There are times I start to write a post when I know folks are going to get fired up about it–whether it’s suitable for posting here or not! This is one of those times, but bear with me, because this sliced up car has an interesting story behind it. What you see here is available for auction here on eBay with an appropriately low starting bid of $300 without a reserve. Many thanks to Barn Finds reader Craig B. for sending us this…interesting find.
Apparently when this Yugo was almost new (it currently is showing 61 miles), it was prepared to be used to test the collapsable steering column (the test did not take place, and the column is intact). Why exactly that meant you had to cut through the floor and A pillars, I don’t know, although it’s possible that those were necessary for the other test that did take place, the side impact beam test. All we know is this: the car has a salvage title, 61 original miles and has supposedly been stored inside since that test took place.
There are obviously a lot of questions left unanswered, such as why in the heck would someone save this in the first place? Although given the demand (seriously) for Yugo parts now, I’ll bet this would be a good buy for someone trying to maintain one.
Think about it–with a Yugo always intended as cheap transportation, I know some enthusiasts (yes, they exist) would jump at the chance to get a drive train with only 61 miles on it at the opening bid price! And no, I’m not at all suggesting that someone restore this car in any way shape or form. But…just in my local searching I found two used Yugo engines for $400 and $500, so I think you could certainly get your money back out even if you didn’t want to rebuild another Yugo. Ok, now you can start with the jokes and the complaints! You go and do just that!
The Yugo wasn’t a bad car, not the best, but cars are test crashed ( or cut apart for training) all the time, and we just happen to have this Yugo sitting here, going to get crushed anyway, why not. This will probably make most classic car fans wretch last night’s fish fry, but look what they did to a nice ’59 Chevy Bel Air. ( who cares about the Malibu) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g
Howard A:
Ouch! I’m retching alright, but it’s last nights hot dish not the fish fry (that’s on Sundays during lent). It’s due to your “Yugo wasn’t a bad car” comment.
My father and I used to go to “church” on Sundays to the local car dealers when they were closed and look at cars without salesmen hounding us. I distinctly remember the Yugo’s. Windows that fit so poorly at the roof line that I could put my fingers inside the car. How they kept rain out is beyond me and good luck at a car wash. The plastic bumper covers could be pulled right off, in pieces, with 2 hands in the cold Minnesota weather.
They lasted from 1985 – 1992 with a total of 140,000 units sold in the USA because they were junk, plain and simple.
Howard, if you were trying to reel people in, you got me.
Set the hook!
A Yugo taught me it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow. Cost me $250 in 2005, gave 10K depenendable miles before succumbing to NE body rot. High compression, solid tappet Fiat motor routinely revved over 7k without missing a beat. You can’t convince me the market wouldn’t love a fun to drive, easy to work on, fuel efficient car for $12k today. There’s just no profit margin for car makers to justify producing them.
Never has so much been written about so little!
Bought an ’87 Yugo in 2005 for $250. A friend and I drove it for about 10k miles before it succumbed to New England body rot. Tail of the Dragon and Blue Ridge Parkway, some my most enjoyable driving was was done in that car… and I’ve driven some nice cars. With the Yugo, Ilearned it’s much more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. That Fiat motor regularly revved over 7k, without missing a beat. Lightweight, flickable in and out if the corners. Easy to work on with basic handtools. To categorically dismiss an inexpensive and fun car is to miss out on the simple pleasures in life.
(Sorry for the double post. This one submitted through Facebook, didn’t show up right away, and I thought it got lost in Zuckerburg’s intertubes.)
I see new 2017 Nissan Versas for $9700 after incentives and negotiation. So there is (very good) options “under” $12000 these days. These cars are $12,000 or less “asking”.
I thought the Yugo was at least a distinctive looking little car in an Eastern Block sort of way. It was cute.
I always think of the new metallic blue one my neighbor had in 1987. Over the course of only 1 year I recall seeing door handles just gone, they came off in someone’s hand so fast.
I sat in one at a dealer and recall the seat belts held by this tiny loop on the floor, and I could see out the top of the door through a weather seal. The upholstery was not velour, but more like “towel”. The plastic on the dash was like something that might help secure new toys in a box. The vent controls had no real indication what they actually did. The shifter was stuff as a brick to move through gears. I least the rear seat folded down and I guess the sticky vinyl of a new Hyundai Excel might “feel” slightly less luxurious.
My mom needed an affordable car. I am glad she bought a 2 year old Ford EXP Sport Coupe for just over $6000 instead of dropping $4000 on these very poorly built cars.
As cute as they were.
In 1992 they were selling new ones for like a hair over $2000, to clear them out. The “sporty” GVX was under $3000. That might have been worth considering. Not bad for $2000 range. But $4-5000? Bad idea.
I’m not sure what “flickable in and out if the corners” means but you are a better man than I for admitting ownership of a Yugo……and I fessed up to owning a Pacer !
Well in my own experience with small econo boxes of the time I classed the Yugo with my sisters Ford Fiesta, a go cart with a car body attached. Good all around gas mileage around town but passing a 18 wheeler on the interstate at 70 mph if you could get them to go that fast scared the heck out me as a passenger. JMHO no criticism to owners of said vehicles.
Sorry!! Just Have to Add:
What do you call a non-running Yugo: A “Nogo”, “Can’t Go”, “Won’t Go”
What do you call a Yugo with 4 passengers: A “Wego” “Lets Go”
My apologies to all the Yugo owners and lovers out there!!
A desirable option for the Yugo was a rear window defroster. It would keep your hands warm as you pushed the car!
Good ol’ Click and Clack joke!
