Good morning, and happy Friday to all you fine citizens of Autopia. It’s been a long week, I’m too drained to come up with a clever theme, and this week’s cars don’t really lend themselves to a runoff. So instead, I’m just featuring two cars that I spotted a while ago, that I couldn’t match up to anything else. They don’t really have anything in common with each other, either. I mean, they’re both hatchbacks, I guess, and both four-speed sticks, so there’s that.
Yesterday, we pitted East against West in a battle of German engineering, and the results were predictable: the flat-black BMW beat the pants off the tiny two-stroke terror. I’m with you all: I desperately want to drive a Trabant someday, but I don’t feel any compulsion to spend money on one. Especially not thirteen grand. The 2002 seems a little pricey, but the seller sounds pretty motivated, so there may be a deal to be made.
Also, just a quick note about the prices of cars in general: please remember that I’m not the one setting the prices. I just show you what I find, and sometimes they’re a steal, and sometimes they’re highway robbery. Honestly, I rarely check values on the cars I post, because I’m not actually shopping for a good deal. I’m shopping for a good story. So don’t shoot the messenger, okay?
With that in mind, let’s meet today’s contenders. One of these cars has been for sale for ages; I’ve seen its posting come and go, and reappear a few weeks later with a lower price. It still seems expensive to me, but I’ll let you be the judge. The other, well, it’s hard to assign a value to it. Let’s check them out.
1987 Yugo GV – $3,250
Engine/drivetrain: 1.1 liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed manual, FWD
Location: Austin, TX
Odometer reading: 4,400 miles (really!)
Runs/drives? Yep
Yes, I know. Yesterday I subjected you all to a Trabant, today it’s a Yugo. Hey, we’re stepping up in the world, at least. Yes, this is still a cheap crappy little car built in an Eastern Bloc country, but it has “good bones,” as they say. The Zastava Koral (to give this car its rest-of-the-world name) was, like so many Soviet-era cars, based on a Fiat design, in this case the 127/128. It was imported to the US by Malcolm Bricklin (of Subaru 360 and Bricklin SV-1 fame), who was already importing Fiat X1/9s and 2000 Spyders after Fiat’s withdrawal from the US market, so it was kind of a natural fit.
The base-model Yugo GV (which I just now learned stood for “Great Value”) was powered by a 1.1 liter overhead cam four, designed for Fiat by a guy with one of my all-time favorite names, Aurelio Lampredi. This version is a bit weak-sauce, but a 1.3 or 1.5 liter engine from a Fiat Strada or X1/9 bolts right in, and plenty of performance parts exist to wake it up. It has a simple four-speed gearbox, but again, a five-speed Fiat gearbox is an easy swap if you so desire. This one runs fine as-is, but the seller says it needs a little shot of starter fluid if it has been sitting too long.
And sitting is something this car has done a lot of. It’s from Yugo’s best sales year, one of almost 50,000 sold in 1987, and it is almost certainly the lowest-mileage one left. It has only 4,400 miles on the odometer, and the seller says they have documents to back it up. Some ultra-low-mileage cars look like new, but this is not one of them. The seat upholstery seems to have held up well, but all the plastic inside is cracked and sun-faded.
The paint doesn’t look great either; I get the feeling that this car was parked outside for most of its long slumber. It wasn’t preserved, I don’t think, as much as it was ignored. It deserved better.
1981 Ford Mustang – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.3 liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Vancouver, WA
Odometer reading: unknown
Runs/drives? Very well, it sounds like
From a car that has seen virtually no use, we go now to a car that has seen perhaps too much. This early Fox-body Mustang has been extensively modified to survive “the 2024 Gambler or Armageddon, whichever comes first,” according to the seller. It has a jacked-up suspension, a beefed-up drivetrain, and the requisite appearance mods that make Gambler- and Lemons-type race cars so much fun. You just can’t take this thing seriously, and that’s kind of the point.
It features the most basic drivetrain available in the Mustang in 1981: a “Lima” 2.3 liter four-cylinder and a four-speed stick. The engine is new, and is fed by a Weber carburetor and exhales through a tube-type header. The ignition, fuel, and cooling systems have been beefed-up to survive the rigors of 500 miles of barely-there roads; it should all be plenty reliable for normal driving if you were so inclined.
Despite the Gambler bric-a-brac and the flat paint, this actually looks like a fairly solid Fox body. It’s not rusty, nor has it had any altercations with trees or rocks during its Gambler service. All the glass is intact, and although we don’t get any photos of the interior, what’s visible though the windows looks at least serviceable.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the Mad Max cosplay look; I’d want to repaint this in some brighter colors – some famous race livery. Not Gulf or Martini; those are overdone. Alitalia, maybe. Or Bill Elliott’s old Coors NASCAR livery would be cool too.
Obviously, neither of these is a serious choice. You’ve got a car that never was much good to begin with that has been sitting derelict for most of its life, and another that has been made more reliable than it ever was, but also now sticks out like a sore thumb in traffic. But either one could be fun to mess around with. So set aside reason for now, and just vote with your gut. What’ll it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
The Yugo b/c already own a Mustang and also, b/c the GV was Nick’s car in the underrated Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.
“You don’t have to yell. It’s not a train station, it’s a very tiny car.”
