For Sale on BAT: What’s a LuAZ?!

Jeff Glucker
14

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Here’s one we haven’t seen before… Bring-A-Trailer has a 1994 LuAZ 969M for sale. Yes, this vehicle was first introduced as the ZAZ-969 back in the ’60s, but LuAZ kept cranking them out for quite some time. This one is powered by a 1.2-liter V4 backed by a four-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel-drive. It should make around 40 horsepower. And with portal axles, it should clear a fair bit of whatever you might find out on the trail.

This one being offered for sale has just 3,500 miles or so and looks to be in pretty damn perfect shape. The auction over on BAT is about to end (at the time of this post) and the high bid currently sits just north of $6,000.

Have you heard of a LuAZ before? Have you ever seen one in person? And would people where these are more common lose their minds at that potential selling price or are we in the ballpark of clean LuAZ values?

Go see the auction and a lot more pictures on Bring-A-Trailer.

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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14 responses to “For Sale on BAT: What’s a LuAZ?!”

  1. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Tough little cars, I have only seen very few of them myself. I sold one of these earlier though:
    https://www.finn.no/bap/forsale/ad.html?finnkode=63918505

    Great that this one made it to BaT. I did not find one for sale in Russia, instead, got stuck on a Moskovich again:
    http://www.autonavigator.ru/cars/used/Moskvich/412/11035250.html

    That said, the 967 is even more spartan, and even cooler: It’s amphibious.

    Reply
    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      That mountain landscape in the models picture is just like the mountains here in NZ.

      Reply
      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        For the occasion, these models were parked on my balcony. NZ is as far as one can travel from here without going into space, but it’s on my post-covid bucket list.

        Reply
        1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
          Jeff Glucker

          God damn, that view looks amazing!

          Reply
  2. Neight428 Avatar
    Neight428

    Looks like someone’s Pinzgauer hooked up with the neighbors G-wagen and the offspring is now a toddler.

    Reply
  3. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    40 hp V-4? Surely a Motus swap could help that. (MotuAZ? LuTus?) Looking at the engine bay, though, you might have to be clever with your radiator placement. Those portal axles are a trip.
    Listed is a dual band radio in the dash. Not mentioned is both bands are shortwave and only receive stations from Cuba and Yap.

    Reply
  4. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Don’t know about the LuAZ, but I was pretty surprised to see a 1977 Alfetta GTV sell for the equivalent of US$30k at a local auction recently, or the 1977 Honda Accord for US$27k, plus lots of other very very strong prices

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      I believe this is not necessarily due to the specific value of these cars, or just that it’s this generation’s turn to drive their own price bubble – rather, I think that over a decade of quantitative easing and now the big moneyprinting splurge due to corona is driving prices like this. People just sit on too much money, with nothing else to spend it on:
      https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/23-6-of-all-us-dollars-were-created-in-the-last-year
      The LuAZ went for over 9000$ which is, plainly, insane. It might be “worth it” because it’s in a unique condition and really rare in the US, so I don’t want to say it’s too expensive. But somebody had a lot of cash lying around for a novelty.

      Reply
      1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
        Jeff Glucker

        Dang! Yeah 9k is insane… definitely a toy for someone.

        Reply
  5. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    Tiny? Check
    Unusual? Check
    Impractical? Check
    Underpowered? Check
    Zero parts availability? Check

    Paging MDHarrell, paging Mr. Harrell!

    Reply
    1. mdharrell Avatar
      mdharrell

      I do like a good V4, which is to say any V4, but anything encroaching upon five figures is a bit steep for me.

      Reply
  6. Captainmark Avatar
    Captainmark

    A dealer in MA had one, sold for twice. Not common here, common elsewhere. parts are available on line. Similar to the mini Pinz. Neat small and very good off road. I like small and useful vehicles, good buy.

    Reply
    1. 91_LUAZ Avatar
      91_LUAZ

      I was a bidder on the BaT auction, and through search found another in Maryland and picked it up at a discount to the BaT auction. It is Tan and was in an article on Jalopnik a few years back. I bought it as a road legal UTV/Golf Cart for around the lakes where I live, (yes I already plated it!).

      Reply
  7. 91_LUAZ Avatar
    91_LUAZ

    I recently acquired a tan one that has been floating around the US for about 5 years (jalopnik did an article on it before I acquired it).

    Reply
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