The Yugo - Is it really the worst car ever made?

There are many cars that have become polarizing figures throughout the Automotive community, however nothing quite compares to the infamous Yugo. While driving the Yugo around town side by side with our friends Ford GT40, we had almost as many people ask us about the Yugo as they did the GT40! The amount of attention the Yugo received, even when placed next to such a historically significant and beautifully designed car as the Ford GT40 was astonishing! Many people believe that he Yugo was created by Malcolm Bricklin, however that is not the case. Malcolm was the man to bring the Yugo to the masses here in the United States, however the Yugo Factory was around long before Malcolm came knocking. Initially the Factory was called Crvena Zastava, or Red Flag, and the company started business as an arms manufacturer making machine guns for the Royal Yugoslavian Army. When Zastava made the switch from arms manufacturer to the Automotive world, they based their car off the Fiat 128 and produced it as an affordable driver to market to the masses. When Malcolm began selling the Yugo into the United States, he took the idea from Zastava to brand it as the cheapest car available on the market. In the beginning the Yugo was a hit with over 36,000 cars sold in the first year. However comedians began to make fun of the poor little Yugo, and buyers interest waned in an effort to not become the punchline of a comedians joke. There were also some quality control issues in the beginning, with a common complaint of trim pieces falling off the car. Malcolm took steps to improve the quality of the cars, so by 1988 many of the complaints buyers had with the Yugo had been rectified, however by that time the damage had already been done and sales plummeted. Today it is a rare sight in America to see a Yugo on the road. Many people would say that is because they all broke down, however that is not the case. In Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) there are still tens of thousands of Yugo's on the road as peoples daily drivers. Here in the US people did not complete the proper maintenance required of any vehicle to keep it running, so in many cases it was because of neglect that these cars disappeared off the streets. Our car featured in this video survived because it was parked in an owners collection in 1995 at only 67K miles, and has sat preserved ever since. With nothing more than the normal service work you would do to any car sitting for the last 27 years this Yugo was back on the streets and running like a top!

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[daleyoung]

My grandfather had 14 of them. He gave me one when my Ford broke down. I drove that car around the moon and back. I changed the belt and tires. It was quirky, but I never had a problem with it.

BTW.. I noticed that, in winter, when the heater was on, a red glow could be seen when looking into the duct at night. Heater worked well.

[CelestialLites]

Engineer I knew making 6 figures drove Yugo for years, 120 miles daily RT commute. He told me why depreciate expensive car @ 30k miles/year, his was was reliable and he could easily fix any mechanical issues.

[ThePopularVillage]

First of all, greetings from the Balkans. Today, these cars in Serbia cost from 500 euros to an incredible 3500 euros (a Jugo convertible costs 3.5k with an automatic transmission). I am especially worried about the myths about this vehicle that they break down often, but they work very well for the price you pay today. Registration is not expensive, so you will see a lot of these vehicles in the Balkans. Greetings from Serbia once again.

[HairpinMagazine]

I found your channel today and started binge watching your videos after lunch. As a proud Croatian I must say that I'm very plesently suprised with facts you presented in this video. You really did your homework. One glitch is Yugoslav Royal Army - it was People's Army, but this is just a simple mistake. Although Croatians and Serbs aren't exactly friends after the war that tore Yugoslavia apart, the Yugo and older Zastava cars (also made with Fiat license) were a big part of our everyday life back in the days. Yugo's made for export had better equipment, and there was also a converible with spoilers for a more sportier look. GV and GVL trims weren't available here, they were named by the horsepower its engine produced (Yugo 45, Yugo 55). Top of the range was Yugo America, I presume it was sold under GVL trim in the States. You make awesome videos, keep up the good work :-)

[jamesdellaneve]

BTW, I grew up in Buffalo in the 1960’s. There was a lot of drinking in the auto factories at the time. I knew one guy that had the job of fixing assembly lines. They never broke down. He went to a bar across the street from the factory. Every day for 20 years. The factory workers had the phone number to the bar just in case. The call never came. He did this until the factory closed.

[delmarrathbone]

Many years ago I was cleaning out my closet and selling a bunch of old Motor Trend, Car and Driver, etc. magazines on eBay. One of the magazines had a test of several super cars and a Yugo. In the eBay description I listed the contents of all the cars that were tested and mentioned that it also had a test of a Yugo but I couldn’t imagine that anyone would buy the magazine because of that. The auction winner replied to me later that he did in fact buy the magazine because of the Yugo test and that he was the president of the North American Yugo owners club (or something like that). Further proof that you can actually sell anything on eBay.

