I know we try to avoid overt politics here at the Autopian, but sometimes something so bonkers happens that there’s really no way to not address it. And I think the category of things that qualify as “so bonkers” absolutely must include a major American political party posting a picture of the president on social media with a message about “making automobiles great again” and then choosing an old Soviet-era Lada as the car to show behind him. Because that just happened.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Trump Administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that is outside the scope of our humble car-lovers’ site here, but there is a provision in the bill to effectively remove fines automakers accrue for not meeting fuel economy standards, which proponents of the bill believe will help the American automobile industry.
This point was mentioned in a (seemingly poorly-researched) post from The Daily Signal, which is what the Republican party was referencing in this post they sent out last night on the X social media platform:
The One Big Beautiful bill will drive the return of the great American car.
???????????????? pic.twitter.com/poAsG8pDKg— GOP (@GOP) July 31, 2025
Just in case the tweet gets taken down, here’s a screenshot of the relevant image:
Okay, fine, Make Automobiles Great Again, and the Big Beautiful Bill will “drive the return of the great American car.” You’d think with that sort of sentiment in mind, they’d have picked some sort of legendary American car to feature behind the president, right? Maybe an old Mustang, or a GTO, or a Toronado or a Jeep or a Charger or even a Corvair or, hell, a Gremlin? Something American and iconic.
But the GOP (or whoever made the graphic) took a very different approach here. The car proudly stationed behind the President, proclaiming a re-birth of great American cars, appears to be a Lada 2101.
The Lada 2101 was built from 1970 to 1988 and was based on the Fiat 124; it was also known as the Lada 1200, Lada 1300, and VAZ 2101. It was, of course, a Soviet/Russian car and about the least American car I can think of, by nearly any standard.
So why pick that car for this image?
I even found where the photo came from: a stock image site called Pixabay, where this particular image is tagged with “Lada, Yellow, Vehicle image. Free for use.”
Since it’s free for use, I may as well show you the original image here, right? It’s free!
Look, you can even see that weird mark on the C-pillar! This is the same car.
This all brings us to the real question: why?
Was someone trolling the GOP? Was this intentional? Is it possible some designer knew nothing about cars and somehow, by chance, just decided to use an old Soviet car in this tweet about making American cars great again?
Again, I’d like to try and avoid any overt political discussion here, but I think we can all agree that this is absolutely ridiculous. I’d be writing the same story if the Democratic Party put a post on Instagram of Joe Biden crowing about great American cars in front of a Zaporozhets or something. This is objectively hilarious.
The Republican party is posting pictures of the President cheering in front of classic Soviet iron. What a weird world we’re in.
This clown and criminal needs to GO.. what a disgusting human, and if you voted for him, you’re disgusting too and F you.
He only uses the biggest brains and most qualified people. No DEI hires here.
My guess is the bigwigs decided on the theme but were, as usual, too lazy to do the work and so gave it to a spotty 30 year old, who is of the generation which is proud they never learned to drive. (just wait till they are 34, with kids when suddenly with no driving experience they will buy the biggest tank like car on the lot…)
And said pimple face was too lazy to step out a photo an American car and so did a five second search and found that lovely pic.
Someone took a lot of pride and love to find that shade of yellow with the paler coach striping.
I imagine you’re exactly right.
Does the writing on the C pillar spell “airbag?”
Just know that the Ladas of that era were better than the Zils. Both were scary in the hands of your average cab driver in Moscow.
It’s sad to see The Autopian turning into to Jalopnik with partisan political posts.
Pointing out an automotive oddity in a post from the highest office of the land is a partisan political post? Sure. Ok. Gotcha.
There is nothing partisan about this post.
I couldn’t believe this was real…at the same time I wasn’t that shocked due to how stupid this timeline is.
What an absolute stupid fuck…fuck NAZI Trump…IMPEACH NOW!
Stephen Miller thought it would be a funny insider joke. That f***ing guy.
Pee Wee German strikes again!
