Yugo for Life
One of the greatest things about cars is that every make and model has a devotee. From the Reliant K to the Ferrari 308 GTB or the Chevrolet Corvette to the humble Yugo someone loves them. Meeting the people that have these passions is always a treat. Even if you’re automotive interests lay elsewhere, if you are a genuine enthusiast you understand and enjoy that people love their cars.
After Import Relics posted that there where three Yugo’s for sale a few months ago I was contacted by the person who ended up buying them. After exchanging a few e-mails he agreed to let me come by and take a look at them. Now up until then, I had never seen a live Yugo in the wild but for fleeting glimpses. I’d come across one in the junkyard once and climbed over it, but to actually see three at once! That was going to be a rare treat.
I have a thing for vehicles like the Yugo. As much as I love the beautiful lines and technological prowess of vehicles like the Alfa Romeo 8C, I am far more intrigued by the Renault 5′s and Suzuki Samurai’s of the world. Simple, unadulterated modes of conveyance offered to the public cheaply. And despite all the stigma that surrounds the Yugo, thats what it was. The cheapest new car you could buy at the time designed to get you from point A to B in relative comfort.
And so I met David, the Yugo devotee. David has owned four other Yugo’s before he found these three and had nothing but positive things to say about them. Forty miles per gallon, easy to work on and fun. What better combination can you ask for? And to top it off, David’s family lineage is 100% from Slovenia, part of the former Yugoslavia. So owning Yugo’s is almost a blood right.
The first thing that I noticed about the Yugo’s was that they looked nothing like the pictures I had seen in the for sale ad.
Ad Photo
Current Photo
In the ad they looked like they had just rolled off the factory floor. And now, well… they looked like hell! David explained that the reason for this was that the cars had been used for props in an upcoming Disney movie. The prop house had taken four Yugo’s and painted them all the same and to look like they were rusting and falling apart. All the rust was simply paint and can be chipped off. According to David, the bodies themselves are in great shape other than a few holes drilled in the floors for smoke machines and other things for movie magic. He plans to strip them down and repaint them the baby blue that you see in the ad. In their current state though its probably kinda fun to drive around in just for the looks. Also made for some neat photo opportunities.
There had been four matching Yugo’s. David got three of them. Apparently two of them where in driving condition for the actors to use, and two where used for crash and explosion stunts. One of the stunt cars was so far gone that David couldn’t get it, but the other was in good enough shape to keep for parts. He has managed to get one running well enough to start driving regularly and is diligently working on the other drivable one to put it back on the road.
The one that David has put back on the road is an ’88, 1.1L carbureted version. He claims that he regularly can get nearly 40 MPG out of such a machine! Granted, this is generally just short trips around town and not pushing it, but thats what the Yugo was designed for. I just had to shake my head in astonishment at the number. Even my little Miata, a far more aerodynamic and arguably more efficient vehicle, only gets 30 or so.
The other running Yugo is a ’91 “big motor” 1.3L EFI number. Aside from a new starter and a few other small things, this one is ready to go. David, with his vast Yugo knowledge, is having a blast working on them in his spacious, heated, four car garage. Call me jealous of not just the cars, but also the space!
After looking over the cars, David offered up a ride. How could I say no? So off we went. After reading The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History I anticipated all sorts of things. I figured the thing would rattle and shake horribly, that the seat back would collapse on me and it would be so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think. None of that was true. Aside form having a spartan interior with rather rough cloth seats, it wasn’t any worse than an original Beetle or Samurai.
The ride was pretty smooth and it accelerated as well as one would expect a 1.1L carbureted vehicle to. The heat didn’t work, to which I quipped, “Standard equipment, eh?”. I thought I was funny, but the fact was that the prop house disconnected all sorts of things. From the heater to interior lights. Some was for safety, others David didn’t know why. Either way he was determined to get everything back to the way it should be.
All in all I was very impressed with the little Yugo’s and David’s desire to keep them on the road. He’s having fun, and thats the most important thing about being a car guy. If you’re not having fun with the vehicle you’re driving, whats the point in having it?
I’ll close with my favorite photo from the night. Yugo for Life!
