if the reliability isn't up to snuff.)

The OKA parent company is KAMAZ. They did pretty well in the truck category of the Dakar this year. This is pretty much the opposite end of the size spectrum, but that could lend some credence. But I do notice that you can only reserve the City and the Road for that mystical time they become legal. Oh well.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by MattP:
The OKA parent company is KAMAZ. They did pretty well in the truck category of the Dakar this year. This is pretty much the opposite end of the size spectrum, but that could lend some credence. But I do notice that you can only reserve the City and the Road for that mystical time they become legal. Oh well.<hr></blockquote>

The main website is www.oka.ru -- I hope you are better at the russian than I. The pictures show reasonable build quality.

Looking over the website, I thought the OKA pickup truck was cute, although I wonder how much it can haul.

Just for fun, I clicked on "dealers" to see where these things were being sold....

It asked me if I wanted to be a dealer. I think I'll pass.