[ivankirola]

Thank you for not being biased like DougDeMuro. Greetings from Croatia.

[Genakrul_]

12:58, thats why I still drive one as daily even in 2023. :)

[SARCASM_IS_MY_FIRST_NAME]

Your channel should have at least 1 million subscribers!!!
You make great reviews!
Greetings from Brazil

[kev-the-windsurfer.]

What a great review!! A real hoot!! I can see how much fun you had making this one!!

[SkaarupsAuto]

That car wasnt build on a Fiat 128 but a 127. The ones that were bulid on 128 was Zastava 101 and the later name Yugo 511 :)
Yugo GV (45, 55 and so on) was build on the Fiat 127

[СтефанРанђић]

I still have one from 1987, a red one. Really He have never let me on the road. And my kids are loving it. If you look good after yugo (it was named yugo because of one wind in Montenegro) it will be a good transporation Tool.

[EdwardM]

I recommend finding a GVX or GV Plus to drive. They have the 1.3L and a 5 speed, they're much quicker. My 88 GVX, with only larger exhaust tubing (original rusted away, only rust on it) is about 12.5 seconds to 60. That isn't fast by modern standards but for the late 80s that wasn't bad for a commuter car. A base model VW Golf in 1988 was more expensive and slower, heck a Mercedes 190D or 300D would have been slower, considerably so depending on the engine.

I was really surprised by the car when I got it, sure the quality of the fit and finish is almost as bad as a Tesla (better panel gaps though!), but it's very easy to work on and the ride is actually much better than a lot of economy cars, especially considering the very short wheelbase. The engine is really a bit of fun, it was designed for it's peak power to be near the suggested 8000rpm redline (there is no tach unfortunately). It will leave tire stripes if you know what you're doing.

[briandouglas]

You reminded me of my favorite Speedvision commercial from their "How bad have you got it?" series of the middle 2000s. It's where a CHP officer pulls over a goofy looking guy in a Mazda GLC and asks the driver if he knew how fast he was going. The guy sheepishly guesses, "185... 190?"

"Sir, " the officer replies, "you were doing 55 in a 45 mile per hour zone. I'm going to need to see your license."
The driver nods contritely, hands his driver's license to the officer with a $20 dollar bill paper clipped to it and asks with a bit of swagger in his voice, "Uh, officer, are you sure I wasn't doing 190?"

[oneqvre]

The car that Zeus and John McClane stared with a gold bar in Die Hard with a Vengeance

[glennbeavers]

First new car I ever owned. Loved it. I didn’t maintain it well. One reason the parts were super high. First thing to go out was ignition switch. Instead of replacing I would wiggle the key like crazy till it turned. One day it stuck and burned up the starter. A new starter was over 200 in 1990 when a starter for other vehicles was about 30. So I parked uphill and pushed it off. For over a year. I never had no trouble out of my yugo. Till the clutch went out at 60.000. I’m bad on clutches anyway. Parts too high to fix. I was the butt of jokes. The dragnet movie didn’t help. When Dan ackroyd was reduced to drive one. First dependable car I ever had me and my wife went everywhere in this thing before the starter went out. Wish I could buy another new one and the parts be mow resonable

[busche]

Yugoslavia was in the cold war not in the eastern Block.
Ist was block free.
Nice video !

[boblabastida]

Colleen, I really enjoy your postings on FB and YT. You remind me of the down to earth everyday girl whose Dad was into cars but not the typical Camaro or Mustang but European Exotics & Ferraris. So that is what you grew up knowing. So keep it up! Your knowledge of all cars is very impressive. BTW, don't know if you are acquainted with Richard Cole from Santa Maria. He helped me numerous times servicing the Ferraris I've own. Another one of those down to earth guys!

[Nenad_Hebiv]

yugo was like kalasnikov... cheap and work on all roads with super cheap maintance DYI :)

[mikaelgranquist]

The Trabant from DDR (East Germany) is by far much worse than the Yugo. The Trabant had a 26 hp 2 cylinder two stroke air cooled engine, and body panels made by duroplast. Duroplast is made of recycled chemicals and surplus cotton from the Soviet Union. The fuel tank was sitting in the engine compartment above the engine, because there were no fuel pump. To measure the fuel level you used a dipstick! The Yugo is not the worse car in the world, but is a runner up!