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Lada Breakdown Ends Ex-Porn Star's Roadtrip

VLADIVOSTOK — A car journey across Russia by former adult video star Sasha Grey ended after a Russian-made Lada Kalina she was driving broke down three days after the start.

Grey, escorted by several other cars, began her several weeks' journey from Vladivostok in Russia's Far East to Moscow on Thursday and managed to reach another far eastern city of Khabarovsk.

"Participants of the car rally took Lada Kalina for a drift in Khabarovsk," Drom.ru automobile website reported. "The car stalled after several laps on a race track. Its front suspension and transmission broke down."

The website added that the car would be auction off with the starting price of 1 ruble (3 U.S. cents), while Grey would be taken by plane to see the picturesque Lake Baikal before returning home.

Grey was driving the same model Lada Kalina sedan as President Vladimir Putin did when he took a Kalina for a 350-kilometer drive starting from Vladivostok in 2010.

Russian cars, including the Lada Kalina, have a patchy reputation due to their poor quality. Putin had two spare Kalinas with him during his own drive from Vladivostok, and had to change cars at the start of the journey due to a breakdown.

Grey, 25, became one of the most well-known porn stars in the late 2000s, but retired from the industry in 2011 to focus on modeling, conventional acting and music endeavors. She remains very popular in the former Soviet Union.

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