A lot of folks would normally get excited over a car that saw sales of maybe 74 copies. But this one is a Yugo, one of the most maligned automobiles of the 1980s. They were notorious for their poor build quality, and yet 140,000 of them were imported (when was the last time you saw one?). This example is the rare convertible model, only offered in 1990, and while it runs, it’s going to need a lot of work. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, this drop-top project is available here on eBay for $3,400 (Buy It Now or Make Offer).
The Yugo was the Rodney Dangerfield of cars – it got no respect. It was a Fiat-based automobile that famed entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin decided to import from Yugoslavia to the U.S. They first appeared in 1984 and disappeared in 1991 and were perhaps the cheapest new car you could buy at the time at under $4,000. But most reports indicate that you got your money’s worth as the cars were known to fall apart leaving the dealer showroom.
An estimated 500 copies of the GVC Cabrio were produced in 1990, with fewer than 100 coming to America (the seller says 74 is the magic number). The seller’s red and grey edition would be one of them and it still runs, although the brakes are about to go. At 41,000 miles, it may have covered more territory than most of its fellow Yugos. The car comes with a clean title, a clear CarFax, and rusted floorboards, so a lot of attention will be needed.
As the car resides in a different state than the seller, it probably was purchased as a flipper. We’re told the prior owner used it as a daily driver and put 3,000 miles on it without any issues. For most cars, that would be no big deal, but the reputation of these autos suggests that’s almost a milestone. If any Yugo is worth a restoration it would have to be the 1990 GVC Cabrio. BTW, here’s one we saw a couple of years ago that was like new with less than 400 miles. Wonder where it is today?
Why?
Fantastic car!!!
You have a great sense of humor!
Here we go again… Another absolute pile of whatever. Yet some “auto enthusiast” (aka fool) is going to pay way too much. Like anything after say 73ish. They are not hotrods, muscle cars or collectable. They were basic disposable cheap transportation . Yet sadly it’s a better deal than paying over 3k for a Chevelle that needs full nut and bolt restoration … When are people going to get back to reality?
It’s a major part of automotive history, like Chevelles. It’s fun to drive, easy to work on, it’s cute, and you’ll have a lot of fun dispelling all the false Yugo stories from people with preordained notions about them from the checkout girl’s brother-in-law’s uncle.
Why is easy. During a very ugly divorce. I walked out with full custody of my 3yo son. And no wheels. I found a Yugo for $1,500. Had 18 000 miles. A 5 speed and AC which all worked. We put 21,000 miles and did nothing to it. When he started racing go karts we would lift the hatch back and put 3/4 of it inside. Quarter midgets also. Traveled alot of the US doing this. How soon we forget great things in our lives.
I remember the last year of production we got optional Bosch throttle body fuel injection and I totally forgot about the convertible model. There was a Yugo dealer in York PA that had a bunch on his sales lot after Yugo left America. I remember he was asking full retail and nobody was buying. Used to be along route 30 so you could see the. From the highway. I also agree to the previous comment. Why?
Actually was on East Market ST,..Markle auto sales.He also had one steup for SCCA racing…C sedan I think.A lot of Abarth parts to make it go fast.And another garage had one made into a pickup.
That Ford Dealer ship was in Red Lion Pa. just south of York Pa. Called Mac Jones Ford, i remember well as i worked there. There were a lot of jokes about the Yugo’s. I remember when the Tech’s Started cannibalizing new one’s when we couldn’t get parts to fix customer car’s. There were about ten New cars out back of the dealership maybe more missing motors , transmission’s and various other parts, it was laughable for sure, we were always pushing them things around. I will never forget that year it was 1986 witch was the year Space Shuttle Challenger blew up. i was in the showroom it was around lunch time watching the launch on Tv, very sad.
Know it well.Now Apple Ford.Bought my 1993 Tempo there in 1995.But Markle motors also had a few new Yugo’s on the lot.Late 80’s early 90’s.
There was a Lincoln-Mercury dealer in a suburb near me, that gave you a brand new Yugo for free. With each new Lincoln you bought.
