by It’s hard to believe, but in front of us is a Lada. Moreover, this roadster was produced, albeit in small series. 
However, the Arsenal Roadster (that’s what this car is called) was not assembled in Tolyatti, but in Hungary. It is the brainchild of local designer Frederic Bank Soltvadkert. 
Soltvadkert was very fond of cars from the 20s-30s, and his ideal was the Mercedes SSK.
In 1980, together with racer József Dávid, he decided to create a pre-war style roadster. 
The rear-wheel-drive platform of the Lada 1200 was taken as the basis. The Lada was popular in Hungary at that time, which solved the spare parts issue. By the way, the local road authority licensed the car as the Lada 1200 Cabriolet. 
The car was 3.6 meters long and weighed only 720 kg, so a 1.2-liter VAZ engine was sufficient for it.
By the mid-90s, seven Arsenal Roadsters were built, and later a 1.6-liter 130-horsepower version was added. It reached 200 km/h. 
Then, Frederic Bank Soltvadkert retired and sold the rights to the car to a businessman from Budapest. He released a few more cars under the name Noel Roadster. The last roadster was assembled in 1999.
