How many Yugo articles would you guess have been shown here on Barn Finds over the years? 20? 40? More? This 1988 Yugo GVL is the 51st, believe it or not, if I did my math correctly. And that’s a gamble given how low my math grades were in high school. I have to wonder if every single fun fact about these interesting cars has been uncovered yet. I say, no, so let’s see more Yugos! Thanks to the famous Tony P. for sending in this tip!
Having been parked since 2001 appears to have saved some wear and tear on this Zastava Koral. Excuse me, I mean on this Yugo GVL. This brings me to the first fun fact: these cars were known as the Zastava Koral at different points in their history. “You go, Zastava Koral!” doesn’t have quite the same ring as “You go, we go!”, does it? No, no it doesn’t. You can see the only side mirror, the one on the driver’s side, is looking sad, but maybe it’s just bent down a bit rather than broken (“Hello, O’Reilly? Yeah, I need a side mirror for a Zastava Koral.”)
If you thought the trivia fun was over in that last paragraph, you’re in for a couple of biggies here. Zastava was founded eight years before the U.S. Civil War (or, War of Northern Aggression, depending on which “side” you were on) started, or 1853 if you’re better at math than I was in high school. That’s amazing. There isn’t one car company based in the United States that was founded that early. Duryea kicked it off in 1893, four solid decades after Zastava was started. But, and this is a big but, Zastava started making cannons, not cars, so that’s another fun fact. This just keeps getting more confusing, doesn’t it? Typically Scotty G article. And we haven’t even talked about this nice-looking example yet!
Let’s do that now. Here’s the engine photo. No wait, the seller didn’t bother to pop the hood, most likely because of the 2024 Craigslist Law that insists that sellers not show potential buyers what the engine compartment looks like. Thanks, Obama. This one should have a Fiat-sourced 1.3-liter SOHC inline-four with 55 horsepower and 59 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through a four-speed manual to the front wheels and this one hasn’t been driven in 21 years but it runs when you pour gas in the carb. Hopefully, the next owner can get it buzzing again. It’s posted here on craigslist in Palmdale, California, and they’re asking $3,800. Here’s the original listing. Let’s hear those Zastava Koral stories!
Nope. There are better cars that are turn key drivers in better much better shape for not much more money. Better to keep looking.
Steve R
Hell, that was the problem with the Yugo when it was new.
Looks to be in excellent shape, but the pictures aren’t the best and there aren’t enough of them. I think it would be a blast to show up to a car show with one of these in really nice shape. You’d attract swarms of people.
You’d be more lonely than the Maytag repairman.
Studebaker Bros. Manufacturing company started in 1852.
Thanks, Brian, I knew someone would research the heck out of it.
Not running when parked.
I think a lot of Yugos were put in barns relatively young when parts dried up when the importer folded and Yugoslavia collapsed into war, pre-internet.
If you knew where to look, parts have always been, and still are, available for Yugos. This GVL looks exactly like my wife’s right down to the “knee chiller” air conditioning. Yes, this one has the port-installed A/C. With a little fiddling of the innards of the cabin section, it worked much better in my wife’s car.
Sadly, this one doesn’t have the color matched interior it once had. Seats and dash should match the tan of the door panels.
We sold hers after 14 years and 107K pretty much trouble-free miles at 34.52 MPG overall. It was still going strong, too!
Now, if Palmdale weren’t 2,452 miles away and I weren’t 89 y.o., …
Oh, I also had one of my own, sold after 12 years and just shy of 114K miles.
We bought them ’cause I’m a FIAT guy since 1958 and they were the only FIATs available during the period. After 17 of them and well over a million miles, I’m still happy as a clam with my 6′-2″ frame pleasantly ensconced behind the wheel of my current 5-speed.
For such rumored pieces of excrement, those two certainly treated us well!
Looks like a fairly good foundation for a renovation
Asking $3800?I guess that’s the punchline,because this car is a joke!Drop that second zero off the price and you’re heading the right way.I remember these when they were new,a joke even back then….
C Force, did you ever own one, rent one, drive one or even just ride in one? Or is all your negativity based on hearsay and smarta55 jokes?
Don’t bother to respond, the answer is obvious.
I had a friend buy one new from the dealership back in the day. It was such a lemon he asked the dealer to give him a refund and they reused. He than painted on the side of the car the name of the dealership with the name lemon next to it. After driving it around the dealership for a while he finally got his money back. The best thing someone could do with this one is make an outdoor grill out of it next to their Fierro out door grill,
“Remember that sh*tbox of a car we parked in the back of the barn 23 years ago when Petey went off to college? I hauled it out – let’s see if we can get someone to give us some real money for it”.
Scotty, I love this write-up, as usual. Great wit!
“No wait, the seller didn’t bother to pop the hood, most likely because of the 2024 Craigslist Law that insists that sellers not show potential buyers what the engine compartment looks like. Thanks, Obama.” Great wit??
Sorry, TomD, it was an outside-the-box thing; I was just trying to be goofy for a goofy car. Or “somewhat” goofy, now someone will comment about me calling a Yugo goofy.
Fun write-up Scotty.
If one buys a Hugo and they want to get home I guess Hugo Push.
The obama reference shows how the American public is finally understanding the harm the demonrats have imposed , do your research before it is completely erased online !
I saw one of these sell at an auction in NY for 400 dollars. I think it only had a few hundred miles on it.