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Even though the Yugo is considered a lemon by many people, particularly in the [[United States]], some Yugo owners find it rational to own the car due to overall buying and maintaining value. They claim that the criticism of the Yugo is just like the criticism of the [[Toyota Prius]]; even though many owners talk about how they experienced numerous problems with their Prius, it was actually due to the fact that they didn't know that hybrid vehicles needed to be cared for differently than regular non-hybrid vehicles, and never took the time to read through the operating manual or learn how to properly treat a hybrid vehicle. Some Yugo owners are saying similar things; they claim that the main reason why Yugos were considered lemons was neglect by careless owners (delayed oil changes, improper maintainance, delayed part replacement, etc.) because they say that they properly cared for their Yugos and they have dependably run. |
Even though the Yugo is considered a lemon by many people, particularly in the [[United States]], some Yugo owners find it rational to own the car due to overall buying and maintaining value. They claim that the criticism of the Yugo is just like the criticism of the [[Toyota Prius]]; even though many owners talk about how they experienced numerous problems with their Prius, it was actually due to the fact that they didn't know that hybrid vehicles needed to be cared for differently than regular non-hybrid vehicles, and never took the time to read through the operating manual or learn how to properly treat a hybrid vehicle. Some Yugo owners are saying similar things; they claim that the main reason why Yugos were considered lemons was neglect by careless owners (delayed oil changes, improper maintainance, delayed part replacement, etc.) because they say that they properly cared for their Yugos and they have dependably run. |
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Another emphasized pro for Yugo owners in ex-Yugoslavia is cheap spare parts and mechanics' labour due to the lack of a significant model redesign in years of Yugo's presence on the market, even though American Yugo owners can still |
Another emphasized pro for Yugo owners in ex-Yugoslavia is cheap spare parts and mechanics' labour due to the lack of a significant model redesign in years of Yugo's presence on the market, even though American Yugo owners can still find parts at Orion Motors [http://www.yugoparts.com] and they are very easy to repair, needing just minor repair skills to repair one. |
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==Trivia== |
==Trivia== |
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*The Yugo was voted [[Car Talk]]'s worst car of the millenium [http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/Worst-Cars/results5.html] |
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*A Yugo was blown completely off the [[Mackinac Bridge]] in [[Michigan]] by a strong wind. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Bridge] |
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*When it was first brought to America, the Yugo only cost $3,990 [[USD]]. |
*When it was first brought to America, the Yugo only cost $3,990 [[USD]]. |
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*When the Yugo first came out, many people placed orders before they ever saw one. {{ref|automotiveatrocities}} |
*When the Yugo first came out, many people placed orders before they ever saw one. {{ref|automotiveatrocities}} |
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Yugo | |
---|---|
1987 Yugo | |
Overview | |
Manufacturer | Zastava |
Production | 1985–1991 |
Body and chassis | |
Class | Compact car |
Body style | 3-door hatchback |
Platform | FF |
Powertrain | |
Transmission | 5-speed manual |
The Yugo is a subcompact automobile produced by Serbian manufacturer Zastava. The main factory is located in the city of Kragujevac in central Serbia.
History
See the main article at Zastava.
The company was founded as an arms manufacturer in 1853. By the late 1930s the company had expanded into automobile production supplying Ford designed trucks to the Yugoslavian Army. Vehicle production continued until 1941 when World War II reached Yugoslavia. Following the war Zastava was permitted to produce Jeeps under license from Willys-Overland and later Chrysler until production was halted in the early 1950s.
The first passenger models were produced in 1954 and were licensed productions of a variety of Fiat models. The first model designed by Zastava was a sedan called the Milletrecciento and was powered by a 1300 cc engine.
Zastava continued to produce vehicles for the Yugoslavian and Italian markets until exports were limited by sanctions imposed by the United Nations in the 1990s. In 1984, automobile entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin tested the U.S. market for Zastava vehicles, now branded as Yugo, in Verplanck, New York. As a result, in the summer of 1986, Yugo America began selling cars for $3990. The cars were popular at first due in part to their low price, but gained a reputation for being unsafe and unreliable. By the early 1990s Yugo America was in financial trouble and when combined with the instability in the region, Zastava was forced to stop exports to the United States.
Zastava was hard hit during the late 1990's due to United Nations sanctions imposed during the Yugoslavian civil war and production of the Yugo suffered as a result. In 1999, US military aircraft bombed the Zastava factory as part of the NATO peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. The attack targeted the military production site of the Zastava plant and as a result of it's close proximity, major damage was caused to the civil production site as well. The site was repaired by the factory workers in the years after the attack and production continues today on the same site.
Production has continued and today there are three models available in the former Yugoslavia. There was a short-lived attempt by Bricklin to resume imports to the United States in 2002 under the name Zastava Motor Works USA.
Current Models
Yugos are currently sold in Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, and Egypt. Current models include Koral, Koral IN, Koral IN L, Cabrio, Florida, Skala, and 101. In October 2005, an agreement with Fiat was reached for production of the Fiat Punto by Zastava for Eastern European markets, which will be known as the Zastava 10. The Koral IN L, with a fuel injected 1.1 L Peugeot engine, met the European Union safety standards in a test supervised by the German Technischer Überwachungsverein (Technical Monitoring Association). This may pave the way for export to E.U. countries.
Past Models
Yugo models have included the Yugo 45, 55, 60, 65, Koral, Ciao, Tempo, Cabrio, Florida, Sana, Miami, GV, GV Plus, GVX, and GVL. Yugos were based on the design of the Fiat 127 and Fiat 128 and were the product of cooperation between Zastava and Fiat. In order to keep prices down, Yugo engines were fitted with a carburetor in an era where most vehicles were using fuel injection. This was a major cause of its bad reputation in the U.S. Fuel injected models were introduced beginning with the GVX-EFI, which featured a 1300 cc engine designed by Porsche for Fiat. The fuel injection system was provided by BOSCH and had "Multipoint-Motronic Injection" with a three way catalytic converter and "Lambda" sensor. The engine emissions were 90% under the U.S. standards.
