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The Yugo???? Dude only repairs Yugos

I think I remember, back in the day, a promotion where when you bought a new Ford, don't remember which model, they gave you a new Yugo for free?
 
Those all look like Fiat models, heaps of them made around under license, gazzilions of them in Egypt Black and Yellow Taxis. Zastava is a name I haven't heard for many years but again Fiat, Russians had them under the name Lada
 
Dan Aykroyd reckoned the Yugo was a fine example of automotive technology....
Anyone remember the Movie?
 
Buffalo Bill said:
bummer, wsj too stingy to allow us to read beyond a few lines.
Click to expand...



A Drag Racer Turns Handicap Of His Yugo to His Advantage


By

Dan MorseStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

May 25, 1999 12:23 am ET ATCO, N.J. -- Dave Benton revs up his engine as the announcer at Atco Raceway calls the action over a scratchy public-address system. "Eighty cubic inches," announcer Max Scherwin tells the crowd of about 2,000. "I know motorcycles that got bigger motors than that."

And Mr. Benton is off. It's his third drag race of the morning, all in a 1986 Yugo.

Let people laugh.
benton05241999205057.gif
Dave Benton and his Yugo
The arthritic 62-year-old challenges 17-foot dragsters, souped-up Chevys, roaring Mustangs -- taking full advantage of a handicapping system that gives his baby-blue hatchback up to an eight-second head start in quarter-mile dashes. Under the emblem "Underdog Racing," Mr. Benton has become something of a legend around New Jersey's weekend drag-racing circuit.

Mr. Benton is a throwback to a time when drag racing wasn't about who could spend the most money muscling up a car. What drivers couldn't afford, they simply made themselves. A clutch release? Mr. Benton slapped an old air-conditioner magnet on the floorboard that he activates with a switch on the stick shift. To lighten the Yugo, he uses a battery from a garden tractor; gas is held in a 1-gallon oil tank taken from a Honda motorcycle.

In seven years of racing, he has cut his time to 14.785 seconds from 21.9, hitting speeds of around 90 miles an hour.

But ... a Yugo? The $3,990 car that Consumer Reports once called "a grab bag of barely assembled nuts and bolts"? The vehicle that after it was launched with a slogan of "Everybody you know needs a Yugo" scored worst in its category on U.S. government crash tests? The car that for years became a staple on the joke circuit (Why do Yugos have rear-window defrosters? To keep your hands warm while you push it)?

Actually, in many ways, Mr. Benton is as unique as the Yugo.

A lifelong New Jersey resident, Mr. Benton was born with a clubfoot and wore a leg brace through grade school. At the age of nine, he took apart his first engine. "A '37 Chevy," Mr. Benton recalls. He remembers, he says, because "I never got it back together."

He studied forestry for a year in college but dropped out to pursue a string of disparate careers: Porsche mechanic, cowboy, bulldozer operator, motivational speaker, instructor of automotive technology.

By 1986, Mr. Benton and his wife, Linda, a high-school math teacher, decided to downsize from their '73 Cadillac and old Chrysler station wagon. The first compact they test-drove: an '86 Yugo GV. A half-mile into the ride, Mr. Benton was so taken by the car's pep and handling, they turned the thing around, zipped back to the dealer and bought it. As it happened, Yugo America Inc. was headquartered just up the road in Upper Saddle River. And in 1987, Mr. Benton got a job there, in the technical-services department.

Inside Yugo America, though, things weren't going well. The company had recalled its first 9,000 cars because some of the seat belts weren't bolted on according to specifications. And though Fortune magazine had singled the Yugo out as one of the products of the year in 1985, the car's sales fell consistently short of annual goals of 200,000; they never reached one-quarter of that.

In 1992, Yugo America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, stopped importing the vehicles and left American dealers to take dramatic measures to sell off inventories. One pitch: "Buy a Buick, Get a Free Yugo."

Mr. Benton was once again out of a job. But when his desire for an inexpensive hobby drove him to New Jersey's amateur drag-racing circuit in 1992, Mr. Benton opted for the Yugo. His first quarter-mile time, 21.9 seconds, was only slightly faster than a greyhound could have run it.

One day, returning home from the Atco Raceway, Mr. Benton was clipped by a passing Camaro. He was forced into the center guardrail, flipped four times -- and walked away, unscathed. "Tough little cars," Mr. Benton says. Getting Serious


After the wreck, Mr. Benton salvaged the 80 cubic-inch engine, Yugo's largest ever, stuck it in a replacement Yugo he bought at a junkyard for $100 and really got serious about making a fast car.

Over the next five years, he ran about 400 races, generally competing in "bracket" divisions. Under that format, drivers submit the time they expect to run. Typically, Mr. Benton might submit a 14.91, while his competitor would post something like a 10.04. Then Mr. Benton would get his 4.87-second head start. The winner: whoever is closest to his predicted time -- without going under it.

