(Redirected from Yugo)
The 'Zastava Koral' (known in the USA simply as the 'Yugo' and Serbia as 'Jugo' and 'Jugić') is a subcompact vehicle built by
Zastava corporation.
The car design is based on the mechanics of the
Fiat 127 and
Fiat 128, under license from
Fiat, and a modified
Autobianchi A112 body style. The Yugo entered the United States by means of
Malcolm Bricklin, who wanted to introduce a simple, low cost car to that market. It was sold in the US from 1985 to 1991, with the most American units sold in a year peaking at 45,000.
[1] The Zastava Koral is still being sold in the
former Yugoslavia with an updated design.
Zastava Koral Info (Serbia)
★ 'Trim Lines'
★
★ Zastava Koral 1.1
★
★ Zastava Koral 1.3
★
★ Zastava Koral In 1.1
★
★ Zastava Koral In 1.3
★
★ Zastava Koral In 1.1 (1124ccm Peugeot engine)
Standard Features:
Koral Models: 1.1L, 1.3L or engines, fan, cloth upholstery, glovebox, seatbelts, and more. (Possibly dual front airbags)
Koral In Models: Everything the Koral Models have plus a modernized interior and exterior.
Model names covered
"Go New, Go Yugo" UK Promotional Leaflet
In the lifetime of the model range the car has gone under a variety of different names:
★ 'Yugo 45 / Zastava Jugo 45' (Former Yugoslavia / United Kingdom / Europe)
★ 'Yugo 55' (Former Yugoslavia / United Kingdom / Europe)
★ 'Yugo 60efi' (spec. Denmark and Greece version / United Kingdom / Europe)
★ 'Yugo 65 / 65efi' (spec. Germany version / United Kingdom / Europe)
★ 'Yugo GV' (United States)
★
★ Yugo GV Plus (United States)
★
★ Yugo GVL (United States)
★
★ Yugo GVS (United States)
★
★ Yugo GVX (United States)
★ 'Yugo Cabrio' (United States, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece) |
★ 'Zastava Koral' (Serbia / Europe)
★
★ Yugo Koral (Former Yugoslavia / Europe)
★
★ Zastava Koral IN (Serbia / Europe)
★
★ Zastava Koral IN L (Serbia / Europe)
★ 'Zastava Cabrio' (Serbia / Europe)
★ 'Zastava Ciao' (Serbia / Europe)
★ 'Zastava Tempo' (Serbia / Europe)
★
★ 'Zastava Yugo Tempo' - circa 1991
★ 'Innocenti Koral' (Italy)
★
★ Innocenti Koral Cabrio (Italy) |
The 'Zastava Koral' is a
subcompact automobile produced by the former
Yugoslav and now Serbian manufacturer
Zastava. The main factory is located in the city of
Kragujevac in central
Serbia.
History
Zastava was founded as an arms manufacturer in 1853. By the late 1930s the company had expanded into automobile production supplying
Ford designed trucks to the
Yugoslav Army. Vehicle production continued until 1941 when
World War II reached Yugoslavia. Following the war Zastava was permitted to produce Jeeps under license from
Willys-Overland until production was halted in the early 1950s.
The first passenger models were produced on August 26, 1953 using designs licensed by
Fiat of
Turin. The first model designed by Zastava was a sedan called the Milletrecento ("one thousand three hundred") powered by a 1300
cc engine. Some of the most successful models were those based on the
Fiat 128 model, marketed under different names: Zastava 128, Zastava 311, Zastava Skala, et cetera.
1992 Zastava Yugo Cabrio 1.3 EFI in front of the Bundeskanzleramt in Berlin, Germany
Zastava continued to produce vehicles for the Yugoslav and European markets until exports were limited by sanctions imposed by the
United Nations in the 1990s. In 1984, automobile entrepreneur
Malcolm Bricklin tested the U.S. market for Zastava vehicles, now branded as Yugo. As a result, in the summer of 1986, Yugo America began selling cars at a starting price of $3,990 for the entry-level GV ("Great Value") hatchback equipped with the 1100 cubic centimeter overhead-cam five-main-bearing engine and four-speed manual transmission.
The similar GVL offered a more plush interior, but the sporty top-line GVX was powered by the beefier 1300 cc engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission, and included as standard equipment were a number of deluxe features such as a ground-effects package, alloy wheels and rally lights.
By the late 1980s, US distributor Yugo America was in financial trouble, and American distribution was taken over by Zastava itself. The Yugo Cabrio convertible was introduced with many GVX features as standard equipment.
