Even getting touring car legend Peter Brock to put his name to a Deluxe Limited Edition wasnt enough to help sales. Renault has been in state ownership since the 50s, and has been a very profitable company. Her brake lines had been cut. I knew a guy in the 90s, who was very smart (the grandson of a Nobel Prize winner in fact!) . But theres a difference between an easily-repaired car, and one that needs frequent repairs. I presume the folding roof is there just in case the doors jam shut because of a sagging body! } IIRC, David E Davis even tried to help move these things by stating in Automobile that he was going to send his daughter off to college in one. Privacy policy And this works both ways after war ended in ex. One of a kind, Im sure, There is an article from 2012, quoting the Time magazine Danny DeVito and Bette Midler appeared in Ruthless People (1986). Actions lie louder than words. by Carolyn Wells. alignments. European manufactures give guarantee for lets say 50k-250k km (~30k-150k mi) and 5-10 years, whatever come first (in practice mileage is more important), but previous owner could use some product with shorter life thats why this saving of couple* Euros isnt worth a risk. From the Subaru 360, to the SV1, to the Yugo, up to Chery, he followed the time-honored scammers credo of taking as much money as he could through charm and charisma, and when the going got tough and his shell-game started coming unraveled, he bailed with his loot and moved on to his next scam. There were surely other goofs that were institutionalized. The next Yugo we were to get in the US, the Sana/Florida, showed even more independent development of a Fiat design by the Yugoslavs. -You know why Yugo drivers go to heaven? Also, familiarity is important in servicing a car.Lots of American mechanics wouldnt bother to learn the finer points of working on Yugos because there were so few of them and parts were slow to arrive when needed. Bricklins old nemesis Consumer Reports weighed in on the cars many shortcomings in its February 1986 issue and refused to recommend it at any price. I saw it on the Helena streets quite a lot, but it was the only one in the city. . I initially got a job selling cars, and had access to one for a while. What a story! These rear engined devices were a blast to drive, with tail-out shenanigans a-la Porsche 911 being easy to emulate. Before I moved to Atlanta in the early 90s, we sold off our other cars before moving. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, it wasnt that he didnt want to learn, it was where he was sitting that had him scarred. The Florida was reviewed very positively in the UK against western cars, and sadly only failed here because of the rise of Fascism in Yugoslavia, and its aftermath.. This is how Hyundai and Kia got their start and Zastava began doing it earlier. I recall seeing the garage full of yugos being worked on when Id take mine in and I recall seeing them dead on the side of the road everywhere. Motor Trend reported that their hand picked press ringer broke down during testing. The Yugo became the default entry level car for people that knew the price of everything but the value of nothing. I knew I wasnt buying a Lexus. I have only seen one Yugo in my life. IIRC, they licensed Fiat designs in the mid 50s and in 2008 they signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy the auto assembly plant from Zastava. The battery required water to be poured into it. But of course, a parking lot fender bender would be enough to total these cars. But the Japanese companies focused; and today its almost unheard of to find a Toyota or Honda ruined from corrosion. Bricklin used franchise fees to run the company (a major accounting no-no) while the car was being modified for safety and emissions certification in the U.S. and dealerships were sold, territories assigned. This article, like many here, evoked some fond memories. When the coroner first jumps into the water to check Mona's dead body, he is neck-deep in water. Fuji was pretty well aware that the car wasnt suitable for America circa 1969. There are lots of related legacies connected with Americas brief, mad affair with the Yugo. This car had one genuine asset: ride quality. } I remember listening to Car Talk some 5-6 years ago and a caller came on and said that his Yugo (an 87 I think) died at 150,000 miles, not due to mechanical failure, but due to a Deer. Much embarrassment was caused to Toyota when it was found domestic panels had been mistakenly exported to NZ for local assembly we keep cars forever and these rusted out under a year on local limestone based and cowshit covered roads. couple of months ago when I was in Athens. The man is Malcom Bricklin. Sure some of the plastic trim was suspect, but dont forget that GM was still doing rubbermaid doors then, and the Japanese were still stapling vinyl over cardboard for door trims. The country was communist, but with good relations with the US and a cosmetically overhauled version of socialism, the idea was the Yugoslavia would compete in Western markets and as a result, the country took on a lot of debt throughout the 70s to update its capacity for making consumer goods, among other projects. Danny DeVito and Neve Campbell appeared together again six years after the release of this film in another comedy "Relative Strangers "(2006). Two Yugo episodes: The