[lb1lf]

I once owned a Lada Niva, which while it was overall a rather - to put it charitably - interesting car to own, it excelled during wintertime.

The engine sump was incredibly heavy; when inquiring as to why, I was told the idea was that you could light a (small!) fire under it to make it easier to get the engine cranking in severe cold.

That's Soviet engineering for you!