In a very similar vein as my recent red car post, this series of Sunday postings is centered on the absolute gloominess that a snowless January will bring. In my Western Finnish Coast town, everything is wet, grey and gloomy, just for the single reason that there’s barely any snow on the ground. And by now, even all the ice has melted away and it all looks like April that’s just way too dark way too early.

And what better a car to start the day than a slightly facelifted mid-’90s Lada Samara?

Some time ago, I posted a very early, 1987 Samara finished in navy blue. Those early cars featured a distinctive plastic conk, that was widely hated. Quite early on in the Samara’s shelf life, the initial nose was replaced with a regular black plastic grille, which did make it just a touch more anonymous.

Even if I haven’t driven a Samara yet, and plan to do it at my earliest inconvenience, I have a feeling it’ll be a rather terrible experience viewed from a non-ironic view point.

But to beat on a dead horse like the Samara is to miss the point. The car was cheaply built to be cheap, and just like the banner behind the car declares: “When the price is what counts”. And the Samara is so universally disregarded by now, that it’s nearing negative value no matter what year it is.

They just ended Samara production over in Mother Russia by the end of 2013, and that spells the end of a nearly 30-year run for a car that survived fairly similar throughout the years, with a restyled front and rear to make it look more late-’90s than early-’80s. The cars will undoubtedly continue to be featured on countless dashcam videos until the end of time.

[Images: Copyright 2014 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]