Valiant! A Car, a Cause, and the Cold War

Juris enlists his friend, Andris, to help resurrect the '71 Chrysler "Slant Six" he's kept under a tarp in his backyard for the last 25 years. Still decorated with a caricature of Gorbachev and "Nyet Nyet Soviet" slogans, the Valiant chauffeured Latvian freedom activists to Soviet embassies from DC to Ottawa through the final years of the Cold War in the 1980s. Driving day to day between New York and New Jersey, the car's decor provided some needed PR for a country that few could find on a map. Now, at a time when Russian troops have invaded Ukraine and Putin laments the break-up of the Soviet Union -- it is becoming clear that their cause against Russian aggression was not "just history". 2