Response to criticism
Even though the Yugo is considered a lemon by many people, particularly in the United States, some Yugo owners find it rational to own the car due to overall buying and maintaining value. They claim that the criticism of the Yugo is just like the criticism of the Toyota Prius; even though many owners talk about how they experienced numerous problems with their Prius, it was actually due to the fact that they didn't know that hybrid vehicles needed to be cared for differently than regular non-hybrid vehicles, and never took the time to read through the operating manual or learn how to properly treat a hybrid vehicle. Some Yugo owners are saying similar things; they claim that the main reason why Yugos were considered lemons was neglect by careless owners (delayed oil changes, improper maintainance, delayed part replacement, etc.) because they say that they properly cared for their Yugos and they have dependably run.
Another emphasized pro for Yugo owners in ex-Yugoslavia is cheap spare parts and mechanics' labour due to the lack of a significant model redesign in years of Yugo's presence on the market, even though American Yugo owners can still find parts at Orion Motors [1] and they are very easy to repair, needing just minor repair skills to repair one.
Trivia
- When it was first brought to America, the Yugo only cost $3,990 USD.
- When the Yugo first came out, many people placed orders before they ever saw one. [2]
- The Yugo is widely looked at as a prime example of the old saying "You get what you pay for". [3]
The Yugo in popular culture
The Yugo's reputation as a lemon has survived in popular culture worldwide long after the cars were no longer sold in the United States:
Due to Yugo's bad reputation, many jokes have developed in both Yugoslavia and exporting countries. For example:
- Q: Why does the Yugo have a rear window defroster? A: To keep your hands warm while you are pushing it.
- Q: How can one double the value of his Yugo? A: By filling the Yugo's fuel tank.
- Q: What is the difference between Yugo and Yugo Sport? A: Yugo sport has a lighter.
- Q: What is the difference between Yugo Sport and Yugo Lux? A: Yugo Lux's lighter works.
Movies
- Dragnet - A 1987 movie with Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd. The Yugo in question was issued to the pair when they wrecked several other cars and the police department was reluctant to issue them anything more expensive.
- Drowning Mona - The film is set in Verplanck, New York, the town where the Yugo was test marketed in the U.S., and many characters drive a Yugo. As with Dragnet, the Yugos were provided by Zastava (although some of the cars are actually disguised Volkswagens).
- The Birdcage - Features a yellow Yugo Cabrio in Miami.
- Bowfinger - The main character produced a documentary called The Yugo Story.
- Die Hard: With a Vengeance
- The Crow - A 1994 movie; in it, a Yugo meets its demise in a collision on a rainy night with a muscle car.
- Savior
Music
- Paul Shanklin has a song, In A Yugo, which pokes fun at a liberal couple who buy a Yugo to save gas, only to end up being killed by an SUV.
Novels
- Catalyst
- Florida Roadkill
- Needful Things
- The Stand (uncut version)
Television
- Saturday Night Live: SNL debuted a spoof commercial in 1986 for an extremely cheap subcompact car called "Adobe," (a Renault Le Car in disguise) which according to the advertisement is literally made of clay and sells for only $179. The pitchman (played by Phil Hartman) prefaces the car's introduction by declaring, "These days, everyone's talking about the Hyundai, and the Yugo. Both nice cars, if you've got $3,000 or $4,000 to throw around."
- The Simpsons: Episode #9F07 (Mr. Plow) makes a reference to the Yugo. After totaling both family cars in a drunk driving incident, Homer Simpson makes his way to "Crazy Vaclav's Place of Automobiles" and test drives a subcompact car from a country that "no longer exists". Crazy Vlaclav goes on to tell Homer that the car "gets 400 hectares to a tank of kerosene." As Homer attempts to start the car Crazy Vraclav shouts for Homer to "Put it in 'H'!", which is a reference to the Cyrillic alphabet used in the Serbian written language. In Serbian the word for 'Neutral' is 'Neutralan', which is written "Неутралан" with an H. Another reference occurs in episode #EABF01 (The Great Louse Detective) which indicates that Homer's pink sedan may be a Yugo. After discovering that he cannot drive whilst reading a magazine and crashing his pink sedan, he summons a tow truck. He informs the mechanic that he wants his car fixed "with quality GM Parts". The mechanic informs Homer that his car was "made in Croatia" from "old Soviet tanks". Visual cues suggest his car may be a Zastava 1100, AKA 128 Skala, which was never sold in the U.S.
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?: At the beginning of every episode Drew Carey makes a joke explaining that the points are useless. In one episode, he said "The points are as useless as a fully loaded, top of the line, Yugo."
- Midas, a U.S. automotive repair chain, did a commercial featuring a guy shouting "woo-hoo" whilst performing crazy stunts in a Yugo. As the car is about to crash into a lake the commercial cuts to the shop and the spokesman says "Yugo, what are you going to do?"
Notes
^ Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate - Eric Peters, 2003
External links
- Zastava corporate site
- Zastava information site
- German Zastava Fan Club
- Yugo Redux, a March 2002 article from Forbes
- CNN Story on the bombing of the Zastava Factory
- Photgraphs of the Zastava Factory after the bombing
- Man behind the Yugo to lead new import wave in 2007, a January 2005 cover story from the Detroit News
- Recreation: Autos: Makes and Models: Yugo from the Open Directory Project website
- Yugo jokes