Leno, Jeff Dunham agree Yugo is “not that bad,” but is it any good?
The most recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage could be boiled down to one phrase: ”It’s not that bad”—which, when describing the much-maligned, low-priced 1980s Yugo, might actually be a compliment.
“Production problems, quality problems, safety issues—and they all break down,” comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham says, listing the economy car’s drawbacks. “But when it’s running the way it’s supposed to, I will defend this thing and say it’s not that bad.
“This would have been a car that my dad probably would have purchased, because his idea of a vehicle was to just get from Point A to Point B, and that’s all that mattered. I think 4000 bucks (the price of the earliest base-model Yugos available in the U.S.), he would have walked in, handed them cash for one of these things, and driven away happy.”
Marketed in the United States by Malcolm Bricklin from 1985–92, the Yugoslavian-built Yugo was essentially a disposable car, which is why they’re no longer prevalent in the U.S.
“Its reputation precedes it,” Leno says when introducing Dunham and his almost-all-original 1988 Yugo GVS to the show. “(But) I have to admit, it’s one of the nicest ones I’ve ever seen. It’s probably one of the few left.”
“Because who would keep a $4000 car?” Dunham says, as Leno points in his direction.
“It wasn’t a terrible car,” Leno admits, despite the Yugo’s reputation as the worst car sold in America.
“Have you ever driven one?” Dunham asks.
“I might have,” Leno replies. “It’s not like ‘Oh, boy, remember that day when we took the Yugo out? We went up to Laguna Seca.’ It’s the kind of car … when somebody offers you a ride, you say, ‘Well, alright.’”
Which begs the question, why would Dunham own one? “I love cars that start conversations,” he says. “You put this in a car show next to a car that’s two million bucks, and people are going to gather around this one.”
Dunham’s front-wheel drive Yugo is powered by a 1.1-liter four-cylinder engine that generates 55 horsepower and is mated to a four-speed transmission. The spare tire is nestled up front between the engine and the driver, which Dunham says Yugo actually promoted as a safety feature.
Leno guesses that the car weighs 2300 pounds, but in fact it is almost 450 pounds lighter than that. “It’s like a motorcycle,” Dunham says. “You know if you get in an accident you’re probably dead.”
Dunham explains that 142,000 Yugos were sold in the U.S. and 800,000 worldwide, yet you rarely see one anymore because “nobody’s going to do preventive maintenance on a $4000 car … Does a real car person buy this car?” The answer is no.
In that vein, Dunham points out, “The ad campaign for this was pretty funny. The ads said, ‘Everybody needs a Yugo sometime.’ What does that mean? It means that at some point in your life you’re poor, and you need to settle for crap.”
Opening the trunk, Dunham “surprisingly” discovers a ventriloquist dummy and brings it to life so that he can tell a few jokes. The best one: “Hey, Jay, you know what’s included with every Yugo owners’ manual? A bus schedule!”
Before taking the car out for a drive in the Los Angeles area, Leno asks Dunham what GVS stands for. “Great Vehicle … Sorta,” he answers.
The Yugo jokes continue on the road, even when Dunham tries to be serious. After a couple of women recognize the car (we’re not sure if they recognize Leno and Dunham), Dunham once again praises the Yugo’s unusual celebrity status.
“You show up someplace driving something like this,” he says, “and you’re approachable.”
To which Leno replies, “Actually, people try to avoid you.”
Joking aside, the two agree that Dunham’s Yugo is adequate transportation, with decent pep and a smoother-than-expected gearbox—especially for its original $4000 price tag, which would be less than $11,000 today. But humor is how these two make a living, so …
“Did you buy this because of the Yugo jokes?” Leno asks.
“No, the Yugo jokes came with the car.”
***
Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.
Fun fact, Yugos used the Aurelio Lampredi-designed SOHC Fiat engine that was also used in 128s and X1/9s. The Yugo version only displaced 1.1 liters, while the Fiat variants ranged from 1.3-1.5 liters for about 60-75 hp depending on spec. They are fun, enthusiastic engines that with the three Cs (compression, carbs, cams) can approach 100 hp. In X1/9 1300 guise, they happily rev to over 7,000 rpm and sound wonderful doing it.
Lampredi also designed the four-cylinder Ferrari Mondial/Monza engines before his time at Fiat, along with Fiat’s famous belt-drive twin-cam engine, which went on to be the winningest engine in World Rally Championship racing, powering the Abarth 124 Rally, Abarth 131 Rally, Lancia 037, Delta Integrale and S4.
When I was going to trade school, one of the instructors was snatching these things up whenever he could and drove them as his primary transportation. His general philosophy is that if one died, he moved on to the next one, but they were not dying at the rate he expected.
The only thing the Yugo has contributed to car culture is to be the only car driven by the whole town in the very funny movie Drowning Mona . I took a 2 year old Yugo with 40K on the clock that was selling for 1K and all I thought about was how someone could have kept this gutless , ill handling , bad braking , uncomfortable cheap interior junk box for that many miles .