(I did not coin that nickname, the hosts of Strict Scrutiny did)
White House toilet rat.
Might have then a graphic designer with a wry sense of humor. Might also have been made up by the president’s own handlers and they just forgot to Americanize it. I mean he is a Russian asset you know.
Well his social media platform is the translation of Pravda, and he used to think Born in the USA was a patriotic song about the superiority of people born in the USA ( to the right parents of course , since he’s trying to get rid of some born in the USA people now ) so extolling Lada is pretty on brand.
I’d expect a ZIL to be honest though.
I know president Clinton allegedly shared some anatomical characteristics with donkeys and Milton Berle but why do they keep naming this legislation after him?
When I first saw this article, I had to spend more time watching Ladas-only rally and drift videos, than I planned to.
But I’m not sure: is it correct to call a Lada 1300 a 2101? (“The Lada 2101 was built from 1970 to 1988 and was based on the Fiat 124; it was also known as the Lada 1200, Lada 1300, and VAZ 2101.”) Shouldn’t the 1300 be something like 21011, or 2102? (I looked it up, the 2102 was the wagon, 21011 was the Lada 1300.) Or does that still count as a 2101?
This is 2101 indeed. As previous owner of VAZ 21011 I can say that it is not the one. 21011 and 21013 have a grill (air exhaust) on the back side of the rooftop but 2101 doesn’t have it. Also 21011/21013 have additional air intakes holes under main radiator grill where 2101 also doesn’t have it. And yes – 2102 is a station wagon vehicle where 2101, 21011 and 21013 are sedans. However this particular vehicle is sharing something from 21011/21013 model – it is front and rear bumper. 2101/2102 bumpers are factory equipped with fangs where on 21011/21013 they were removed.
Don’t worry the bottom line is if it’s funny it isn’t political. Whether some ad agency liberals decide to do this knowing they will lose their jobs it’s hilarious. I used to work for a newspaper in Bullhead City AZ and the camera staff delighted in taking photos of a person with some of the most inappropriate art objects or stimulation devices or decorating penis cakes. I privately enjoyed it but once members of the public pointed it out I had to report it and 5 people lost their jobs. They deserved it you play you pay
I was leaving it at that but read the comments and all the liberals have to make it political. Jason it isn’t the article it is the angry left that ruined a great article.
“I privately enjoyed it but once members of the public pointed it out I had to report it and 5 people lost their jobs.” So, tell us a bit more about the compassionate, conservative, caring world in which you choose to reside. Keep telling yourself it was OK for you to cause 5 people to lose their jobs “once members of the public pointed it out”, never mind the impact on their families; seems you fit well in the MAGAverse.
Great handle there but hate to burst your bubble the conservative president at the time was Obama, and I did not make the decision to publish inappropriate pictures that would be the people who got fired. I guess the saying don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. But yes my fault.
If you see the many valid criticisms and dismiss the shocking revelations and near daily insane and authoritarian actions of this sub-human and his invertebrate parasite minions as merely a reaction based on a political direction, then you’re only telling everyone outside your cult that it is your own positions that are strictly based on political direction/external identity affiliation. Or maybe you’re just an authoritarian who’s happy about the direction things are going and you’re fine with pedos, so his obvious guilty actions, so transparent and pathetic that it would make a dumb 2nd grader who isn’t in a cult shake their head, are not a problem for you and you’d be fine with it even if this guy was playing on the other team.
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Your’e in the wrong place dude.
That’s a Lada horse apples in one picture.
Do. Not. Blindly. Trust. Designers.
I’m so glad this happened, but really! Someone isn’t watching the store. I know I’m not supposed to interrupt my enemy when they’re making a mistake, but I live in the country these clowns aren’t steering .
The AI knew how Soviet the whole MAGA thing feels and it just bled through.
I like how they even chose a rusty example, parked in a puddle with garbage in it. Perfection.
And with russian plates.
I think it has hungarian plates, AXD-692, with red-white-green flag, under the flag the letter H.
