Update 09/05/18: According to journalist Jonny Smith on Twitter, this Dakar Lada sold for £4000, or $5161. A bargain in our opinion. Below is the story as it was written before the sale, when RM Sotheby's expected it to fetch up to $100,000.

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Sold for £4k. Am feeling rather ill that I didn’t register/bid. Imagine the price if it’d been a Defender or G wag? https://t.co/Ofgagjo2gv — Jonny Smith (@Carpervert) September 5, 2018

When introduced in 1977, the Lada Niva was the world's first mass-produced unibody 4x4. What's more, it also turned out out to be one of the most capable off-roaders ever made—as evidenced by the number of French teams that ran Nivas in the Paris-Dakar rally every year between 1981 and 1988.

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This particular Dakar Niva is one of the earliest of its kind. It was entered in the 1981 Paris-Dakar by François Jeanson and his son, alongside about a dozen other Nivas. The car was prepared with a fiberglass hood, doors and boot lid, an enlarged fuel tank, beefed up bumpers and an upgraded suspension.

Unfortunately, while Jean Claude Briavoine and André Deliaire managed to finish the '81 challenge in third place with their Niva, the Jeanson family effort ended in a DNF. They weren't alone, of course. Of the 170 cars, 15 trucks and 106 motorcycles entered, only 59 made it to Dakar in time that year.

Untouched, the car remained with the Jeanson family until 2009, when it was purchased from them by the current seller. Today, it remains in highly original, "ran when parked" condition.

RM Sotheby's will offer this Niva at auction without reserve as part of its "Weird and Wonderful Collection" on Wednesday, September 5, 2018, in London. They also estimate it to fetch between $65,000 and $100,000. We wish both parties good luck with this one.

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