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Anyone who remembers the Eighties and Nineties will recall the famous Russian Lada automobile – especially if they worked for a breakdown insurance firm.

But aside from providing comedians with endless joke material, the Lada was very much a 'get you from A to B' type of car – if you were lucky.

Since the fall of the USSR, Russians too realised how unreliable their home-made cars could be, opting instead for more technologically advanced vehicles from the likes of Germany's Volkswagen and BMW, if they could afford to do so.

But with tit-for-tat sanctions arising between Russian and the west, soon it may not be possible for well-to-do Muscovites to get their hands on the latest Mercedes-Benz or Beamer.

According to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, the Russian Government may ban the import of cars from nations that have imposed sanctions onRussia.

It would be bad news for German car plants, but also for British marques such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini – brands that have proven popular withRussia’s growing middle class.

However, it is not clear how such a ban would work, sinceRussiaimports many parts to local factories in order to build its own cars – although many of these plants are in fact owned by the likes of VW, Ford and Renault.

Such a sanction could mean big business for Asian carmakers – or it could mean a nostalgic return to the good old days of the Lada.

At least the comics will be pleased.