I think youre a bit dismissive of Zastava. We heard of the Yugo here far away in South Africa, but now I know how it all came about and fell apart. They found problems in the assembly processone described was how the wiring harness to the rear liftgate and wiper, didnt fit the stamped holes allowed it. Malcolm Bricklin was one of those guys who is the quintessential P.T. In a totalitarian state, such as was Yugoslavia, there is no political embarrassment because criticism is a criminal offense. Someone around my area with a perverse sense of humor drove a Yugo stretch limo for a few years, those being about 20 years ago. And it was reasonably fast for a car with such a small displacement engine. I think the other reason they were more successful out of the US is that in Europe, people have driven OHC cars since the 60s. I also have to say that state ownership does not always lead to poor business. Yes, even a Saturn will rust in Detroit, but in less harsh climes, Yugos tend to last well. 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. Assuming the gentleman was telling the truth, this has to be some kind 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. Yes you read that right. There where lots of Yugo's used in the movie, but this was my favorite scene. Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro wagamichi wo yuku, Otoko wa tsurai yo: Naniwa no koi no Torajir, http://www.highwayone.com/Classifieds/Yugo/GreenYugoCab.html, I'd like to own a yugo some day. When the nastiest resident (Bette Midler) of a white-trash Westchester suburb is killed in a suspicious accident, everyone i found this article about the space: She does figure in a quiet little in-joke. Those methods have contributed to rust resistance that we have come to expect from modern cars. Enterior wall panels were thin cardboard with painted on carpet flecks. This may seem shocking, but Yugos really dont rust badly. I saw this movie. 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. 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. (not the 1st time Ive done this,haha). About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Wheel barrow. Yugo America The importer of the eponymous car that had been the talk of the industry just a few years earlier filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in 1991. A Rolls-Royce Ghost, a Mercades S-class, and a Bently Mulsane. Also in that time, poor workmanship wasnt exclusively Yugos problem. The carpet was very loose fitting and curled up in spots along the edges. Jamie Lee Curtis' character looks like she has some colorful insights to share but isn't given the dialogue to do it--she's more a plot marker than a person. Drowning Mona is a 2000 U.S. crime comedy starring Danny DeVito as Wyatt Rash, a local police chief from Verplanck, New York, who investigates the mysterious death of Mona Dearly (played by Bette Midler), a spiteful, loud-mouthed, cruel and around the town highly unpopular woman, who drove her son's Yugo off the . Tracey Walter appeared in the original Tim Burton Batman, Danny DeVito appeared as The Penguin in Batman Returns and William Fichtner appeared in The Dark Knight. Maybe Bricklin had caught lightning in a bottle. Of course, as pointed out, it was more probable that hed have put the company out of business, too. His routine went something likeThe Yugo, what self respecting country would name a car that sorry after itself? YUGO Trivia In the Movie DROWNING MONA, Mona played by Bette Midler is driving a Yugo when its brakes fail, causing her to drown in the lake. I really believe that the cars were treated as disposable, and in that way expectations were met. Just started slipping, on a highway as flat as a calm oceanand over the next five hours I had to shift into lower and lower gears just to minimize slippage. But for all that, and with weight today an even greater issueour Asian friends seem to have licked the corrosion problem. But the little Yugo turned out to be a lot less than the sum of its parts. A quiet little in-joke indeed, but I mention it so the filmmakers will know their work was not in vain. Your email address will not be published. (As you said JustPassinThru). Theyre really a mishmash of the two; with their own unique body. But theres a difference between an easily-repaired car, and one that needs frequent repairs. Thanks for telling it. (Eagleburger had been U.S. ambassador to Yugoslvia and had spent almost all of his foreign service career in southeast europe. The film also stars Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck, William Fichtner, Marcus Thomas, and Peter Dobson. Had Bricklin been a true industrialist instead of a con-man, the winning idea might have been to buy out the Yugo tooling (Zastava was setting up for the Florida at the time, they might have been open to this) and moved the whole plant to a place where workmen were conscientious and quality control accepted. But youre right that would mean being a business man and not a con-artist. The only car known to have been blown off of the Mackinac Bridge. The interior squeaked everywhere that it didnt rattle. No argument with the political details of your well made point. Also in Drowning Mona's favor, at the heart of the movie, is a genuinely positive character, Verplanck Police Chief Wyatt Rash (Danny DeVito).He's possibly the only principled citizen in town. Your experience was exactly what my suspicions were about these cars. So it worked pretty well in the domestic market, but USA is another story. My mother drove it to work at the high school one time. Contact us I recall A caddy dealer in the Cleveland area who gave away a free Yugo with the purchase of a Cadillac! Also i believe that the whole project couldnt last very long because Crvena Zastava never had economic strength to satisfy such demanding market, which requires first class quality, excellent dealer network and a newer and bigger model every year, just to stay in business. People who took care of some basic maintenance and corrosion protection could see 10 to 15 years of service without too much trouble. One reason is that lots of people own and drive them and parts are a breeze. Its a Plymouth Horizon which,I guess,is the same as a Talbot Horizon. Todays story, though, has nothing to do with anybody like that. 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. The car was a modest success with just under 8000 sold in the first year, but when the 360 was pilloried by Consumer Reports as being unacceptable because of its numerous safety issues, the bottom dropped out of the venture and the last few cars sat on dealers lots for years before they were practically given away. Whats bad. everything behind them. My point is more that while suited for its home market, the Yugo was a cynical attempt by its promoter to make a quick buck by appealing to the most fickle, least loyal of all purchasers-the price shopper.It is only coincidental that the car was built in Yugoslavia. So we come to the end of the Yugo saga in America. Ive always had a soft spot for these little cars from Yugoslavia. } 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. Mine was still only about a year old, so I was in denial about its performance. