“1985 Yugo: That car was so bad the country folded.”

If the country folded because of this car, how come it was produced until November of 2008? The Yugo is not to blame for the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The ultimate cause for the collapse of Yugoslavia was ultra-nationalism that was influenced by Western powers (Germany, United Kingdom, America) that fed the word “independence” to Croats, Bosnians, Albanians, etc. and even supplied them with weapons to do so. However, even with donated defunct weapons from East Germany/DDR, the Serbs still kicked all of their asses and then NATO, UN, KFOR, England and the United States, all fought against the Serbs. Maybe we suffered the most casualties and “lost” the war, but we out-smarted them in every way. It was practically the whole international political community vs. the Serbs and we still were close to winning. Small country, but strong people with big hearts.

The Yugo was not a bad car, only in the United States was it a bad car. It needed catalytic converters which weren’t designed for the car, which gave it some exhaust manifold problems. In European markets it didn’t need catalytic converters therefore this problem was basically non-existent.

Americans suck at driving manual transmissions, so they often grinded through the gears and put strain on the transmission. They probably didn’t depress the clutch enough when starting/stopping and created some clutch wear. No transmission faults reported in the United States…

The Yugo was also designed to be self-serviced, but Americans somehow managed to fuck the engine up too. They skipped oil changes, air filter replacements, and overall maintenance. The fluids in the engine system rotted and of course lead to other problems.

It’s extremely funny how the Yugo is so “shitty and unreliable” in the United States, but in Serbia it’s probably one of the most reliable cars you can buy (next to Golf MK2). Go look at a mechanic’s shop in Serbia, you will see newer “superior” cars in there all the time, but never a Yugo. Yugo’s do not require more maintenance than oil changes really, but once again, Americans managed to make them unreliable.

Also, the Yugo was not $500 brand new (assuming you are talking about USD). The price was around $3,500 for a brand new one, and was the cheapest car in the United States at the time. The car is not even that slow, when you compare it to similar hatchbacks/city cars like the Fiat 126p and Golf MK2.

I’ve driven three (3) Yugo’s and they are probably more fun to drive than a $1,000,000,000,000 Bugatti Veyron 200-litre hextuple-turbocharged quadruple-clutch semi-automatic dynamic four-wheel-drive system..

When you drive a Yugo, you can feel the car changing gears as you shift from 1-5 on the floor shifter. The low ride lets you feel the road conditions. The lack of ABS makes hard braking interesting. The short wheel base provides for fun on countryside roads under heavy acceleration. The car is designed for self-service, so you feel a bond with your car. In the spiritual sense, this car beats any modern-day hatchback or even sports/supercar. You create a bond with this car that cannot be replicated with all the electronics in cars these days.

The Yugo was a good car, those who say otherwise probably have never owned, driven, SEEN, or perhaps even RESEARCHED about one.

The samurai is good little 4×4 rig its like cj 0.5, its so small its like a quad with a roof. With a few upgrades like a lift, stronger axles and an Sbc it will go anywhere, literally anywhere, even in the bed of a truck.

I’d give the number 1, 2 and 3 spots to the original beetle, 2000′s new beetle and the 2012 beetle respectively. They are ugliest, least useful and stupidest cars ever made. I would rather ride a trike to work than drive a beetle, I am not joking.

And what about anything from India? Now those cars lower the bar so much the Yugo could barely pass in.

The samurai is also half-decent. It can go places that a four-wheeler still cant, and they are cheap and if one breaks…Buy a new one! Great idea! Simple, durable, and affordable.

The biggest issue with these cars were the brakes. The 1980 models (although there were some later GM front wheel drive cars that also had this issue to a lesser extent) had a tendency to spin out of control, even on dry pavement, during a panic stop.

My father bought his 1980 Chevy Citation with the 2.8 liter six, F-41 suspension option and five speed transmission from Page Motors in Milford, CT in July 1979. Ours had a gold metallic paint job, applied in such a manner that would make the most careless and simple minded Macco paint technician blush.

Of course that was minor when compared to the lawsuits related to this cars faulty brakes. We were lucky, ours just got dented up a bit from the car spinning out of control during a panic stop on the Connecticut Turnpike and bouncing off a beer truck. There have been reports of deaths and injuries due to faulty uneven application of the rear brakes.

GM went so far as to deny there was any issue at all and simply stated that my father, having owned rear wheel drive cars before this (mainly BMW 2002′s) just needed to better familiarize himself with the handling characteristics of front wheel drive.

Of all the 1980 X-cars that were affected, most reported cases showed up in the 5-speed cars. My first car in High School was a rusty 1980 Buick Skylark (because it was cheap). Mine was automatic with the 2.5 liter engine and despite reports of this problem not existing in the automatic cars, it was definitely there, but to a lesser extent. I know from experience that a panic stop at highway speeds could send this car into a spin.