The way it worked in the USSR was actually more like: you put your name on the list to buy a car. The local party boss' cousin wants a car, too, and he doesn't have to wait on the list, he gets the car that's being manufactured. And the factory director's brother wants a car, too. And his nephew. And the guy he is trading cars to for steel to make more cars. And that guy's cousin wants a car, too. All these people get to skip ahead of you on the list, because they have better connections than you do. So you wait ten years or so for an ordinary car.