NICK SCHIFRIN:

On YouTube, you can find dozens of videos of Lada racing gone bad. Apparently, the tires have a tendency to fall off, mid-drift. But it's not only the little guy whose Ladas fail. In 2011, then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Lada Factory and was shown the new Lada Granta. It was billed as Europe's most inexpensive car. It took Putin four attempts to start the engine. He had more luck in 2010 with the Lada Kalina, driving it on a 1300-mile road trip. Putin said the car looks like a chicken but flies like a swallow. Putin is believed to still own his customized Lada Niva. He showed it off in 2009. The camouflage paint was local, but he'd later admit the tires were American and the engine, German. Which brings us back to Lada racer Vasiliy Muravlev.