In the early 1990s the 1100 engine was dropped as the 1300 cc engine became the standard, and an automatic transmission was offered.
However, when the political instability in Yugoslavia intensified in early 1992, Zastava was forced to stop exports to the United States.
The site was repaired by the same factory workers in the years afterwards, and production continues today on the old site, in
Kragujevac.
Today there are various models available in the former Yugoslavia, including an agreement signed with Fiat for the production of the 2003
Fiat Punto model
[2].
U.S. History
International Automobile Importers was the company founded by Malcolm
Bricklin to import the X1/9 and 2000 Spyder after Fiat halted their manufacture. Bertone and Pininfarina carried on production under their own names and Bricklin's IAI took over their American importation. Bricklin wanted to import additional brands, and international dealmaker Armand Hammer had been asked by the Yugoslavs to identify business areas in which they could generate exports to bolster their economy. Hammer thought the idea of exporting the small cars made in
Kragujevac, Serbia, by Zavodi Crvena Zastava would be viable. Zastava had, since the mid-19th century, been a quality
armaments producer and sponsored its own museum.
As Zastava celebrated its 100th anniversary, it started producing vehicles made under license from Fiat, just across the
Adriatic Sea. For three decades it produced the perky rear-engined 600 and the 101, a
bustle-backed version of Fiat's evergreen 128. On its own initiative in 1980, Zastava introduced its Jugo or Yugo model which, though still using Fiat-type power train and underpinnings, was an update of the Fiat 127. Styled
in Turin, the two-door hatchback's lines were reminiscent of the original VW Golf or Rabbit. Zastava was already exporting its new offering to other East European markets, installing the bigger 128 overhead-cam engine for a top speed of 90 mph.
Setting up Yugo America to import the car, Bricklin assigned Bill
Prior to sort out the distribution and Tony "Hurricane" Ciminera to fine-tune the Yugo for US markets. Ciminera carried out a bumper-to-bumper audit that
resulted in more than 500 changes to meet the needs of the American
market, including the safety and emissions improvements that US laws
demanded. The vast Yugo facility was patterned after the Fiat factories of the early 1950s and employed 50,000, divided among 85 basic associated labor organizations and 25 work committees. For American production models, a separate assembly line was built with handpicked elite staff earning
extra pay, building Yugos destined for the New World.
The first shift began at 6:00 in the morning and after an eight-hour day many employees left for their second jobs in other workplaces.
The chief engineer and head of Zastava's Research and Development Institute s Zdravko Menjak, who responded to the many changes needed to qualify the car for sale in the West. Bricklin had his own people at the plant to monitor the effort, constantly stressing the need for high quality. A team of British quality experts sent a cadre to Kragujevac to study the factory and recommend improvements. Toward the later 1980s an ingenious Yugo cabriolet was being tooled up for
production, an automatic transmission was being sourced from Renault, and the larger car (the Florida) had been styled by
Giorgio Giugiaro and was in the early manufacturing stages. With communism's collapse, however, Yugoslavia began to unravel. After embargoes stifled production, the coup de grace was NATO's bombing of the Kragujevac factory as a producer of military equipment. Only in 2000 could production be restarted and not until 2003 was the Florida launched.
Introduced in the summer of 1986 at a price of less than $4000, the Yugo was by far the lowest-priced new car available in the USA at the time, and it sold very well at first. But by the early 1990s, the effects of
United Nations sanctions on
Yugoslavia forced Zastava to withdraw the car from the US market.
In the United States, the Yugo soon developed a negative reputation; defenders of the brand countered by arguing that major auto producers were collaborating with influential automotive media in efforts to eliminate competition.
At first, four models of Yugo were sold in the United States: the basic entry-level $3,990 GV (for "Great Value"), the nearly-identical GVL and GVS with minor trim and upholstery upgrades, and the race-inspired GVX with the 1300 cc engine, five-speed manual transmission and standard equipment including a plush interior, ground-effects package, alloy wheels and rally lights. The Cabrio convertible was introduced in 1988.
By 1990, the GV, GVL and the 1100 cc engine and four-speed manual transmission were replaced by a 1300 cc OHC engine and five-speed manual transmission, and an optional Renault-designed automatic transmission was offered. The standard model became the GV Plus.
Wide familiarity with the
Fiat 127's prowess as an
autocross racer meant that many a Yugo GV was modified with
Abarth racing parts and sent to participate in
SCCA-sanctioned events, notably in the organization's "Solo II" category.