first while working on a construction crew in the 1987-88 period, at a project west of Rochester, NY one morning a Yugo rolls onto the lot, out pops a nervous, typical pocket-protector young engineering type, tells us he is out of gas, could anyone give him a ride to his job.at Kodak! Some Japanese automakers seem to have been surprisingly resistant to the latter; that was a major complaint of Yutaka Katayama at Nissan. And the gas cap would not come off. Why did Yugos have standard rear defrost? In this black comedy, everyone in a small town becomes a suspect when a much-despised woman not-so-accidentally drives her Yugo off a cliff. This is the real reason that Yugo failed in the US- a poor dealer network. @Zackman: No the real experience was driving that thing in Atlanta rush hour traffic at 80+ MPH. Sales quickly slowed when word of the myriad problems began to circulate in the media. However, the 67 cu inch motor had plenty of power if you kept it revved, and I never really had a problem keeping up with traffic. if(document.getElementById("unic-ccpa")) { Did it even come close? But they did. In the end, its poor management. Based on the slightly larger Fiat 125, it was everything bad about a lada, but somehow worse. Zastava Zastava made Yugos even after they stopped selling in America. There are like 100 YUGOs in the movie, which I think came out around 1998. But for all that, and with weight today an even greater issueour Asian friends seem to have licked the corrosion problem. *cough cough*, Malcolm is now wanting to import Chinese cars. Yugos are cars. Big deal, huh? parts are easy, I have a new driver side indoor handle ordered that will be here Tuesday. Here in Greece they are still around and not that rare. (At the same dealership on the window sticker above,actually). During the time the clutch cable was dying, I broke the shifter mechanism, due to the clutch cable dying. other small car offerings back then. From the start, Zastava resented the profit dealers made, and thought their expenses exorbitant. By May of 1988, Malcom Bricklin needed a lifeboat and he found it on Wall Street. I cant recall reading anything positive about the vehicle, anywhere. I see one maybe twice a year. I dont buy junk to begin with, maintain them, and only have minimal issues with them. But outside of regular tourist routes and specially on the outer islands, unofficial nude beaches were everywhere. American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others, Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment, Automotive History The Jokes On U.S.- The Short, Wild Ride Of The Yugo In America, TOAL:1974(?) The accident I referenced in my earlier post has adversely affected my overall health (lumbar damage), and Im nowhere near as ready to slide under a car as I used to be. To see mine riding on a tow truck was so humiliating. Since mine had been in a rental fleet, it was actually pretty well taken care of, it had an OK aftermarket radio and A/C. The salesman was vaguely aware that they were built somewhere in Europe,but he was cagey about just where. And it tanked with the critics. But it needed even more tweaking than did the Jugo 45which is what the Yugo was based on. Of course, I was charmed by that, as it reminded me very much of the original A1 Golf, and seemed to share the same utility that the original A1 did. http://www.observer.com/2010/culture/wannabe-warhol?page=0, I have two things to share concerning Yugos, Bette Midler drove one in the movie Drowning Mona. On the side fixed windows was lettered YuGo BIG or YuGo HOME. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. It is difficult to overstate how rustprone 1970s Japaneese cars were. Another factor was that Subaru managed to kick Bricklin out on the street and take over distribution and marketing before he ran it into the ground. Not having that one bit Clarkson divised a solution, buying a third-hand Yugo and for the rest of the episode refering to it as a Bently. The little cars--all Yugos--are almost identical; they only differ in color, and Rona's has a sunroof. I was scarred for her to be driving it. Secondly, I would be one of those people who had a good experience with a Yugo. Install shift knob on replacement car. As I said earlier, this car obviously didnt meet the expectations of the majority of the American masses, but I know you werent the only one who found the Yugo a simple and easy-to-work-on car. Since my father was born in Vukovar and some of our family still lives in Croatia it was of great interest to me. She is a bit of a contrarian anyhow, and has a mechanic-relative. Also in that time, poor workmanship wasnt exclusively Yugos problem. Second occurred during 1994-95, having changed employment by then, while driving the 50+ miles each morning, Id notice Yugos of different colors pass me on the four lane driven by the same fellow. Id actually like to have another one, but beef it up with Fiat parts. A Mitsubishi in all but name, Proton wisely didnt fiddle around with it much meaning you got a reliable Pseudo-Japanese car for your money, not a cobbled together lash up like the yugo was. Every vehicle in town that is not a truck is a Yugo, except the police cruisers, which are Plymouth Horizons., And lastly, I recall seeing a comedian on TV talking about Yugos. Those brave revolutionaries almost single handedly redefine their market