Jump to content

Welcome Yugo and Hyundai!


Dave@Moon

Recommended Posts

I remember that.

From Wiki. Not sure I buy their explanation. Isn't the bridge a grated deck? How could there be downforce?:confused:

In 1989, 31-year-old Leslie Ann Pluhar, driving a 1987 Yugo over the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, died when her Yugo was blown over the bridge's 36-inch (910 mm) railing by a 50 mph (80 km/h) gust of wind. The incident was widely publicized, with the make of car prominently identified. While Mackinac Bridge Authority's chief engineer initially thought the car was exceeding the 45 mph (72 km/h) speed limit enforced on the bridge, it was later discovered that Pluhar had panicked when the high winds made driving too difficult and stopped the Yugo on the bridge. The act of stopping the car denied it of the downforce generated by forward motion, and along with the car's light weight, blew the Yugo off the bridge.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having walked across the Mackinaw bridge, it is two lanes in each direction. The two center lanes are grates and the outside lanes are solid surface. It think it is ashpalt coated if I remember correctly. That was about 10 years ago. You can walk across the bridge on Labor Day each year with the Govenor in the lead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember back in the early eightys there was a brand new Yugo at the local Garage for sale. It was only about 3 months old, and a front wheel bearing failed. The car was so new that the parts were not yet on the shelf so the local garage could not fix it. I could have bought it cheep back then, but who wanted something that you could not get parts for. Yugo... You go if it goes. :D Dandy Dave!

Edited by Dandy Dave (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Double M

Yugo = short for Yugoslavia.

Welcome to Yugo & Hyundai. We may have laughed then, but Hyundai has become a major player that produce $30,000 Luxury cars!

yugo.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Skyking
You can walk across the bridge on Labor Day each year with the Govenor in the lead.

I sure hope for his sake, the people take a like'en to that governor......:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always thought that they missed a real advertising slogan opportunity: "Wherever I go, Yugo..."

And now, from the Department of I Oughta Quit While I'm Not Far Behind.....

I'm also the one who thought that Whippet missed out, too: "You can't beat it - Whippet!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For all you Yugo Lover/Haters you should get hold of the movie "Drowning Mona" if you haven't see it. Been a while since I saw it but the one review I found online reminded me of the details. Here is the important part.

"Thanks to a test marketing effort by the Yugo Car Company, everyone in Verplanck was able to purchase a Yugo at a cut-rate price. Now, Yugos are thicker than cockroaches in Verplanck. Even the Police Department drives Yugos. "

Verplanck is a town nestled on the banks of the Hudson River, upriver from New York City according to the movie writeup.

For Netflix subscribers it can be current watched on streaming video.

Edited by Jim Bollman (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get a kick out of the jokes about YUGOs

.

I worked in a Rambler dealership and we sold SIMCAa at the time.

I had a V8 Vega wagon at one time. I had 2 other Yugos and drove them for a couple years.

My current Yugo is a 1991 and it is an electric conversion that I built 5 years ago.

I drive it back and forth to work almost everyday (except snow days), averages 140 muiles a week for $ 6.00 worth of electrcity.

It now has over 13,200 miles as an EV.

You can see it and many other EVs at (www.evalbum.com/762)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest moto826
I am trying to figure out what the heck your AVATAR photo is. :) Colorful for sure but what is it?

it is a piece of coral in my reef tank

it is called a zoanthid

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, I drove one of those Geo Storms right off the showroom floor back in 1990.

They used some of the cheapest plastic available to build those things.

I had cousins that drove Beetles for years, then one got a Yugo. shortly thereafter, they both switched to Datsuns. Growing up, my family had Pintos, Mustang IIs, and my dad bought a '79 Lemans. That was the last new car he bought until my mom wanted a '92 Integra. He specified that he get one made in Japan! That car only has 35,000 miles on it today and is near perfect!

We then moved on to Toyotas, '78-,80 Celicas. Nice cars. I'd like one today if I could find one that didn't rust clear apart, leaving the engine still running!

Oh, the Memories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all!

Most are unaware that Yugo cars were a front to the Yugoslavian assault weapons being made at the same time. The US bombed the Yugo car plant in 1991, no more Yugos made after.

I collect many cars and Yugos are one of them. I have some beautiful ones and I admit freely to you all that I get more enjoyment out of driving an 86 Yugo than my Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Jaguar V12's etc.

Something about the simplicity of it makes them very enjoyable to drive. They are peppy, very simple to work on, all parts are available and cheap, and insurance is only $4.70 monthly for liability. 55 miles per gallon helps too!

Most people that make fun of Yugos never drove one. All cars, no matter make/model are only as good as their owners have treated them. If a car is abused it will fall apart. If it is taken care of it will last.

Case in point I bought an 87 Grand National T-Type with 20,000 original miles that during the course of three weeks nearly everything that could have gone wrong with the vehicle did go wrong. Every night was a different repair, brake lines, transmission, water pump, alternator, etc.

Opposite side of the spectrum my '67 Renault Caravelle sport coupe has 340,000 miles and will still drive anywhere without a hitch.

If a car is treated good it will last. If it's beat on it will fall apart. My daily driver volvo has 575,000 miles and I have never not even once had an issue with it. Tires, brake pads, oil changes. Thats it.