Malcolm Bricklin signed a deal with Zastava in 2002 to bring back Yugo to American shores with a model tentatively called the ZMW. Under Bricklin's direction, 'Zastava Motor Works USA' expected to sell 60,000 cars in 2003
[3]. However, Bricklin instead turned to marketing the
Chery line of Chinese cars
[4].
Marketing
The Yugo was rigorously marketed in the late 1980s as a car that would fit into everybody's life, providing basic economical and reliable transportation along the lines of the
Volkswagen Beetle and the earlier
Ford Model T. The car was promoted as a uniquely affordable new vehicle - providing an option for buyers who would otherwise have chosen a used vehicle - and as a reliable second car for wealthier buyers. The Yugo carried the tagline "Everybody needs a Yugo sometime"
[5]. This marketing appealed successfully to its target market of low-budget new car buyers, as well as wealthier people looking for an affordable second or third car.
[6] . A popular ad included the 39-90 campaign, a play on the $3,990 price of the car.
Past Models in the Koral Range
Two old Zastava Yugo Korals in Kosovo
Yugo 45 derivative models have included the Yugo 55, 60, 65, Koral, Ciao, Tempo, Cabrio, GV, GV Plus, GVX, and GVL. Yugo engines had been fitted with a
carburetor until late into the 1980s before fuel-injected models (starting with Koral 65) were introduced beginning with the GVX-EFI (
Electronic fuel injection), which featured a 1300
cc engine designed by
Porsche for Fiat. The fuel injection system was provided by
BOSCH and had ''
Multiport fuel injection'' with a three-way catalytic converter and "Lambda" sensor.
Current models
Zastava currently sells an updated version of the Yugo koral model, which is presently known as the 'Zastava Koral IN' in
Serbia,
Montenegro,
Croatia,
Macedonia,
Greece,
Lebanon,
Libya,
Syria,
Tunisia,
Poland and
Egypt. As well as all the Koral versions available, other models include the Florida and Skala. In October 2005, an agreement with Fiat was reached for production of the
Fiat Punto by Zastava for
Eastern European markets, which will be known as the '
Zastava 10'. The Koral IN L, with a fuel injected 1.1 L
Peugeot engine, met the
European Union safety standards in a test supervised by the German
Technischer Überwachungsverein (Technical Monitoring Association). This may pave the way for export to
E.U. countries.
Criticism and response
Along with other Central and Eastern Europe vehicles marketed in the West during the 20th century - such as
Lada and
Škoda - the Yugo was subjected to derision by critics who pointed to its use of old-generation Fiat technology and to alleged issues with build quality and reliability. A 1987 ''
Consumer Reports'' review of the car concluded that buyers would be "better off buying a good used car than a new Yugo," and also stated that it "barely qualified as a car." ''
Car & Driver'' magazine once reviewed the car, calling it "The Disposable Car by Bic" and noted that its transmission performance was "like trying to shift a baseball bat stuck inside a barrel full of coconuts." (The transmission was a
Porsche design.)
Defenders of the vehicle have counter-argued that the Yugo's reputation suffered due to an issue that also appeared with initially-inexpensive cars as the
Chevrolet Chevette,
Rambler,
Crosley and others - dealers were finding that too many owners were considering inexpensive cars as "disposable", and were failing to perform basic maintenance such as oil changes.
As with all motor vehicles, Yugo's basic design requires a certain amount of regular maintenance. One critical issue specific to the Yugo was the need for regular replacement of the close-tolerance (known in the industry as an
interference engine) engine's timing belt - every 40,000 miles. Though this requirement was stressed in owners' manuals, it was too frequently overlooked by owners.
The factory also stresses the need for 89-octane fuels for the high-compression engines. Some Yugo owners have reported that regular oil changes and appropriate maintenance allow the cars to remain dependable and basically trouble-free.
[7]
Owners of the Yugo and related models in the former Yugoslavia benefit from a ready supply of inexpensive spare parts due to general continuity in the car's design; local mechanics' ready familiarity with the Yugo also lowers the cost of ownership. Yugo owners in America can still generally find parts, and access to parts and service is assisted by design commonalities with the
Fiat 127 and
128.
Trivia
★ Zastavas hold many racing records all over the world.
[8][9] [10] [11]
★ The
USA Today auto team named Yugo to its ''Top 25 Cars and Trucks With Impact'' list (June 25, 2007).
★
Motor Trend magazine's comment on the cessation of Yugo exports to America was, ''It's a shame. America needs a car like the Yugo.''
★ Zastava Yugo's introductory advertising slogan ''Introducing the same old idea'', compared the cars to
Ford Model T and
Volkswagen Beetle, other basic-transportation vehicles.
