Why did Yugo suddenly disappear?!?

If you’re my age, you might remember Yugoslavia as a sort-of Communist country that was a nice place to go on holiday. But you’ll definitely remember it for the cheap, tiny hatchback thrust upon an unsuspecting public – the Yugo. It went from an amazing new inexpensive car to the butt of many a joke in a short space of time, then suddenly disappeared from sale. What were the Yugo’s origins, why did its meteoric rise end so suddenly, and what happened to the company behind it?

A big thank you to Branko Prlja for the Macedonian subtitles!

Sources:

#bigcar

[brucefrank]

I bought my new Yugo in 1986, from Bryan Pontiac in Fayetteville North Carolina. I loved it. I drove to many US States in that car. Ultimately, after about 4 years it threw a rod and died. I was not disappointed one bit. My Yugo had a personalized license plate that read “YUGONE”. When it died it had over 275, 000 miles.

[scstinger]

I owned one in the 80’s for several years and that little car dramatically made my life a lot better those years! It was practically brand new, really reliable, great gas mileage and incredibly cheap to buy. I put a ton of miles on it and it never let me down. I know people make fun of them but I have nothing but good memories of my Yugo 🤙

[eneshalilovic]

I'm 48 and grew up in former Yugoslavia...While I was a kid, my father had ZASTAVA 101, my first car was a YUGO 45 and later my Dad bought a YUGO FLORIDA (very decent car at those times, actually), so this video brought back quite some memories 😁

[Andy-roml]

When I first started dating my wife in 1992, she owned a Yugo. She didn’t tell me for 6 months because she was too embarrassed. She purchased it in 1991 for $500.00 and sold it in 1994 for $750.00. We never had any issues with it.

[AndiKravljaca]

I remember being jealous of the US spec Yugos. The 'Yugo Amerika' model was unattainable and luxurious, and we were so proud to be exporting a car to America.

[StephiSensei]

It's so unfair that the YUGO was the butt of so many jokes, and here's another one! "When you get into a crash, You- Go!" Had one, been there, done that! Hope you like the pale gray plastic interior! On the other hand, I only paid $500 for it and I sold it again for the same money! Good resale value!

[DetroitYugo]

I actually daily drive my 1987 Yugo here in Detroit, in the good weather. It's in decent condition. I absolutely love it and don't think I'll ever sell it.

[tomanaue]

From a Serbian perspective, this is by far the best and most detailed story of Yugo on YouTube. Cheers and keep up the good work!

[CurseOfTheCursedEgg]

As a proud owner of a Yugo convertible, thank you for this vid, shows the true story of these lovely little vehicles. Mines a bit of a later model, specifically a prototype for a Yugo Ciao Convertible from 2003. but the point stands, over the last 20 years, first my mother and now me have gotten around 220k km out of the beauty with any engine issues yet to happen. Granted, I did do a full refurbishing and full maintenence on it a few years ago, she was getting there in age, but hey, most modern cars are made to run for 5-10 years, shes allowed to get a facelift after nearly
20!

[truthsmiles]

We grew up poor in a large apartment complex. Most of us took the bus, and a few families had old jalopies. Then one day in 1985 one of the other kids proudly announced that her mom had just bought a brand new car. Not only that, it was an import and one of the first sold in the US. We all dashed to the parking lot and gawked at the shiny new Yugo, fresh from the dealership.

[Alexx]

Yugo 55 was my first car. A lot of beautiful memories are attached to Yugo, so it will always be in my heart. Greetings from Slovenija, ex republic of Jugoslavija.

[danielboguse]

I still have my 1988 Yugo GVX that runs and drives great. No mechanical problems in years. It now has 66000 miles on the odometer and everything works well. Even the A/C.

[lazlow]

My first car was a Yugo, and no that wasn't that long ago. It was in 2017. It's still a very common car here in Serbia. Parts are cheap. I actually loved my Yugo. Since then I've had 5 cars, from Nissan, to Opels, and by far my Yugo had the fewer issue of the bunch. It's not a great car, but it's not a bad one either
.

[zoltanbatiz]

I was a proud owner of a “ticket me red” Yugo GV back in the late ‘80’s early ‘90’s. She was a fun little car, but as many who owned them know the materials that were used were not “automotive grade” in the least. Knowing this going in, I was especially careful with it. My brother and I even changed out it’s timing belt when due. Kept up on oil changes. Rolled the manual windows down when hot as the horrible dealer installed AC never worked. Rocked out to the tape eating cassette deck and dreamed of having cruise control whenever “racing” at 56 miles per hour on the freeway. The engine finally went kaput at 107, 000 miles. That’s right. I got over 100K miles on my little Yugo! Once I even got a speeding ticket in it! Granted I was going downhill where the cop was positioned to nab speeders. I remember the judge smiling at me in court when I fought the ticket on the grounds it was a freakin’ Yugo therefore I couldn’t have been “speeding”. Lost that of course. Fast forward a few years and I ended up selling it to a collector for $500 cash. Complete with its blown engine. He was excited to get it. Showed up with a flatbed and hauled it off, title in hand. Thanks for this video. Obviously it dredged up some memories!! 😀

[sebastijanglozinic]

I grew up in Croatia during the 80s. I remember the "Stojadin". You can actually still rarely spot one on the road here and there today.

[deadfishparty]

Cheap common cars are much more rememberable than rare exotics. Great doc once again.

[charliemansonUK]

I served in The Former Yugoslavia during the early 90's and these where the posh car, not quite the Yugoslavian built Golf but Zatstava cars where everywhere.
To be honest, they worked better in the Balkans than here, they worked great in the extreme cold and rough road conditions up to maybe 50mph, after that you would be safer driving through one of the many minefields!!
Peace
Charlie 🇬🇧

[elfpimp]

I worked at a Pontiac Dealership in Syracuse NY that sold Yugos. By the time I got there they weren't allowed to sell their leftover stock. That sucked as I wanted the GT. The running joke here was, "Yugo: You go as far as they go, then you walk." If maintained by their manual, yes, they would last a long time. I had one customer that was in his Yugo when he and his girlfriend were hit by a Semi truck. They got out relatively unscathed and attribute that to the car. They came to our dealership because he really wanted another. I felt bad we couldn't sell him one.

[jugostran]

Finally we get the full Yugo story! Thank you.
Greetings from Serbia!

[hipjones]

I currently own five of these in Ohio. One is still in great condition. This car is a great example of "prejudice prior to investigation".