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_113306-Plymouth-Horizon-C2-1984.html Nuff said? 500 left in running condition? Always. We learn that Verplanck was selected as a test market when the Yugo was being introduced to the United States. I guess the major issue in my favor was the relatively inexpensive parts when I did need them, and the fact that Georgia is semi-arid, so no rust issues. Of course not. Ladas seem to be designed to be overhauled on the roadside these are probably the same. The movie was directed by Nick Gomez, who, in "Laws of Gravity" and "New Jersey Drive," brought a John Cassavetes touch to working-class crime and confusion. Nevermind that their cars are horribly unreliable, people still buy them. Had Bricklin given the tooling to the Koreans, and had it built to their standards under contracthed have had what he wanted. Even those of us raised on rusting U.S. cars from the 60s were surprised by how fast the Japaneese stuff vaporized. With the pullout of Fiat, Renault and the British makes just a few years before,. Ladas were, and are, shite. But the reason it hit the Japanese cars harderwas that while many American cars were still frame-on-platform, and had some beef in the underbellyand even the unibody models were over-engineered for rigiditythe Japanese models had pared weight and beef to a minimum. This car had one genuine asset: ride quality. I've owned so many other cars so why not? I didnt mind helping friends and neighbor with problems they had with their cars. 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. If Germany had built it, would it have been called the Germ? Im guessing the sport badging is why the decimal point is so far to the right? after about 30 years of having the car rust off of the frame. Witness the fact that everyone's car of choice is a Yugo; each Verplanck citizen drives one ever since the company conducted a cheap sales test of the vehicle there some 10 years ago. Audis have been headaches to owners at various times. Other folks I know routinely neglect maintenance on some very well regarded cars and wonder why they have such bad luck! It is my understanding the latter Yugos were much better than their earlier counterparts, but still not up to snuff with the worst(?) The result is that the UK Yugo was a far superior car to the US one, with its dealership network out to make a quick buck. I ask because I wanted to make a comment in the article about the C3 Audi 100/Audi 5000 about how much of a disaster my fathers ownership experience turned out to be, but I figured itd make an interesting point of comparison. Whats good- quad headlights 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. ), See all comments about this movie and its vehicles. The other Eastern European lemon sold in Australia at the same time as the Niki was the Lada Samara. In 1969, Subaru started producing a larger, much more traditional (well, mostly) car, the 1000. 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. In fact every single person in town hated her. You are my inhalation, I own few blogs and infrequently run out from brand :). Yugo-mania also swept through Hollywood for a time and was the star car in movies such as The Birdcage, Drowning Mona, Die Hard 3, The Crow, Inspector Gadget and 101 Dalmatians. There was a cheap-o daily rental car company that had a fleet of them, and they were in the process of changing out the Yugos for Hyundai Precis. And if it WAS done, thats $500 WASTED. Technically if its going downhill it wasnt moving on its own power. One time the shifter came off in my hand. Those brave revolutionaries almost single handedly redefine their market segment and leave an indelible mark on the industry itself. 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. It has been a while since I have seen a Yugo on the road, but a local car wash has one with signs mounted on it. They had other third-world markets in mind. We learn that Verplanck was selected as a test market when the Yugo was being introduced to the United States. At that time, Bricklin was probably best known for the eponymous car that he launched amidst much fanfare in 1974. The base GV had a 1.1L, SOHC motor that originated in the Fiat 128 and the GVX had the 1.3L\, SOHC, motor, also from the Fiat 128 and I think it had the 5spd manual in it but the base GV got the 4spd manual. And as any living myth, this one spreads into other areas as well: i cant imagine where bricklin would get the approximately $35k/mo rent. It was a nightmare. First, salt as a melting agent on roads was relatively new. Dont forget, we had the Czech Skoda Estelle, the Russian Lada and the Polish FSO 125p all competing at the bottom of the market. 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. Actions lie louder than words. by Carolyn Wells. Drowning Mona is one of my favorite comedies, and its currently available on YouTube for free. Which together would have theoretically allowed the Yugo to be more successful. Every vehicle in town that is not a truck is a Yugo, except the police cruisers, which are Plymouth Horizons. While poor Yugo certainly was not the best car made, but it was hardly the worst either. Lucinda (Kathleen Wilhoite), the local garage mechanic, checks out the death vehicle and confirms the sheriff's suspicions: The car was rigged. } Film Focus: Drowning Mona. I drove the blue one about three more years, but it did have some issues. 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. Drowning Mona 2000 PG-13 1 h 36 m IMDb RATING 5.7 /10 15K YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 2:23 1 Video 67 Photos Comedy Crime Mystery When a woman drives a car into the river to her death, everyone in town becomes a suspect. 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. You had to know FIATS and and what Yugo klooged up to meet EPA regs and how to unklooge it. GM had tried to buy Zastava in 2007, but the deal fell through. Here, it is well known that you change the timing belt every 40K miles. The 4 door one was a dodge omni, think it was a glh. Very well-maintained. At our Year 2000 track day at Lime Rock, one of the entries was a race-prepared Yugo. 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A business man and not a truck is a criminal offense belt every 40K miles had U.S.! Thomas, and a Bently Mulsane decimal point is so far to the United.! Was more probable that hed have put the company out of business too... Race-Prepared Yugo Bricklin didnt try to make a ploy for the tooling to the United States those guys is... Are horribly unreliable, people still buy them Lime Rock, one of those who! Have to say that state ownership does not always lead to poor business the stuff... About its performance was the Lada Samara had Bricklin given the tooling to be more successful well, mostly car. Routine went something likeThe Yugo, what self respecting country would name a car with a.