A “like new” 1988 Yugo that was apparently kept in a “garage and forgotten until now” is on sale near Washington.
The asking price is $9,000 for the rare vehicle. Yugos are no longer made.
“I am offering this car at 9k but I am open to offers as this is hard to put a price on....there is nothing like it available in the USA. Yugo only sold about 140,000 cars in the USA during the 8 years they were for sale,” the seller wrote on the website, adding that it’s a unique offer.
“If you missed it in [1988], don’t miss it again!” the person wrote.
Photos of the vehicle show the Yugoslav-made without a scratch on its bright red paint. The seller also offered photos of the interior and engine.
Yugo models were sold in the United States from 1985 until 1992, when political instability arose in communist Yugoslavia, leading to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.
Among many car websites and car experts, the Yugo is often considered a punchline and one of the worst vehicles ever made.
“Built by state-owned Zastava Motors, the Yugo was a generic version of the decade-old Fiat 127. The age of its design and low Yugoslavian manufacturing costs meant the car could be sold for $3990 in the US market and still make a substantial profit,” the website says.
When the Yugo was imported to the United States, however, Zastava failed to understand how non-communist consumers thought, the article suggested.
Vuic said that the idea was wasted because of the state-run company’s “complete inability to understand the techniques for competing and succeeding in an open capitalist society” like the United States.
“I'd definitely say it’s a product of what this car was: not just a 30-year-old vehicle, but a vehicle that was intended, 30 years ago, to be the least expensive on the market,” said AutoTrader writer Doug DeMuro.
He wrote: “There are only a few buttons. Everything is made from crappy plastic. And the entire dashboard and center console are one single mold. There are only two air vents, both in the center. And you can easily see the giant bolt holding down the seat-belt receiver. So I would say, in terms of interior quality, the Yugo met my expectations.”
The interior wasn’t the worst part, he said.
“Not only is the handling quite vague and floaty, but the ride is rather harsh,” DeMuro wrote. “Usually, there’s a tradeoff here: A car with a nice, comfortable ride usually has vague, disappointing handling; a car with a harsh ride usually has quick, sporty steering. But somehow, the Yugo’s creators blessed it with both a harsh, jarring ride and poor steering and handling. Considering this today, several weeks after I drove the Yugo, I still find this a little impressive.”
DeMuro concluded that the Yugo was indeed one of the worst cars ever made.
