The Yugo Audiobook By Jason Vuic cover art

The Yugo

The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History

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The Yugo

By: Jason Vuic
Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
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Six months after its American introduction in 1985, the Yugo was a punch line; within a year, it was a staple of late-night comedy. By 2000, NPR's Car Talk declared it "the worst car of the millennium." And for most Americans that's where the story begins and ends. Hardly.

The short, unhappy life of the car, the men who built it, the men who imported it, and the decade that embraced and discarded it is rollicking and astounding, and it is one of the greatest untold business-cum-morality tales of the 1980s. Mix one rabid entrepreneur, several thousand "good" communists, a willing U.S. State Department, the shortsighted Detroit auto industry, and improvident bankers, shake vigorously, and you’ve got The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History.

Brilliantly re-creating the amazing confluence of events that produced the Yugo, Yugoslav expert Jason Vuic uproariously tells the story of the car that became an international joke: The American CEO who happens upon a Yugo right when his company needs to find a new import or go under. A State Department eager to aid Yugoslavia's nonaligned communist government. Zastava Automobiles, which overhauls its factory to produce an American-ready Yugo in six months. And a hole left by Detroit in the cheap subcompact market that creates a race to the bottom that leaves the Yugo...at the bottom.

©2010 Jason Vuic (P)2010 Tantor Automotive Engineering Europe Transportation Business Imperialism Thought-Provoking Imperial Japan

Critic reviews

“This is a fun read about a heap of junk that should make anyone feel better about having to take their car to a repair shop.” ( Publishers Weekly)
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You might think you know about the Yugo but chances are you really don't know the half of it. I was surprised how much actually was going on behind the scenes. For instance how much politics, American and world had to do with both its success and failure. It's also an interesting exposé of sorts on Malcolm Bricklin, the man who brought the Yugo to America. It follows the ups and many more downs of his career. By the way you don't need to be a car nut to find this book enjoyable. Narration is great too.

Great book

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This is a good story. I completely enjoyed listening to the history of the company, the players and those who fell into the story.

Good story

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I like automobiles. I was surprised when I listened to this book, thought back to the glowing reviews and surmised there must be a disconnect somewhere. While the book was interesting for the most part to listen to, it rambled on about barely Yugo related subjects like Yugoslavian politics. Yes, some political facts are necessary to present a full picture, but to blither on about country politics, for me, just didn’t add anything to the book. If one removes all of the excess detail that was provided about the people and places that Yugo touched, the book would be reduced by half and probably be a more interesting listen. Luckily, I have long drives with the patience to get through it all.

Even if you're a car guy - skip it

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A great listen. Well worth the time invested. In an interesting way the author digs deep and presents hard facts about this auto and the players that brought it to market. It is a fluid explaination of the human gains and losses racked up in project of this scope. He simplifies and assists in understanding how geo-political knots affect the "man in the street" and the value of hard earned dollars spent. This should be required reading for high school and first year college business classes. They could learn something marketable in the concrete, not idealistically in the abstract. I'm trying hard not to make this sound like a dry textbook because it is not that at all. Funny and entertaining. You will wish there were more. The narrator is someone you could listen to for hours and come away feeling refreshed.

Interesting, don't pass one this up.

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Would you listen to The Yugo again? Why?

I might listen to this again someday, to relive the moments of promise and optimism of that time just after the Sarajevo Olympics when it seemed Yugoslavia was on the brink of transitioning from a second to a first world nation, when its natural and human resources seemed to be coalescing into something great and perhaps even lasting.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Yugo?

There'd always be a guy with a tray full of little glasses of this jet fuel -- plum brandy -- that everyone would partake of at all hours of the day at the Yugo factory. The way the Americans tried to eat the coffee grounds at the bottom of their Turkish coffee!

What does Erik Synnestvedt bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator brings a lighthearted, yet earnest, tone to the book. He helps you believe in the charm and winsome nature of the little car at the center of the book. His pronunciation of Serbian names and words is very good. He's good at bringing an ironic, dark undertone to the Yugo gags sprinkled throughout the book. I would listen to more books narrated by him.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried at the end, at the lyrics of Yugo 45, about the window of peace and a sort of prosperity symbolized by the freedom to fill up the tank and drive over the border to Trieste to buy jeans. In a completely different vein, I was angered at how much wealth and luxury the entrepreneur Malcolm manage to glean from his huge salary and then his multimillion dollar severance package, while investors and Yugo dealers lost everything they contributed to his dream.

Any additional comments?

I remember when the Yugo came to America. I took one for a test drive, but I never considered actually buying one. This book explains how the car became a punch line, a longstanding laughingstock, a latter-day Edsel -- and why the reputation was and wasn't deserved.

The little car that couldn't

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