Cardi Next

With the Glenfrome Facet from yesterday fresh in your minds, let me introduce a vehicle that trades on the same concepts of being off-road-ready, luxurious, stylish, “bespoke”, and expensive. Based on spec sheets, the similarities between the two are striking…if only their bodywork wasn't so different.

While the 1984 Facet looks futuristic enough to have been cast in Back To The Future Part II, the 1996 Cardi Next has the timeless face of a spotted turtle.

To complete your set of child-like shapes, next, check out my story on the Lada Gorbi by Colani. ;)

I’m always choosing Colani over Cardi, because it’s not always clear the Russian brand can figure out its design language. Underneath the Next’s sympathetic reptilian face is the complete drivetrain from a Lada Niva, sitting in a tubular steel frame. That means, yes, just a 1.7-litre 4-cylinder GAZ 21213 engine with around 90 horsepower. 

While you'd lose to the Rover V8-powered Glenfrome Facet in a drag race, once off-road it might be another story. The Niva in stock form has been shown to climb a 58° slope and ford up to (an amazing) 100 cm (39 in) of snow.

This snow-shredding ability is probably why a Canadian 'Snowmageddon' translates to 'Tuesday' in Russian.

I can understand why Russian elite would be attracted to a small, sporty off-roader that could drive nearly anywhere during the summer months. With a wilderness as large as ours is here in Canada, I can certainly see the appeal of trundling off into the woods for a weekend and/or a decades-long getaway.

But did they notice the Next shares its proportions with the Suzuki X90?

Outside, shapely fiberglass body panels and two-tone paint help hide its lack of performance, while an interior made from additional fibreglass panels is helped by generous amounts of leather and hand-made switchgear.

As a concession to style, the small rear luggage compartment is only accessible after folding the seats forward and passing things through the interior.

The following year, in 1997 Cardi introduced another SUV called the Tetra. Essentially identical to the Next, it lacked a removable targa roof and is said to have been optimized for the Russian winter…er…'Snowmageddon'.

Both Cardi SUVs have large-for-the-era bubble off-road tires that help spread out its relatively lightweight 1100 kg (2425 lbs) on sand and snow. Yes, Cardi shipped its SUVs with full-time 4-wheel-drive.

Something that made this particular story easier to write than most is the existence of an active Cardi Tetra owner who had posted a few updates about his SUV, in Russian, on drive2.ru. Sadly, their log book was last updated in 2013, and there’s no way I’m visiting a .ru anytime soon; if you’re curious, owners are out there! Roughly 10 years ago now, those posts gave me a unique look into life with a limited-run off-roader.

Predictably, only a handful of Cardi off-roaders were completed before the Moscow-based industrial design and custom vehicle engineering firm began to create sports cars. You'll be able to read about them here in due course, no doubt.

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