G'day. I thought this was worth a try considering how far reaching the VW community is and the level of general appreciation for utilitarian vehicles a VW enthusiast has.

What I'm looking for is a fixer upper Lada Niva. An ex daily driver parked and forgotten, farm vehicle, paperweight or whatever.

If you have one you want to see go to a good home, will be appreciated and used to save my sanity please give me a shout.
My VW project is kind of stalled at the moment for a few reasons and I want something I can fix at home to become a daily driver for me and also cross off one of the things on my list that I've always wanted to have. Simple tastes etc.

Really I can only throw a couple of hundred $ your way absolute maximum because fatherhood is a lousy paying job. If you collect vintage computer gear I still have some good stuff left. I also have a vintage arcade machine (Radical Radial) which needs a little TLC but still worked when I put it in storage.

So I guess this is a wanted to buy / swap. I live in Finley NSW, and my mobile # is 0468756854. Reception here is pretty awful though so you'd probably be best off sending me an SMS, a PM on here or e-mail me at firstname.lastname at gmail.com if you know what I mean.

If you prefer talking on the phone just shoot me your number and I'll call you from the land line.

Hope to hear from you,

Tristan Mumford.

edit: admins I'm so sorry about all the edits!
I can pay a bit more for better condition and closer. I was working of an assumption of a 300km or so radius which really bumps costs up for me.

There's in one at centre road wreckers in vic

I'll give them a call today although a wrecker vehicle does raise a few red flags for me straight off. It was there for a reason. The harder to get parts have probably been pulled. And wreckers have a tendency to try to gouge people so hard it works out cheaper to buy parts new so not sure how much they would try to charge for a whole Niva. Worth a shot though.

I found one in Canberra but that's kind of out of my realistic travel radius.

Might pass on that one. Gave them a call and I need to go there and bring the vehicle consignment number to the front desk for an idea on cost. A bit of a hike to to write down a number. Appreciate the help though and if I obtain one elsewhere I know where some parts are now.

I have a swag of new parts to suit Lada Niva sn Samara/Cevaro's if you manage to get one under way. The reason most were scrapped was that people thought they brought a range Rover for bugger all money and expected too much of the little cars,they were as tough as nails and won a swag of rallies. The Australian factory team built quite a few unique vehicles including one with an extended wheelbase and a V6 Nissan engine. Some interesting footage on youtube.

I remember the Samara! Only ever saw one in person in my life and thought it was kind of neat. What you said is funny because Land rovers can be ha for less than 1K these days too. I'm keeping an eye on them but apparently parts carry a premium and that's something I'm sick to death of.
Nivas are more like a go anywhere hatchback than a family tractor. I read about the rally ones. Apparently one is still around and registered, but well looked after. Apparently they extended the wheelbase because the extra power was causing them to spin out at speed.

Now don't get me wrong. I love my VW but the whole back seat thing with its panel van heritage has really knocked me for six. I've got a few years before my son will be out of a child harness but my daughter needs a proper 3 point seatbelt. I've been in an accident in a car with a lap belt when I was a kid and thinking about that gives me the willies good and proper. There are other things I need to do / redo before I'm happy so I thought a vehicle I'd enjoy that also isn't straying dangerously close to the Ship of Theseus argument would be the way to go.
If / when I do get what I'm after I'll definitely keep you in mind.
Well, I've already found a few but there are problems. Generally out of my meagre price range. Plus one of them doesn't have much that needs doing to it. Yes that's a problem to me. I need a work in progress or I lose interest. Plus I couldn't afford it anyway.