Possibly the only good use for a foxbody…. I’ll take that so I can beat it the rest of the way into a junkyard and have fun doing it.
I’ll walk, thanks…
“Fuckit, I’ll take the Yugo” isn’t something I ever expected I’d be saying, and yet… here we are.
Neither is serious transportation and I’ve always wanted to give the Gambler a go. Might as well have fun. Mustang it is!
I had a friend in high school that had that year Mustang, only it was a GT with the 5.0 and t-tops. Some good memories. So Mustang it is.
As for livery, since it is an off-road Ford that has been hacked up a bit, I think there is only one clear answer, Big Oly! Will have to replace the beer cans with Olympia of course.
Dammit, you’re right. I should have thought of that.
I’ll take the Rockatansky Rocket over the Yugo Nowhere. I need a laugh.
I still would’ve chosen the Yugo over the Mustang, even if it didn’t have all those hideous mods.
Think I’ll sit this one out, but will definitely be back bright and early Monday morning to see the results
Mustang, please!
The powertrain is (or should be) in good shape, and I especially appreciate the 4.11 rear end – with LSD! – to help the I4 deal with the taller tires. I would lose the fake snorkel, which is on the wrong side of the car, and maybe put a small stack through the hood to feed the Weber. The bodywork can all be refinished in rattle-can bedliner and even if the interior is beat to hell, so what? 🙂
The Yugo OTOH is in poor condition and isn’t interesting [to me] at all.
Both of these are interesting choices.
But since the ‘Stang is a 4-banger, I’ll take the Yugo.
I’d love to take the Yugo and turn it into a real-life version of Cyberpunk 2077’s Thorton Galena “Gecko”. Convert it to AWD and give it an Isuzu 4JJ turbodiesel plus matching manual transmission, tune it to roughly 365 horsepower, install roll cage, and lexan glass + steel plate armor for bulletproofing… Nomad life, yo’.
The Mustang is a classic case of “someone else’s project” and I want no part of that. I’d rather deal with the Yugo. At least it’s all stock, so if anything goes wrong, repairs should be relatively straightforward and documented extensively in manuals and on the Internet.
“…repairs should be relatively straightforward and documented extensively in manuals and on the Internet.”
Oh, you just have NO IDEA how extensively Yugo Repairs are documented. Why, there are instructions on how to repair EVERYTHING on a Yugo.
“I Fixed My Yugo With Two Hose Clamps And A Rock”
https://jalopnik.com/i-fixed-my-yugo-with-two-hose-clamps-and-a-rock-1848131984
By Jason Torchinsky
I had a Pinto with similar speed parts added, and it was a hoot! While that Yugo is tempting, I’m willing to overlook the questionable mods and take a chance on the Mild Maxstang.
I’m too old for that Mad Max mess; I’ll take the more interesting Yugo and give it some TLC.
It’s Yugo-a-gogo for me.
It’s not somebody else’s well whipped project, maybe if there was a Windsor V8 involved it might be different.
Definitely do not want some youtube clowns leftover offroadish nightmare. if I am wasting the money, then I want to Yugo it. That would definitely be an interesting unit to consider an EV swap on for sure. wonder if they make a FWD conversion kit like they do for VW? SUrely someone does, these Fiat clones were…well cloned all over the world.
I genuinely want a Yugo so this one is easy for me. Even the price is reasonable. I like how shitbox showdown featured two of my three favorite eastern bloc cars back-to-back. Maybe try to find a Lada Niva for Monday?
I’m not buying that 4400 miles on the Yugo. Looks like a couple hundred thousand should be added to that … maybe just 100k seeing as it’s a Yugo. That’s what interiors of the slightly better vehicles looked like when I used to frequent junkyards and sit in the different cars.
The upholstery of the driver’s seat doesn’t look worn. These were very low-quality cars; I doubt the driver’s seat would still be intact if it had anywhere near 100k miles. The interior looks more like a car that sat in the sun for decades than one that was driven. The ad says the car has sat since 1988. Yugos were bad enough cars that I could see an owner getting fed up with it after a year and parking it. I believe the seller that it only has 4400 miles.
One of my neighbors bought a Yugo with just over 10,000 miles on it for $50 when I was a kid. He sold it for $300. It didn’t look too terrible, but rust was already forming in places and he said no one could seem to get it to run right. They really were that bad.
I’m not buying a fuckin’ Yugo, and that Mustang looks like something the A-Team would build, so the choice is easy.
Also, is that a rack of emergency beers stowed under the snorkel? How could you choose a Yugo over emergency beers?!
The Mustang made me laugh … I appreciate the Gambler aesthetic while knowing that it’s not for me.
I’ll absolutely take the Yugo, shine it up, hose it out and use it as an around-town commuter.
The Yugo is a more interesting car and after a solid detail and wax, it would look good at the local car meet.
Most of the fun of a Roadkill/Gambler/LeMons car is building it yourself outta whatever rustpile you rescued from the junkyard. Gimme the eastern bloc (of crap).
To build a Lemons Car out of!!! or a gambler if you could get ahold of a Lada 4WD to do some swapping on.
If we don’t vote for the Yugo, will Torch will ban us from this site?
Torch has already bought that yugo to help keep his running, or vice versa here.
The Yugo is a better car.
I need that Yugo