From the archive: the ill-fated communist car revolution

Left to right: Kompakt, Oka, Oda; Aleko, Tavria, Debut, Giugiaro's 1125; X03, Florida, Cinquecento, Wars
The Eastern Bloc had a burgeoning car industry during the 80s and 90s, until a major political upheavalIn the late 1980s, the Eastern bloc’s communist governments realised their countries’ potential for car making and owning and strove to supersede their terrible old smokers with modern metal.
“We’ve decided to increase our car production from 1.3m in 1987 to 2.5m by 1