Die hard
Zaid claims he drove over 120. I don’t believe him. Except maybe downhill. But even then, you have to brake again. And although I think Zaid is capable of a lot, even he doesn’t have the balls. I struggle up a small hill at just under 70. Well, I don’t want to push the Yugo too hard. Alexander, the owner of the vehicle (and also the trademark rights), is sitting next to me, but it wouldn’t go much faster anyway. 120, never. The 0.9-litre four-cylinder engine with its 45 hp is a rather sluggish little thing. At least as far as revving and smooth running are concerned – it’s not known for its longevity. But it was always easy to repair, the most important tool being a rubber mallet.
Crvena Zastava, red flag, was founded in Kragujevac in 1953. At the end of the 1950s, the Yugoslavs began manufacturing the Fiat 600 under licence, known as the Zastava 750. That went quite well, other Fiats were copied – and in the mid-1970s, the lads got a bit cocky and wanted to design their own car. Of course, the basis was again a Fiat, this time the 127 introduced in 1971, but the wheelbase was shortened from 2.23 to 2.15 metres – and a unique design was created. Although ‘design’ is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, as a few edges were riveted together and that was it. The aforementioned 45 hp engine provided the propulsion. The Zastava Yugo 45 was first shown at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1980, and production began in Kragujevac in 1981, with up to 200,000 units manufactured per year. On 9 April 1999, the Americans bombed the factory, after which nothing was the same again, even though production somehow continued until 2008. A total of 774,941 units were produced.
Over the years, the power output grew to 55, then 60, and finally even 65 hp (but this was with a 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine, which was also available with digitally controlled single-point intake manifold injection). There was also an ingenious convertible, a design masterpiece created with a chainsaw – when open, the vehicle was probably more airtight than with the top up. At some point, the Zastava brand name was dropped, and the cars were renamed Koral. From 1986 onwards, they were exported to the USA. On the one hand, this was a blessing, as Zastava needed every dinar it could get, but on the other hand, it was responsible for the Yugo quickly gaining a reputation as the ‘worst car ever made’ (New York Times). It made numerous appearances in films, including Dragnet (1987) with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks, Die Hard (1995) with Bruce Willis, Bowfinger ( 1999, with Steve Martin, Cars 2; Bette Midler dies in a Yugo in ‘Mona’s Case’ (2000). In 2010, Jason Vuic wrote a book with the unambiguous title: ‘The Yugo: Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History’.
But actually, the Yugo doesn’t deserve its bad reputation. It was officially imported to Germany in 1990 and advertised with the slogan: ‘No one needs more car than this.’ Which is true, four (or in extreme emergencies even five) people can be transported from A to probably B with very little luggage. It’s not comfortable or even convenient, nor is it quiet, but it is cheap: in the USA, the Yugo was sold for $3,990, and in Germany it cost less than DM 10,000, which is about two-thirds of the price of the cheapest VW Polo. Admittedly, the workmanship was a real problem, with gaps between the panels, and the Yugos were also very susceptible to rust. You get the feeling that even the abundant hard plastic used in the Yugo could rust. And the thin seat cushions too. Also nice: the smell.
We finally reached the summit. The turning circle is surprisingly large for such a small vehicle, and of course there is no power steering or other electronic gadgets – but that means there’s nothing to break down either. Logically, going downhill is faster than going uphill, but the brakes seem so unreliable that you need to apply a lot of pressure. A lot. Hello, brakes, uh… it turned out fine in the end, but I was pretty annoyed. So we roll along very leisurely and peacefully, the little engine chugging away, the suspension softly tuned but still providing very direct feedback on the road conditions to the occupants. This is also a form of safety equipment that is otherwise not really available: you definitely stay awake.
Like so many things in life, it’s all relative: In the former Yugoslavian countries, the Yugo is more loved today than it was when it was first available to buy. It is a hero, it was the first car for many Yugoslavians – and it is a symbol of how you can achieve something even under difficult circumstances. Of course, you can still smile a little at the little car, but it is also likeable, reduced to the essentials. Which would do us all good in general. 120? Never, not even in your dreams.
We drove this Yugo as part of a CarDesignEvent event. We have more exciting vehicles in our archive.
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