When you finish the resto. take it to the beach and are swarmed by the ladies, you’ll know why….
Looks pretty rough for 41k miles
And herein lies proof on an old adage oft said here-just because it’s rare doesn’t make it worth anything..
It was not Rare…with over 3/4 of a million cars built by Zastava!
Neither was my Panhard Tigre! LOL
“…[A]nd while it runs, it’s going to need a lot of work.” They all needed a lot of work – from day one. May it rust in peace.
Saw one for sale not too far from the town I used to live in a few years ago. The car was
located in Haines City and I
lived in Winter Haven. It was
featured here on BF and I ALMOST bought it. The only
thing that stopped me was the fact that here in Central
Florida, parts and service is
almost non-existent. You had
to go to the U pull it just to get plugs and plug wires to
keep one running. I said it
before and I’ll say it again,
run Forrest run! I’ll pass!
You serious, Clark?
That’s not even remotely true. The spark plugs were used on hundreds of models of cars (including common American cars/trucks). And plug wires are still available today, brand new, from multiple brands.
I’ll agree that many parts would be hard to source, but not common maintenance stuff.
Fiat parts fit most everything on Yugo’s…when I was in Yugoslavia in 1979 and again in 1980 The dealerships had service people from Milan on staff!
Just crush it already
One of the few cars that was a “project” right out of the factory.
Automobile hobby kit.
Great candidate to get a trophy at a Radwood show.
Yugo convertible = Wheredidthetopgo .
I last, and only, saw one of these in the spring of 1990 on display in a mall. Spring of my Senior year of college. Who knew at the time I was looking at one of 100?
I remember was with my best friend, and we both thought it was a cool little car, but both agreed we would never buy one due to their already cemented reputation for poor build quality. In a breath 1990 was yesterday and a lifetime ago.
This has got to be about the ugliest car ever.pile of junk when they were new and haven’t gotten any better with age.I’m laughing just looking at it.
Toured Yugoslavia in 79 and again in 1980….these cars were so very popular..many in taxi cab and rental use. Good reliable transportation and easy to work on … the best part is that they were Fiat based with parts a plentee!
Never saw a convertible though!
Uh, not even for $34. This is from experience back in the day.
My last Yugo, an ’88 GV, had a quarter-million miles on it. I miss it today.
That was so typical of the owners I talked with in Dubrovnik…they kept them forever! Of course they were not called Yugos…they were Zastavas
jules, interesting that you mention a Zastavas as few people know or have seen one. My cousin in Latimore, PA owns this one and I believe it’s currently on long term display at the Hershey Auto Museum.
I remember someone said this car was named Yugo because “you go cause I can’t yet” This should be gone just like Yugoslavia is now gone. A fool and his/her money will soon be parted on this one.
ahahahahahaha!
There is a guy near Pittsburgh that has 2 Yugo Convertibles. one is beautiful. 1 not so much. I have no Idea what model or year, but its way cooler to see one of these than one of the 3 gazillion 57 chevys at a car cruise.
Is this an entry in the “Lemons Race”?
Yugo (the marketing name in America)
The manufacturer was in Serbia, company known as Zastava, an automobile and arms factory with a history of over 100 years in business.
As I was there in 1979 and 1980, I recall plenty on the road.
They also marketed and built a Serbian Zastava that was almost a pure knockoff of the Fiat 600 (4 cylinder, rear engine) These were the most popular.
Zastava built over 3/4 of a million cars in Yugoslavia. Like most Communist countries there was a waiting list to buy one.
The eBay ad says $2900.00 or B.O. so maybe relisted? You’ll be the only one at Cars and coffee for sure. Yeah, I remember these and their reputations, but as a novelty, it could still be fun if the best offer isn’t too high. When you don’t have $20,000 for a rusted out Chevelle you look for other types of “head turners” Lol
Bless the person who restored this. It will be a labor of love and a contribution to automotive history. https://rememberroad.com/when/1981-1990/yugo-gv-and-gvc-yugo-he-gone/
It’s .74 of .74 left!