segment and leave an indelible mark on the industry itself. Every vehicle in town that is not a truck is a Yugo, except the police cruisers, which are Plymouth Horizons. When they all disappeared, I surmised it was because he had been caught by the police for driving unregistered vehiclesmore likely they all just died from their terminal junkiness. } She picked them up for virtually nothing and was content with bare-bones transportation. Because he SAYS he has a new belt on there, doesnt mean its so. I was discussing cars with a woman in my office building one day, when she remarked that she had owned a Yugo, and got an incredible number of miles out of it. Second factor was, the popularity in the day of recycled steel in car manufacture. Im trying to remember, she actually, may have owned two of them. You look quite fit Paul yet a Issetta got away and a Yugo you need better shoes. The car itself staggered on until early 1992, with steadily declining sales and a dealer network that was slowly (and then quickly) going bankrupt. Only other thing it needed to be roadworthy was front tires. I didnt mind helping friends and neighbor with problems they had with their cars. All four brake drums were tampered with, the brake fluid was drained, and the perp also drained some other fluids just to be on the safe side. No one in the movie is particularly vicious (well, Jeff's no prize) and the urgency of the case is undermined by the general agreement that Verplanck is calmer and happier now that Mona's gone. No regrets and better than any $1500 alternatives at the time. As the movie opens, a local woman named Mona Dearly ( Bette Midler) speeds down a country road and directly into the Hudson River when her brakes fail. It wasnt ancient ethnic hatreds, it was more a perfect storm. Ladas were, and are, shite. The faded red one in the piece is for sale- $750. Seem like this article is just a mishmash of old articles written by people who never owned a Yugo, dont know anything about yugos, or who designed its engine. how did Subaru make the transition from dangerous sardine can to granola FWD/AWD family compact in the US?. An accident has happened - the Yugo of one Mona Dearly has careened off the highway and plunged into the Hudson. The steel is much thicker than Fiat used, and although fit and finish wasnt great, it was no worse than on a Fiat. As the movie opens, a local woman named Mona Dearly (Bette Midler) speeds down a country road and directly into the Hudson River when her brakes fail. Drowning Mona is a 2000 American 'comedy' film starring Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck, Melissa McCarthy, Brian Doyle-Murray, and box-office superstar Will Ferrell. Director Nick Gomez Writer Peter Steinfeld Stars Danny DeVito Bette Midler Neve Campbell I guess I should note that I owned the cars 20+ years ago, I was a lot more enthusiastic about getting underneath the car for just about any reason. Im pretty sure that she kept her clothes on. Nuff said? Now that its privatized, products have risen in quality to what the buyer expects for his money. You are probably also aware of the Honda Z or N360 which was existed around the same time. It was a much more reliable and simple design than the 128 engine in States bound Yugos. The story involves a local police chief from New York state who is charged with . The class all came out to look at it in the parking lot, Yugo was an exercise in marketing magic, and an exercise in embarrassment. He claimed the belt was good for 200,000-plus miles, often outlasting the pulleys. Kind of reminds me of a first generation Rabbit/Golf, which Ive always considered the gold-standard for the best styled small car. Its not like Fiat designs were anything special, quite the contrary in many instances. . Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik had an interesting take on it lately; (rolls eyes). Your email address will not be published. The Renault Alliance and 18i were still being sold in 1984-85 when the Yugo debuted. That's not who I am. As the pride of Serbo-Croatia hit the streets of America, reports of slipshod assembly began flooding back to the companys Upper Saddle River , New Jersey headquarters. The mechanical bits all seemed OK, and no obvious leaks or other damage. Membership also saw a similarly sharp increase, with over 1,800,000 in the same year (300,000 more than in 1970). It would be interesting to see how the rear suspension was beefed up. (France) Chi ha ucciso la signora Dearly? Also, the GM Colonades from 73-77 were pretty rust resistant as well. You mentioned this before; itd make a great article. Copyright 2011 - 2023 Curbside Classics. I wonder if he actually carried that threat out, and if his daughter ever forgave him if he did. But after that i didnt have much trouble with it, ride wasnt too bad for such small car, power was adequate for normal driving (in fact, compared to my fathers beetle with 1200 cc and 34 HP, Yugo with 55 HP and such goodies like 5-speed gearbox and brake booster feels pretty quick). Here is the text that opens Drowning Mona before we see the first shot: 2) My wife (an engineer like yourself) has been to Dubrovnik and says that the beaches are incredible. Its the manifestation of the postwar Japanese industrial culturepredicated on continuous quality improvement; and with the use of statistical controls to produce ever-higher