You would be surprised at some of the “tech” in these cars. I travel around the world and find these crap boxs still running. One odd thing i found looking at one in a junk yard was they use fiber optic cables to light up all the dash and switches from a single bulb.
“Why does the Yugo have a rear window defroster?”
“To keep your hands warm as you push it.”
Having done work on Yugo cars and also having many miles in Fiat they are similar but!
Take a Fiat and make it cheaper. That is a Yugo. They took the design and made it cheaper so engine issues were a problem. oil leaks bad.
Fiats rusted if they were just down wind from a ocean breeze. Yugo cars were rusting in just high humidity.
The facts is no one worked on fixing these as they cost more to repair vs their worth.
On the other hand a better car was the Lada. Also based on a Fiat the Soviet car was a bit more durable and rugged. Not exactly a car of comfort they were a bit better built. Still not to Fiat standards.
They were imported to Canada and being in Ohio we had a few in the area people brought them into the country. At least they were built for poor Russian roads.
I dunno, I kept a Fiat by the Pacific Ocean for years without it rusting. I think a lot of the ribbing Fiats get is a result of negligent owners or simple ignorance.
Ah the Lada. I had an uncle with one. He got pulled over one morning because of the gaping rust holes in the doors and body. It was deemed unsafe until they were fixed. He pop riveted some house aluminum siding onto it , painted it pea green (with a roller no less) and happily drove it to get the safety done. It passed, and he drove that thing for many years until it folded itself in have after the underbody dissolved.
Great putt putt!
Yep! More than 1 Pa car had pop riveted patches attached to pass state inspection.
I’m pretty sure Ladas were built out of recycled T-62 tank armor.
Ex-wife, (before we married), bought the exact twin to this car new in the summer of ‘88. In the five years, 40,000 miles of ownership, I replaced the clutch/pressure plate, catalytic converter plugged up leaving me stranded, and it seemed to eat front brake calipers and pads, replacing them more than once. And that’s just the repairs I remember from 30 something years ago.
I hated that thing with a passion. Sold it for $250 to a large contractor who bought them, removed the rear lift gate and seats, and used them for utility runabouts on his job sites.
All I remember besides falling apart in Chicago was the person I knew who had one and was an “expert” at all things automotive to the point he often got his facts wrong. He bought a Yugo which seemed in line with that personality.
Europe’s version of the Pinto or Vaga. Back in the day 1988-89 a coworker bought 2 Yugos and the joke was that “one to drive and one to work on “ . After about one and half ~two years it broke down and she drove the other one and used the broken one for parts! Smart move on her part. Zastava made junk cars but high quality AK-47’s
A man walks into a parts store and says “I’d like a gas cap for my Yugo.” The parts guy says “That sounds like a fair trade to me!”
A local dealer was selling out of its inventory for half price after the brands failure. That meant a brand new winter rat for 2000.00. Intrigued and cheap, I took one for a test ride. Drivability was just lacking to the point that I bought a used VW Rabbit for 3200.00 elsewhere.
Know what a Yugo station wagon is called? A Wego. You guys are making me feel bad. I bought one for cheap years ago because it needed a clutch. Installed the clutch in my garage. There was even a clutch kit for it. Drove that car across PA. twice. Moved and took it with me to IL. Drove it to work everyday where it got no respect. Someone always threw a dent into it or broke the mirror off. Even used it one time to tow my friends Sentra to his house. Now there’s a site. A Yugo towing a Sentra. At the time it was a Yugo with a 4 cylinder or a Metro with a 3 cylinder. At least the Yugo had a full size spare.
Forgot to add that I still have that Yugo if anyone is interested. Because there are so few it might become a collector car. Look at the Isetta or the Borgward. Hey Jay, I got a three wheeled truck that you might be interested in and no it is not from overseas. Made right here in Frackville PA. Or at least it was in 1963.
A friend purchased a used diesel Mercedes shortly after graduating from dental school because he “always wanted a Mercedes.” It was not in good mechanical shape and extremely sluggish, especially on hills. At one point he told me he had just experienced the ultimate insult – a Yugo passed him coming up a very steep hill. He philosophized that it should be illegal for a car with a lower sticker price to pass.
The Yugo is a Yugoslavian Fiat. Fiat was contracted to help set up several then Soviet bloc factories in the 50s, Zastava started assembling Fiats in 1955. So there is a long history with Fiat.
I recently ran across one at a home I was doing some work in. The fellow’s daughter won it in some kind of contest. She drove it a few years, then parked it when she got another car (obviously better!). It just sat in the back of his garage since then! this was a couple years ago and he was having difficulty finding small things, like brake parts. I remembered it was Fiat based and advised him to check Fiat parts sources. That’s how he found new rear brake components, that had rusted up while the car was parked so long — something any car might have done.