UPDATE – This 1988 Yugo GVL is listed for sale again after it was featured last August here on Barn Finds. The same seller has it posted here on craigslist in Palmdale, California and they’ve dropped the price from $3,800 down to $2,900. Will it sell this time? Thanks to Henry R. for the tip!
FROM 08/10/2024 – 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. 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.
In 1988 they were about 4K, but at least 50% more for other cars. A Dodge Omni was 6K. Omni obviously a better car (just not the flimsy door handles), but 50% better? People didn’t know then about the future war and lack of parts. I remember being in a salvage yard around 1990 and seeing at least a dozen in a row there at that time.
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.
And they were making Conestoga covered wagons then. BTW, Studebaker did make a deluxe station wagon in the early 50s, called “Conestoga”.
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!
Fun write-up Scotty.
If one buys a Hugo and they want to get home I guess Hugo Push.
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.
I saw one in a parking in Jacksonville about 15 years ago and someone had screwed a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower pull start assembly into the center of the hood! Got a good laugh.
You go, in a Yugo..maybe a hundred feet. Anyway there was a car dealer that used one of these as a display. It was modified to look just like a telephone complete with the hand-held over the roof, just like a GTE rotary dial! Probably the best use for the car. The dealership eventually closed but I wonder what they did with the giant phone, er car.
I knew a guy who delivered pizzas back in college at the place where I worked. He drove one of these. He literally had to zip tie and tape the passenger door shut so it would not pop open unexpectedly while he was driving
The passenger window in my 1976 Chevette fell down by itself without warning in the winter with a passenger sitting by it.
& the cat conv shield rusted & flew off 1 day, singeing the carpet underneath the pass seat – also with someone in that seat.
I do like all those toggle switches inside the Yugo.
Is it still available ?
Surely you jest
The ad is still up. So, Probably
If this is in as good of shape as it appears, it’s hard to believe someone hasn’t snatched this up. If not on the opposite coast, I sure would. Scoff all you like, these are a bit of automotive history, fun to drive and easy to fix. And they’d attract a crowd wherever you go.
This little car sure has generated a lot of comments. Another Rodney Dangerfield vehicle IMO. I have often thought that it would be neat to put together a collection of cars like these and lavish the love on them. Sorta the automotive equivalent of the land of misfit toys. This would complement my fantasy eclectic car collection. You know, the Airflows, Bathtub Nashes and any Edsel. Being retired means I have the time. Unfortunately, the other necessary essentials like money and space and at this point the ability; do not appear to be forthcoming. Thanks Scotty and everyone else for the entertaining commentary.
I would love a collection like that.
It would make a good crab trap.
Like Bruce Willis said in the movie Diehard 2 Its made for economy not speed!!
@Frog
Well, here’s the Yugo you were referring to. 😆
A couple of thoughts. I did chuckle while reading the Craigslist rule about NO ENGINE PHOTOS! Also, there is a very nice “air-conditioned hat” on the passenger seat. Does that go with it? Appears to be a desert location. Go for it, still available out west.
Car is located in Palmdale. Very much in the desert, south of Lancaster
It seems everyone has a Yugo story. I still would like to find a good running example and take it to a car show. I will bet all the haters a cheeseburger at McDonald’s that it would get more attention than a corvette parked next to it.