Still, he feels the need for speed. This winter, Mr. Benton rebuilt the engine's short block, looking to shave more ticks off his time. And on May 15, he and two Yugo Underdog buddies -- Pete Mulhern, 57, and Dave Greason, 63 -- have gathered in Mr. Benton's driveway to finish up the engine so Mr. Benton can unleash it the following day at the Atco Raceway.

Mr. Benton still limps. Mr. Mulhern also moves slowly: He has had two heart attacks and suffers from emphysema. Mr. Greason, a diabetic, has had open-heart surgery and has a condition called essential tremor, which makes his head shake. He figures he doesn't have all that long to live. "It's winding down for me now," he says. "It's time to have some fun." Yugo Central


Behind the three, a dark garage has been turned into a Yugo parts center. Six engines lie on the floor. Exhaust systems rest against the wall. Nuts and bolts are stored in old Planters Cheese Balls cans, or are scattered on the concrete floor. The mess spills into the driveway, where six parked Yugos extend into a weed-caked front yard.

Mr. Benton climbs behind the wheel, and flips the ignition switch-piercing the quiet neighborhood with what sounds like a lawn mower on steroids. Mr. Mulhern, wearing a white fishing cap and reading glasses, tweaks the carburetor with a long, thin screwdriver.

Eventually, Mr. Benton declares the new engine ready for battle.

Early the next morning, Mr. Benton packs for the day: lunch, soft drinks, a plastic sandwich-bag filled with vitamins and various medicines. Mr. Mulhern arrives, and the two hitch the drag-Yugo to the back of Mr. Benton's everyday-Yugo. They drive to the track, arriving before most of the other racers, and start replacing the standard front tires of the dragster with racing ones.

Within minutes, a younger man, Kevin Thomas, bounds up to check out the car.

"I heard about you!" he says. "I heard about the Yugo!" Mr. Thomas, who drags a Subaru station wagon, tells Mr. Benton he has a turbo kit on order. "I want to become an Underdog too. I want to scare some people." Dropping Weight


Other racers and spectators wander by, some shaking their heads, some laughing. But the jokes don't last long in this crowd. Mostly, it's Mr. Benton's mechanical skills that impress his fellow racers -- and have helped him cut down the weight of the car to its current 1,340 pounds from about 2,000.

The morning goes well for Underdog Racing. On this day, Mr. Benton is racing only against cars his own size and speed, in the "Sportsman Import" division. In his second practice run, Mr. Benton sets a new personal record: 14.785 seconds.

He eventually loses in the semifinals to a Mazda RX-7, but he has done well enough for a swing by the awards stand after the race. He picks up a trophy, $85 in prize money (he has won money just three times before) and climbs back into the dragster. En route to his space in the pits, Mr. Benton drives by hundreds of fans and racers -- cracking open his driver's side door and thrusting the 18-inch gold trophy into the air. The crowd cheers.

Mr. Mulhern has been waiting patiently in his lawn chair, by now exhausted from an afternoon in the warm sun.

"We did it again," Mr. Benton says, showing him the cash.​
 
I yearn for a Yugo. Something simple, reliable and cheap.
I reckon the Peak Yugo would be the ones with the Peugeot engines.
 
A friend of mine bought a new Yugo in about 1990. He couldn't stop bragging about getting a new car for $4k. In less than 2 years, he had 2 engine replacements under warranty. When he needed the next engine, it was out of warranty, so he quickly parted with it.

I guess that they were somewhat based on the Fiat 128. My first wife had the Fiat for some years. Her dad bought a 1976 Fiat 128 as a leftover in 1977 or 1978. Paid $2700 negotiated on a $3000 sticker. It had a couple of flaws in the paint. They raised a large level warranty complaint about it. The Fiat dealer also owned a Cadillac shop next door, so the Fiat got a high quality respray with Cadillac factory paint. It was the closest color match. That paint job was worth more than the car.

I was the lucky guy that got to work on it for some years. The good thing was that the factory parts were dirt cheap. The SOHC 1.3 engine was the only jewel. That car had an "Alpine" 4.7 final drive for some reason. It was screaming at 70 mph. Some people used modified versions of that 1.3 in 80 ci. class Bonneville streamliners. Somehow they built them to do 11k rpm.
 
Grimly said:
I yearn for a Yugo. Something simple, reliable and cheap.
I reckon the Peak Yugo would be the ones with the Peugeot engines.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mind a stripped out sport hatchback. All gadgets & interior plush removed. Thro back to 1960s minimal interior.
 
I never owned one but from rumors I'd heard, always thought that "Reliable Yugo" was probable an oxy moron.
 
We got the Lada incarnation.
How do you double the value of a Lada? - Fill the tank.
Why do Ladas have heated rear windows? - To keep your hands warm when pushing them.
What do you call a Lada with a sunroof? - A dumpster.
A colleague bought one, in fairness at a price you couldn't refuse. He would brag about the fuel consumption and someone would sneak out and pour a gallon into his tank. His claims got more incredible as the weeks went on until eventually he twigged it :)
 
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