So many old farts in here complaining about the styling.

Rust was always an issue unfortunately, for pretty much all cars of that era. The steel that was used was not of great quality. I remember that a lot of people simply did not drive these cars in the winter to preserve them.

For “people of importance” - yes, for regular folks - no. Heck, for a long time it was illegal for regular people to exchange the rubles for dollars.

I also want to add that in 12 years of ownership, my dad only experienced a serious problem once, a busted radiator. Limped the car home, got a new one, and was back at it.

My dad used to have a 1978 2101 he bought brand new. I remember growing up with it. Loved that car. Sad, the way this ended.