These were of course junk, but if I had a collection of oddball vehicles I would want to add this one just for the story. Maybe a “Barn Finds” museum along interstate 65 – showing cars as found in the barn, and the identical car completely restored. OK, done dreaming.
Pretty sure they have to be crushed after testing, and it’s illegal to sell them or even parts from them.
@Bingo- Never seen a Yugo at a car wash. Why would you pay $11.99 to wash a $5.00 car?
Damn funny one!
The 110 mph speedo is optimistic.
I hit (indicated) triple digits on the PA Turnpike. Unfortunately, this was before smartphones and ubiquitous access to GPS for confirmation.
The odometer does not count.
I guess if I was weird enough to have a Yugo in my garage I’d be weird enough to want this one for parts. I see the point…
Crappy car or not…here it is 30 years later and we’re still talking about a Yugo!
I would never want one as a ‘daily driver’–but I would like one as a poor man’s modern version of a “King Midget” “Henry J” or (my family’s first car:) “Crosley”. The few remaining dilapidated Yugos will continue to go away, because Who Cares–right? In a few years, someone with this all welded up, and put back together* with appropriate parts, would have many opportunities to recount an interesting chapter in automotive history.
(*NOT ‘restored’; just stabilized. I agree that a restoration would probably just not be worth it.)
Build quality and blown head gaskets by 60K. Good source for parts though.
Why did Yugo’s have heated rear windows? To keep your hands warm when pushing it.
An engineer friend who had Jaguars and a Ferrari bought a Yugo for cheap. It was the only waxed Yugo I ever saw.
Why do Yugo’s have heated rear windows?
To keep your hands warm while push starting it.
A easy way to the double the value of a Yugo, is to fill the tank.
@Tom Bode- that is more true than you think. In the mid eighties I was selling cars at a large Ford dealership. Mustang GTs and 5.0 Mustangs were hot sellers. Whenever a kid in a Yugo/Lada or Skoda came in dreaming of buying a Mustang, the used car manager would stick his head in their window, look at the gas gauge and ask them how full the tank was before he gave an appraisal!
A guy walks into an auto parts store and the clerk asks “Can I help you”?
“Yeah”, says the customer, “Can you give me a gas cap for a Yugo”?
The clerk thinks a second and replies “Sure, that sounds like a fair trade”.
Two words: Stretch Limo.
Now, that would be hilarious! The longer the better.
I used to be a service manager at a car dealership that sold several brands of new cars. It had formally been a Yugo dealership. The owner of the dealership kept a convertible stored in a storage unit next to the dealership. Once a year I was tasked with having the battery charged, starting the car, driving around the block 2 times and having the oil changed. (don’t ask me, I just worked there) Opening the door and sitting in the car. I looked it over (my first time in a Yugo and they had already stopped importing them for a couple of years by then) and decided to roll the window down so that I could easily push it out into the sunlight and steer at the same time. The moment that I started to crank down the window. The handle broke off in my hand. I was not impressed by this car with 6 miles on it! The only person or company that made a profit or smart decision concerning this car was Fiat. No matter what the price. They made a huge profit selling their worn out 128 dies and excess spare parts to Yugo.
HAHAHAHA the same thing happened to me in my cousins pos yugo. Don’t forget the rubbe band driven trans.
If people would have just realized the Yugo was a CITY car..not meant to cruise 70mph for hours on the interstates….
I recall walking through a junk yard south of Eau Claire, Wisconsin in the late 80s, there were at least a dozen of these in a row already junked out. The bodys looked great, many even shined. I had never even seen a Yugo in person at that time so I went over to look closer. Opened a door and the thinness of it was shocking, just a tin can on wheels.
I always attend the Columbus, OH Arthritis Foundation classic car show in July every summer. It is an amazing event, and the variety and quality (and sheer number) of the cars is always amazing. Many clubs bring cars in large numbers, and it is a great way to spend a summer weekend in Columbus.
Last year I brought my 1975 BMW 2002, and was directed to an area where the BMW marque cars were parked. I nestled the old ’02 next to a couple of old BMWs. Right next to the BMW area was a Yugo area. The Yugo guys had probably 10 cars at that show, including a convertible. I was shocked at the number and condition of the cars, and the age of the guys who brought those cars (60+). Our BMW area had a paltry 5 cars! Hell, there were more Yugos than XKEs if that makes any sense.
Many years back, while attending the annual new car show at McCormick Place in Chicago, I saw a ragtop Yugo. Spinning on a turntable. It’s refreshing to know that others saw them too. Not sure if Yugo built them, or a conversion shop lopped the metal tops off. I’d guess one winter in Cook County would have the doors pinched permanently in their openings.
All these posts and no one has ruminated on the origins of the cars name………………..You Go for help this time…..No You Go…..
All joking aside, if you collected Yugos, and I’m sure somebody does, $300.00 for a parts car with 60 miles on it would be a hella’ve good deal. Think about it, new drive train, suspension, & non rusted sheet metal.
If I was building an old Yugo, I’d be doing cart wheels to get this one….
1989. Lived in Marion County, Florida. A dealer had a “buy one, get one free” deal on Yugos. Lot was full. Lot was still full with same cars weeks later.
A Lincoln Mercury dealer in Baltimore was giving away a Yugo with each big Merc or Lincoln sold.
Ended at $300 with one bid! Was it one of you Yugo owners?
Hello,
I have 3 Yugo Cabrio :)
One is TURBO :)
I like this cars :)
I have one Yugo Florida – this car is like Hyundai or Citroen ZX from Europe.
Best Regards
This is the barn finds yugo that was cut in half. It has found its way up to Canada in its now fully restored condition
It also still has 61 miles on it
Here is the side view