Small cars have always been the butt of every joke. Take for example BMW Isettas, they were laughed at and used as trash cans. Now they are $40,000 cars restored and even $5000 cant find you a rough basket case one.

Who knows perhaps one day Yugo will be there ??

Paul in Ohio

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Double M

It is funny how all the jokes and talk are about Yugos and not Hyundai. The reason is probably because many of you probably has a Hyundai sitting in your driveway or know someone that does. They have gone from a producer of small cheap cars (which they still do) to a celebrated maker of Luxury cars. The Sonata coes for $30,000+ and its styling and quality rival that of the Mercedes that cost 3 times the amount. Everytime I see someone drining one, I laugh amd think that 15 years ago, they woulndnt be caught dead even mentioning a Hyundai, except as a joke. As for the Yugo, like the man said, a car is only as good as you treat it.

All these jokes about these cars, begs me to ask, why America never has even tried to make a car that competes with any of these, including the Honda Civic. If they had tried years ago, maybe the state of the american car industry would be so bad. Instead of competeing, we went and invented the SUV. Which was just another excuse to keep building gas guzzlers...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All these jokes about these cars, begs me to ask, why America never has even tried to make a car that competes with any of these

Because, I think it was Henry Ford that said, "We're not in the automobile making business, we're in the money making business." The US automakers could not compete because of labor rates and regulations. It's really that simple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barry is correct that the issue for entry level small cars is the ability to make profit.

In theory the Model T was earlier basic transportation of the type Yugo wanted to be. And by the mid 1920s, once Americans had a Model T, they did not want another one, they wanted something better next time. Something better generally means something more expensive and thus the automakers could make more money by continually upgrading. In 1960 Ford introduced the Falcon as a new look at economical transportation and it initially sold very well, but profits were not so good compared to regular Fords. Why? Because it only cost a little more to produce a bigger car but you could charge a lot more for it. OR you make it into the Mustang so you can add profitable options, but then you are no longer so economical.

By the 1980s when the Yugo came out a reporter asked GM CEO Roger Smith what GM could offer to compete, and he was criticized for suggesting a used, two year old Buick Century. Not such a dumb response, as in fact that was the Yugo competition, late model used cars. A small economy car seems logical, but for lots of reasons it just has not worked in America since the Model T, for either the mass market or the manufacturer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Siegfried

Some things will never change. I recall the comments when the first VW showed up at Hershey years back. The bug went 1st. Junior, Senior, Perservation, and Grand National Senior in only four showings. Imagine the shrill it would be to see a Yugo do that??????:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Siegfried

Right On! Are is it still Far Out? I'm all set to go on the judging issue. These cars aren't all that difficult to figure out, and judge if you just apply the common sense that we as judges are taught at judging school. If it doesn't look factory, then it probably isn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont think you will have to worry about anyone wanting to modify those cars so judging them should be easy,the most common non factory parts on them would be the radio.

You never know...might need a modified division!

Bagged, slammed, shaved.

Might find one with a HEMI in it! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somehow I don't think we will see all that many Yugos on the show field. Welcome those that do show but I wouldn't expect an onslaught. It's all good, they are a significant part of automotive history.

I agree, they are automotive history, which I am interested in and which is what makes the AACA great. I may not aspire to own one, but if a clean example shows up I will take a look and welcome the owner. Todd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Trickstar

i remember in high school picking a yugo up and spinning it so it faced the other way lol.

It belonged to another friend who bugged out when he came outta school that day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Trickstar
It is funny how all the jokes and talk are about Yugos and not Hyundai. The reason is probably because many of you probably has a Hyundai sitting in your driveway or know someone that does. They have gone from a producer of small cheap cars (which they still do) to a celebrated maker of Luxury cars. The Sonata coes for $30,000+ and its styling and quality rival that of the Mercedes that cost 3 times the amount. Everytime I see someone drining one, I laugh amd think that 15 years ago, they woulndnt be caught dead even mentioning a Hyundai, except as a joke. As for the Yugo, like the man said, a car is only as good as you treat it.

All these jokes about these cars, begs me to ask, why America never has even tried to make a car that competes with any of these, including the Honda Civic. If they had tried years ago, maybe the state of the american car industry would be so bad. Instead of competeing, we went and invented the SUV. Which was just another excuse to keep building gas guzzlers...

Well how bout a half american, half japanese car?

I dont own either a hund or yugo but i did sink 34k into a DSM

that crank walked the first month i owned it lol.

untitled.jpg

Had to replace the entire drivetrain , motor , computers, susspension, turbo and fuel system.

Now i drive (my 4th in my life) another classic skylark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Siegfried

Always Susan, always. It amazed me at Hershey this past year when I was told that even though the tires on the car were P series radials they were still correct for his 196? something car. They insisted that they were really bias ply tires! So I asked for doc. Got told to take a hike.

I didn't bother pointing out that I, and the rest of the judges had already taken our daily hike as in walking from the Giant center to the show field!

But, you are correct, and documentation is never a bad idea especially for a foreign car owner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, we put them on parking blocks and turned them into teeter-totters in the HS parking lot. In my mischievous youth period I hung out with a bunch of big guys. We would pick up Bugs from the driveway and put them between suburban homes that were 15 feet apart. Then we'd ring the doorbell, hide across the street and have a great belly-laugh as the homeowner had to drive it back and forth 25 times to get it out.

Funny then, a little embarrassing now.:o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...