“Make Russia Great Again”
Or did someone beat me to it?
It’s also on-brand for Mr Tiny Hands.
OMG I just now realized that what he really wants is for cars with thin rimmed steering wheels to come back!
Well that would make one nice thing, I don’t like those girthy wheels. Not fond of the read of his crap.
This was done on purpose.
Didn’t they do a Veteran’s Day post a few years ago, but “accidentally” chose a photo of SS troops in WWII? Are these Freudian slips?
A weird thought just occurred to me, how about instead of making automobiles great again, which I’d argue have been greater at least as far as domestic brands go, but instead lets make appliances great again. They seem to have gotten so bad reliability wise that I’ll bet there’s more 25 year old refrigerators still in use then there are 10 year old ones.
I’m holding onto my 25-year-old home HVAC system as long as possible.
It took my landlords 3 yearly water heater replacements before they found one that appears to work well. Ended up going with some obscure brand meant to be the garbage end of the commercial market and was cheaper than anything in Home Depot or Lowes. (however they did order it from the best home improvement chain in the US unless you’re looking for power tools, Menards)
A lot of people blame it on the Energy Saver requirements causing things to be more efficient, yet shorter lived, but even if that was dropped, I don’t imagine manufacturers will go back to making appliances so that they last, they’ll just make them cheaper, leaving them to consume more energy while not being appreciably more reliable or serviceable and pocketing the profits.
The problem with appliance reliability is more down to complexity added by unnecessary but popular features. A basic top-freezer fridge has very little that can go wrong. A side-by-side fridge with an ice maker, water dispenser, and touchscreen has many more points of failure. I might be jinxing myself, but my 15-year old top-freezer Frigidaire is still working perfectly.
I would agree- I replaced a Kenmore Elite (made by LG) that had 20+ different modes but would choke on a wet bath towel with a Maytag basic unit with 3 dials. When you add more items, more things to break. Now I do love and need adaptive cruise control when I drive in Maryland, so I contradict myself.
tRump is a F’ing moron and so is anyone that still supports him.
My take: I’m sure they farm the construction of their social media posts to some sort of 3rd party. Said 3rd party hates the GOP, and are smart enough to know that *nobody* will know what the car is, so it is a troll on the GOP themselves. Masterfully done, I might add.
The third party running the GOP is the KGB. They know exactly what they are doing and are signaling how in control of the GOP they are.
See also all the times the GOP has used Soviet warships and planes in their posts.
This is the most logical thing I’ve read in quite a while.
It does seem to be a characteristic of rightwing American pols. But it’s not unique to them, a year or 2 ago Russia published several posters celebrating “Navy Day”. One had a pic of the cruiser Mockba, which had been sunk by Ukraine months earlier, the other showed an aircraft carrier in dramatically aggressive mode that would have been fine, except that it was American (the only Russian carrier spends most of its time in drydock or on fire). Hard to know where graphic artist ignorance in selecting web images ends and malicious compliance (backed by claimed ignorance) begins.
The majority of Americans know that the car pictured is clearly a yellow car
“This point was mentioned in a (seemingly poorly-researched) post from The Daily Signal, which is what the Republican Party”
*ReThugliCon Party.
The mistake is stupid and egregious, but the person who made it and the audience it’s for simply do not give a shit. I hate that this is where we are.
Outside of this community, I would not expect anyone to recognize this error. As such, it should be pointed out to all the (other) news organizations. This is an egregious mistake that should not go un-reported considering the source and how they so strongly and vehemently push the American agenda on everyone.
*Pam Bondi voice*: As the leader of the entire world, our beloved President Trump is very knowledgeable about automobiles and, contrary to what the godless Communist rats say, he knew full well that this car was a *checks notes* Lotta 2001. He requested that we use this car to demonstrate the poor state of the American automotive industry that Joe Biden *spits* left it in.
That’s all they have to say.
Golf carts are not automobiles.
Whatever. Someone pop the trunk and see if the list is in there.
Thank you for taking some of the sting off this idiocy.