★ Although Zastava's Yugo was voted
Car Talk's worst car of the millennium, the poll results are questionable since it was taken years after exports ceased and it is unknown how many of those respondents had actually owned or even driven one.
[12]
★ When it was first brought to America, the Zastava Yugo only cost $3,990
USD (Approximately $7,330 2006
USD).
[13]
★ Zastava employees report that Yugo cars destined for American
export underwent much more-stringent quality-control procedures than domestic models.
★ 24-year-old Leslie Pluhar's Zastava Yugo was blown completely off the
Mackinac Bridge in
Michigan during a strong wind. High speed was to blame
[14]
Popular culture
In the mid 1990s and several years after the last Yugo was imported into the United States, Kevin O'Callaghan, a professor at Manhattan School of Visual Arts, advertised for "Yugos dead or alive". O'Callaghan ended up with 39 mostly dead Yugos for $3,600 and asked his students to make objects of functional art from them. The exhibit entitled "Yugo Next" toured in 28 U.S. cities.
[1] [2] [3] [4]
Comics
In the early days of the comic strip "Jump Start," Joe and Marcy owned a Yugo. It was replaced by a giant SUV Joe won from a radio station.
Movies
★ ''
101 Dalmatians'' - A white Yugo Koral is parked next to the milk cart at the beginning of the film. Possibly referring to Dalmatians, originating from
Dalmatia in the former
Yugoslavia.
★ ''
Dragnet'' - A 1987 movie with
Tom Hanks and
Dan Aykroyd. The Yugo in question was issued to the pair when they wrecked several other cars and the police department was reluctant to issue them anything more expensive. This car is described by Aykroyd as "the cutting edge of Serbo-Croatian automotive technology".
★ ''
Drowning Mona'' - An explanation informs viewers that the setting (Verplanck, New York) was a test market for Yugos. The cars in the movie were provided by Apple Motors in
Denver,
Colorado.
★ ''
The Birdcage'' - Features a yellow Yugo Cabrio in Miami.
★ ''
Bowfinger'' - The main character produced a documentary called ''The Yugo Story''.
★ '' -
Zeus Carver is seen driving a yellow Yugo on the
FDR Drive in
NYC (
John McClane is in the passenger seat). When McClane asks angrily if the Yugo can go any faster, Carver replies "This is a Yugo! It's built for economy, not speed!"
★ ''
The Crow'' - A Yugo meets its demise in a collision with a police car on a rainy night.
★ ''
The Nutty Professor (1996 remake)'' - The professor intends to purchase a Yugo instead of a sports car with his company's money.
★ ''
Savior''
★ ''
Domino (film)''
Music
★
Paul Shanklin has a song, ''In A Yugo'', which pokes fun at a
liberal couple who buy a Yugo to save gas, only to end up being killed by a produce truck when they swerve to miss a baby duck. The song is sung to the tune of ''In the Ghetto'' by
Elvis Presley
★ In the Veggietale version of "Breakdown" (A song about a car falling apart by
Relient K), Larry says he drives a Yugo.
Novels
★ ''
Catalyst'' (by
Laurie Halse Anderson)
★ ''
Florida Roadkill''
★ ''
Needful Things''
★ ''
The Stand'' (uncut version)
★ ''
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist''
Television
★ ''
Saturday Night Live'': SNL debuted a
spoof television commercial in 1986 for an extremely cheap subcompact car called "Adobe," (a
Renault Le Car in disguise) which according to the advertisement is literally made of clay and sells for only $179. The pitchman (played by
Phil Hartman) prefaces the car's introduction by declaring, "These days, everyone's talking about the
Hyundai, and the Yugo. Both nice cars, if you've got $3,000 or $4,000 to throw around."
★ ''
The Simpsons'': Episode #9F07 (
Mr. Plow) makes a reference to the Yugo. After totaling both family cars in a drunk driving incident,
Homer Simpson makes his way to "Crazy Vaclav's Place of Automobiles" and test drives a subcompact car from a country that "no longer exists". Crazy Vaclav goes on to tell Homer that the car "[gets] 300 hectares on a single tank of kerosene." As Homer attempts to start the car Crazy Vaclav shouts for Homer to "Put it in 'H'!", which is a reference to the Cyrillic alphabet used in the
Serbian written language. In Serbian the word for 'Neutral' is 'Neutralan', which is written "Неутралан" with an
H. The letters that appear on the gear selector from left to right are Б, И, Ш and Н, the first letter is hidden by Homer's finger.
