In the Soviet period, a personal car was not just a means of transportation, but an important social marker and a subject of long-term life aspirations. Acquiring a car was most often accompanied by queuing, years of waiting, and a lack of real choice: the buyer received exactly the car that was available for distribution. Even basic models cost an amount equivalent to several years' income. Let's try to estimate how much the most popular cars in the USSR cost if we translate their price into modern rubles, using two clear methods of recalculation.
The Cost of Cars in the USSR
The automotive hierarchy in the Soviet Union was clearly structured. The mass-produced VAZ-2101 "Zhiguli," better known as "Kopeyka," sold for 5,150–5,620 rubles in the early 1970s. Its later and improved version, the VAZ-21013, cost up to 7,300 rubles in the 1980s.
The "Moskvich" cars served as an alternative to the "Zhiguli." For example, the 412 model was estimated at about 5,200 rubles in 1971. The most affordable option remained the ZAZ-968 "Zaporozhets" ("Eared") — its cost ranged from 3,000 to 3,600 rubles. The upper level was occupied by the GAZ-21 "Volga," which was considered a representative-class car: in the early 1970s, the price of the car reached 9,000–9,300 rubles.
To understand the scale of the costs, it is important to consider the level of income. The average salary was about 115 rubles in 1970, 134 rubles in 1975, and about 155 rubles by the early 1980s. Thus, even buying the cheapest "Zaporozhets" required almost two years of savings, provided that all other expenses were completely abandoned.
Conversion to Modern Rubles
You can estimate the equivalent of Soviet prices in different ways. One of them is comparison through the cost of living. In the 1970s, it was about 50 rubles a month for students. In 2025, the minimum wage is set at 19,242 rubles. With this approach, one Soviet ruble is equivalent to approximately 385 modern rubles.
Based on this ratio, the following approximate values are obtained:
- VAZ-2101 — about 2.16 million rubles
- VAZ-21013 — about 2.8 million rubles
- "Moskvich" 412 — about 1.9 million rubles
- ZAZ-968 — approximately 1.15 million rubles
- GAZ-21 "Volga" — about 3.46 million rubles
The second method is based on the unofficial exchange rate of the ruble to the US dollar. The official exchange rate in the USSR was conditional and did not reflect the real value of the currency. In the shadow market in the 1970s and 1980s, one dollar cost about 4 rubles. Taking into account the subsequent dollar inflation, we can assume that one Soviet ruble corresponds to approximately two modern dollars, or about 160 rubles.
With this calculation, the prices look like this:
- VAZ-2101 — about 900 thousand rubles
- VAZ-21013 — approximately 1.17 million rubles
- "Moskvich" 412 — about 790 thousand rubles
- ZAZ-968 — about 480 thousand rubles
- GAZ-21 "Volga" — about 1.44 million rubles
How to Interpret These Figures Today
Recalculation through the cost of living gives higher values, but it more accurately reflects the real purchasing power and the amount of labor required to purchase a car in Soviet times. This approach demonstrates not the nominal price, but the number of months and years of work that were required for the average citizen.
It is important to take into account the context of the era: the cars presented on the domestic market of the USSR were among the technically modern and affordable models of their time. In this sense, a parallel with today's market is quite appropriate. A modern new car of domestic production in the basic configuration costs about 1–1.5 million rubles, and accumulating it with a median salary of about 74,000 rubles also takes one and a half to two years.
Thus, despite the difference in figures and economic realities, a car both then and now remains a major purchase that requires significant financial effort.