[Mgs] Off topic & good news - Yugo finally eliminated

Matt Trebelhorn matt.lists at trebelhorn.com
Fri Nov 28 13:06:49 MST 2008


The Yugo came on some frighteningly bad tires -- tall, skinny, made  
in yugoslavia; called TIGAR.  TIGARs make a 10-year old Michelin X  
look like an R-compound.

I still have a set of TIGARs (thankfully now unmounted), which the  
previous owner put a surprising number of miles on.  I put a set of  
BFGs on mine when I got it, and the handling got better in  a hurry.

That said, it's still not exactly a road-race weapon -- especially  
the carbed 1100cc version.  Its very short wheelbase makes it a  
decent little autocrosser, though.

Matt

On 25 Nov, 2008, at 5:51 PM, Norm 2Bs wrote:

> Who will miss the Yugo?  Can't imagine anyone except the people  
> making them.
>
> Had a funny thing happen once upon a time re. Yugo.
>
> Back in the day when they sold those little buggers here in the  
> U.S., I had
> Yugo as an account.  Eventually got to know the Account Executive  
> at their
> advertising agency very well.  Turned out we lived in the same town &
> occasionally rode the same train into Manhattan.  We became  
> friendly & one
> year I brought him along as a guest to the annual "Test Day" run by  
> the
> eastern motor press organization of which I was a member.  (Another  
> name for
> it was, "Flaunt Your Incompetence Day.")  It was held a a local  
> race track.
>
> Well, I drove him around the track in a few cars including a BMW M6  
> before
> getting into the Yugo.  Now, at the time, I was only a decent  
> driver.  But,
> had not yet begun racing.  So, he had SOME confidence in my driving  
> skill,
> but not 100%.  So, here we are thrashing this little tin box around  
> on a
> race track.  I thought he was going to have a heart attack. That  
> day, I
> learned about "white-knuckle" driving.  The Yugo was a piece of  
> junk.  It
> was almost as ill-handling as the econo-box that Chevrolet was  
> selling at
> the time.  (May have been Isuzu-based.)  THAT was better in  
> quality, but
> really awful handling on its tiny, skinny tires.  When we returned  
> to the
> paddock with that Chevy, I began berating the engineering staff  
> present
> about how ill-handling it was.  During our heated debate, an  
> emergency was
> announced.  Seems that little "Chevy" had done what I said it  
> would.  It
> rolled on a hard right-hander.  The editor driving survived, although
> somewhat embarrassed.
>
> Somehow the Yugo survived that day.  But, the agency soon lost the  
> account &
> my friend recovered from his fear of the car that he had been  
> responsible
> for promoting.
>
> Today we both drive German cars on the street, & I race an Italian & a
> British car.
>
> Norm Sippel
> '59 Turner (BMC "A" engine)
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