★ ''
Yahoo!'' - the online Internet search engine ran a commercial during
NASCAR races featuring a racing team using Yahoo! to get parts for their Yugo race car (making it
jet propelled). Team Yugo gets to win the race.
★ ''
Midas'' - a U.S. automotive repair chain, did a commercial featuring a guy shouting "woo-hoo" whilst performing crazy stunts in a Yugo. As the car is about to crash into a lake the commercial cuts to the shop and the spokesman says "Yugo, what are you going to do?"
★ ''
Moonlighting (TV series)'': In one episode, David Addison (Bruce Willis) has to drive Yugo instead of 'Maddie' Hayes's (
Cybill Shepherd)
BMW.
★ ''
My Name Is Earl'' - the car Earl
siphons gas out of in "
Something to Live For" is a Yugo.
★ ''
Malcolm in the Middle'' - Malcolm's principal drives a Yugo (in question) in very bad mechanical condition.
[15]
★ ''
Home Improvement'' - When Mark is doing his science project, Tim brings out a box filled with foam balls to be used as planets, to which Mark replies, "There aren't that many planets" Tim replied, "Sure there are" and named off car brands as planets. He grabbed a small ball out the box and said, "Yugo! This planet was destroyed." and threw it behind him.
★ ''
Kentucky Fried Chicken'' - in a Summer 2006 commercial for their product, the "Ultimate Cheese Snacker", two men are sitting in a 1986 Yugo GV stopped at a toll gate and, consequently, blocking traffic from moving through the gate. The men are not able to pass through the toll gate because the passenger says that he has "used all of his (the driver's) change for the new 99 cent Ultimate Cheese Snacker."
★ ''Jeremy Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars'' -
Jeremy Clarkson claimed the Zastava Yugo was "A hateful, hateful car" in this 1996 video. He then proceeded to shoot and run it over with a Chieftan tank. Although the shooting scene was clearly staged (an explosion within the car) the running over part was real and predictably reduces the car to a solid flat sheet of metal.
[5]
★ ''
Rocko's Modern Life'' - While attempting to fix Rocko's car. Heffer reads Rocko the owners manual as he is working on it. Heffer starts reading the book in and in a heavy Serbian accent says, ''"First do be putting Kar in newtral"''. Then Rocko says he doesn't have to talk with that funny accent, but Heffer tells him that is how it is written. When asked where the car was made Heffer reads the book out loud saying ''"Joogoslabia"''.
References
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NStfUnmU9PE&search=Yugo
2. http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/business/userobject1ai1474719.html
3. http://www.forbes.com/2002/04/23/0423yugo.html "Yugo Redux", ''Forbes Magazine''
4. http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0501/02/A01-47455.htm "First Chinese cars to hit U.S. shores"
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VV9NOBYDC4&search=Yugo
6. PETERS, E (2004): ''Automotive Atrocities: The Cars We Love to Hate''. Motorbooks International.
7. http://www.inet.hr/~bpauric/eindex.htm
8. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yugounitedgvowners2/ Yugo GV United Owners (a forum for Yugo Racing Enthusiasts)
9. http://users.otenet.gr/~makthes29/ Athens Yugo Racing Team
10. http://rrteam.k2.net/ Route Racing Team
11. http://www.geocities.com/nikolic_lj_dragan/Racing/Yugo55/Yugo55.htm Another Zastava Yugo Racing Team
12. http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/Worst-Cars/results5.html
13. PETERS, E: ''Idem''
14. http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=156&category=locations
15. Malcolm in the Middle Episode 90, production code: 06-03-505, Malcolm Films Reese
★ GEORGANO, Nick (1985): ''The complete encyclopaedia of motorcars: 1885 to Present''. George Rainbird Publishing. ISBN 0-11-702319-1.
★
Automobil Revue - Revue Automobile Yearbooks
External links
Official websites
★
Zastava Serbia website
★
Zastava Bosnia site
★
Zastava information site (in Serbian only, English version "coming soon")
Owner's and Fan clubs
★
Yugo Fan Club - Official
★
Comprehensive Zastava Yugo page
★
Czech classic Zastava Owner's Club (in Czech only, comprehensive photo gallery)
★
German classic Zastava Owner's Club (in German)
Miscellaneous
★
Photographs of the Zastava Factory after NATO bombing
★
Recreation: Autos: Makes and Models: Yugo from the
Open Directory Project website
★
Yugo Next - Auto Sculpture Project
See also
★
Zastava
★
★
Zastava Florida (also known as Yugo Sana)
★
★
Zastava Skala (also known as Zastava 101)
★
★
Zastava 10
★
★
Zastava 750
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