quality items with fewer deviations from specification. We heard of the Yugo here far away in South Africa, but now I know how it all came about and fell apart. I would like to add that once money was in short supply, it was easy to lay a blame on the other side, to stir old misunderstandings and conflicts, send kids to London or USA and start profiting from the war. My best friend had for a brief time, a rusted 1980 Civic DX hatchback that ultimately blew out its 2 upper gears in the 5spd manual tranny that did it in even though his mechanic could not get the bolts out to replace the clutch due to rust. Comments are property of their authors. At first glance, the car looked up to date- Front wheel drive, rack and pinion steering, decent mileage. Money was a problem; but not the root problem. Its a tough call on the Yugo. I think that was true of most of the Japanese automakers the early passenger cars evolved from tiny commercial trucks and three-wheelers, sharing engines with motorcycles. console.log(window['UnicI'].geo); The 71-76 GM full-sizers were better than average on this count. Saw a lot of Datsuns with the box off, and the tiny size of the frame on those thingsthey were half-ton trucks only by extreme optimism. . (Cracked distributor cap, IIRC.) There was a guy that was racing a Yugo in SCCA competition, but thats been a long time ago. These cars came with an optional AM/FM cassette deck that was very basic, only 5W total if I recall right, or was that 5W per channel? Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time, Vehicle used by a character or in a car chase, Minor action vehicle or used in only a short scene. No tinted glass or glove compartment. They were true babes in the woods, and they lacked the capital to deal with the investment and the costs of distributing cars. State-owned auto companies or assembly plants, tend to have little to no feedback from end-user to management. I had been driving a Datsun 200 SX and the 5 speed was like silk. DROWNING MONA 1/2 Tasteless but sporadically uproarious black comedy. I actually checked out a Yugo about the same time I was looking at Sundances, Colts and similar vehicles and decided: No, I didnt have the time for the do-it-yourself maintenance it mightve required my current cars took care of that at the time! This car didnt want to go into reverse at a standstill. Now they are all scared by digital cameras and this are just some memories from the other side of the iron curtain. Its avoidable with regular replacement, true. With just 25 horsepower (at a cacophonous 5500 RPM), the elfin 360 was the type of cynical exercise that would define Bricklins career in the car business. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 3) The Yugo has a good reputation in the land of its birth. But the little Yugo turned out to be a lot less than the sum of its parts. Had a Datsun King Cab twenty-odd years agoand I went parts-shopping in boneyards. Ive been around big rigs all of my life, but they never looked bigger than when I was next to them on the freeway. You could disassemble the whole car with like 5 Allen keys, three sockets and two Phillips-head screwdrivers, if you were inclined. I cant think of another car that disappeared off the roads faster. As I understand it, Zastiva had the Yugo designed that way as its plan was, from the beginning, to export the car. Personally I would have gone for the Skoda. Well, when someone drowns Mona (Bette Midler), it's almost a cause for celebration in the quiet, upstate New York town of Verplanck, whose one claim to fame - except Mona Dearly - is that it's a hotbed of Yugos. Likewise the Toyotas and Datsuns. Yugoslavia was in the state of bankruptcy at that time, import of all goods and raw materials was practically halted. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . They didnt always start, and they DID always rust away. Yupand does anyone think Fiat or Yugo engineers thought to make the engine a clearance design? By what name was Drowning Mona (2000) officially released in India in English? Dubrovnik is kind of old fashion place with somewhat stricter rules about dressing on the beaches and elsewhere. How do explanations of Zastavas lack of quality control compare to, say, one which could be made to illustrate the reasons of Audis numerous failures? NEVER Give Up - NEVER Back Down This doomed script and conventional direction venture for Nick Gomez (" New Jersey Drive "/" Laws of Gravity "), results in a comedy that got by with a few mean-spirited jokes. Here, it is well known that you change the timing belt every 40K miles. Yes, even a Saturn will rust in Detroit, but in less harsh climes, Yugos tend to last well. 1. I probably still have it somewhere. Any idea where the Fiat 128 stopped and the 127 started in the Yugo? The early Japanese cars were not that different from the 360: Junk. Ive always had a soft spot for these little cars from Yugoslavia. Enterior wall panels were thin cardboard with painted on carpet flecks. of record for a Yugo. Mine was still only about a year old, so I was in denial about its performance. Im affiliated with NECC Motorsports, a club that runs time trials at various sports car racing tracks in the eastern half of the USA. Danny DeVito (Chief Wyatt Rash) and Tracey Walter (Clarence) appeared in Matilda (1996).
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