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The Yugo: The Rise And Fall Of The Worst Car In History (2010)

by Jason Vuic(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0809098911 (ISBN13: 9780809098910)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Hill and Wang

review 1: Great read about the history of the Yugo. Provides at lot of background without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. Fascinating story actually and, of course, all the great Yugo jokes. It really delves into the impact the Yugo had on the culture, history and car-buying habits of the 1980s. It also explores the communist ideology that lead to the creation of such a poorly-manufactured automobile. In its own way, the Yugo helped contribute to the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe.
review 2: This really was entertaining as as the author notes in the introduction (after drawing your attention in), the car really was the worst in America for the latter half of the 20th century if nothing else.Decent look at the motivating forces (cheapness especially) ... morealong with the considerations that led to it being the one-hit wonder in the US that it was. (As of the book's publication, it was estimated less than 1000 of the 150000 imported still work.) Entertaining too that each chapter began with a Yugo joke. (How do you double the value of your Yugo? Fill up the gas tank.. How do you make your Yugo go fast? Tow it.) Along with bizarre situation where the Yugo America founder Malcolm Bricklin toured the Yugoslavian plant and thought it was a "quality" issue that could be fixed that the workers were unmotivated and, like the car, it was a primitive operation like something out of decades before.Overall Malcolm Bricklin, unlike his Wikipedia article, seemed a somewhat shady operator but also appears one of those individuals who have a level of charisma that you can be swept by. Probably not too dissimilar from a confidence man like Charles Ponzi (just got through with that book) who could convince you he's not running a scam because he surely would have taken the money and ran rather than bringing his mother over from Italy..Not sure how great the long-term significance the book will hold other than the typical cautionary tale of low quality on many occasion being reflected in the price and a purchase of something you intend on keeping for a while: Hey, might be a good idea to research it rather than give into public euphoria. less

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