Reading these reviews, I have to wonder if they’re talking about the same car I owned and lost my investment on. I had bought a 1987 Yugo in 1989, private owner. Had about 20,000 miles on it, and I paid $1000 for it. Thought I got a steal, since it started and ran well and was great-handling.
It was simple to work on. Which was good because I worked on it a LOT. It was needy.
First order of business: An intermittant low-voltage situation. Periodically the engine would stall and all lights suddenly work dimly. Wipers as well…anything electric. There was one, ONLY one cure for that, and it was: Pull the battery cable and wait about five minutes. Reconnect, and it would run like nothing happened…until the next time, which could be minutes or days later.
It was apparently a defective relay, but I couldn’t find it with my limited electronics skills. I finally ran an eight-gauge wire from the hot terminal of the battery, through a fusible link (prevent fires) to a spare terminal on the fuse panel. Problem solved…I broke my arm patting myself on the back for that one.
The wipers, as set up, would park 1/4 up. I found out the wiper-motor crank didn’t have a notch to have it installed properly – I pulled it, repositioned it properly on the spline, and then, found out why. The plastic/nylon gears had a stripped section and the crank was moved to make sure the damaged area went through at the point of full-extension of the wipers – with minimal load.
I never saw that kind of damage on modern wipers, ever.
The gearshift was annoyingly vague, but I could live with it – since I learned to drive on a VW Beetle.
The ventilation box controls were sticky – not rusty that I could see, they just bound up. I stopped the hot air blowing through by putting a block of wood and a garbage bag over the grilled top of the air box. Eventually I found a Fiat 128 in a scrapyard, and took the airbox controls. They fit reasonably well on a Yugo – the box was identical.
The clutch burned out – on a cross-country trip, across UTAH, near the Bonneville salt flats. Started slipping, at highway speeds. I coaxed 300 more miles out of it, but with increasing slippage.
The new clutch was cheap at a dealer, but why did it NEED it? I have NEVER burned out a clutch before or since.
The end came on that same trip – with the new clutch in. The alternator belt popped off. Maybe the dealer’s repairs had something to do with that. But it came off at highway speeds, and tangled up with the timing belt, tearing it off. Yup, it’s an “Interference” engine.
I have fond memories of that Yugo, but I wouldn’t do it again. Were I to come across one of those engine-free parts-donor NOS Yugos, I wouldn’t scrap it – I’d put a Toyota engine in it, and run it for the conversational value. There was a lot to like on those cars – the styling and dimensions were practical, no-nonsense. They were comfortable, and as quiet as other small cars of the time.
They just suffered from what Fiats always suffer from.
Bringing the Zastava over to North America from Serbia, Yugoslavia and rebadging it as the Yugo was the brainchild of Malcom Bricklin….it was to be marketed as the lowest price car in the USA.
Yes that is the same guy who introduced the highly stylized Bricklin sports car in the 1970’s
Don’t forget about Malcolm’s first attack on the U.S. automobile market: The Subaru 360.
It was barely street legal due to lack of safety and no acceleration. He abandoned them when the U.S. made them illegal to drive on the street.
You can say that he left an indelible mark on the Auto industry – one of failure. He was never a car guy and just wanted to be a millionaire. Interesting story.
Did you ever drive a Bricklin ? Quite the design for it’s day!
I’m calling foul on “1 of 74” or 100. I used to see convertibles driving around back then also. Just a guess, but maybe it’s 1 of 2500.
I never saw one despite seeing thousands of Zastavas (Yugos) on my two trips to Yugoslavia.
I lived in South Florida where convertitbles were plentiful!
jules, here’s another view of the Zastavas
That model was the biggest seller on the streets of Belgrade, Split and Dubrovnik…also the cheapest. Seems like every city had a dealership back in 1979 and 1980. Another popular car there was the French Citroen 2 cv
Thanks for this rare car find in America Gary!
Yes. Where do you live now? I am also told that the tooling and equipment
You go for checkup from neck up if you go buying for more than scrap price HhhhaaAa honestly “this way to the great egress” 😂😆😂😆