We’ll assume that most of our readers know that the Yugo was a short-lived (in the US), Zastava-built variant of the Fiat 127 built in what is now Serbia and imported by none other than Malcom Bricklin for US consumption. The idea was to have the lowest-priced car in the US, but it faced competition from then-new Hyundai and its Excel. One of those players survived the early 90s and one didn’t.
Today’s Yugo feature is the top of the range, the mighty – and rare – GVX!
There are a lot of low-mileage Yugos and they pop up for sale fairly often. Frankly, many have low mileage because they didn’t run well. With this one, that could be the case; but it also seems someone stashed this away in 1990, knowing it was a true oddity. Today, that means you have an opportunity to have a GVX time capsule, complete with ground effects, alloys and fancy interior colors, not to mention the upgraded 1.3L four cylinder. The market will have to decide whether almost $5K is reasonable for that.
If we bought it, we’d not only work to address the rough running mentioned by the seller, but we’d consider how to do some stealth mods. Given its Fiat roots, we imagine upgrade parts are available. It would be awesome to rebuild with high compression and run modern fuel injection on this, all hidden under the stock air cleaner. That might be tough on this 1988 model, though, as it’s carbureted. Still, maybe an aftermarket throttle body injection system would fit?
We don’t think one could ring massive power of of a naturally aspirated 1.3-liter four; but we imagine one could make this into a surprising sleeper without an engine swap. One could easily build a better driver for similar money by starting with a better platform; but where’s the challenge in that?
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Manchester, MD, USA,Earth
$4,995 BIN with offers considered and two hours to go
A Yugo with its hood up? This time, it’s for show. Note the GVX appearance, which is much more appealing than that of the utilitarian base car.
Rear louvers are an awesome feature! To 1969-1970 Mustang fans, they’re “sport slats.” Also, note the aggressive (?) exhaust.
Here’s a first good glance at the sporty, striped interior. Note GVX on head restraints.
Dash and controls are perfectly straightforward and functional. Sadly, even the “sporty” version of the Yugo lacks a tachometer…
Yep – the rear seats continue the theme.
Here’s the Zastava data plate!
This is the mighty (for a Yugo) 1.3L four cylinder. This was the top of the range – fitting for the GVX. No, we didn’t previously know that the Dave Matthews Band was involved in the tuning.
Ad text:
Rare find…a 1988 Yugo GVX with under 25000 miles. According to the Yugo forums, they only made 1500 of the GVX model. I am also told there are few of the GVX left making it an increasingly desirable and rare car. It has the ground effects, 1.3L engine and the 5 speed manual transmission. This car is in great condition, runs good, has only minor surface rust as far as I can see. Engine runs strong and shifts well. All functions seem to work good. Although not perfect, it is probably one of the best remaining original examples. There are a few quirks. The engine doesn’t idle well until you have driven it a bit. It could use a new exhaust hangar. It needs the ground effects trim touched up. This is a non a/c car. It has been a blast to drive and I just had it at a car show and got a lot of attention. I have a clear title for it. The glass is good, the windows roll up and down, I have two complete sets of keys for the ignition, door/hatch, and gas cap. The brakes work well and the parking brake is good. It shifts through all five gears well and into reverse well. Seems to be plenty of clutch. Steering is very responsive. The ride is very smooth. Radio works and sounds good.
Here is some additional information to help clarify any minor faults as mentioned in the “condition description”. First, the car is missing the tiny plastic drip rail cover on the passenger side. There is a tiny tear in the driver side door panel, about 1″ long. The shifter knob is scratched as is the shift pattern disc in the top of the shifter. There are a number of tiny paint imperfections on the passenger side hood and front fender. They appear to be about 1/16″ of an inch or smaller in diameter. The rear hatch supporting shock needs replaced. The interior is very good but could use a little cleaning.
I have a set of Yugo mud flaps (4 in total), that I will reinstall on the car. I took them off to clean them up.
This vehicle was warehouse kept since about 1990 in Hagerstown, MD. The previous owner was a used car dealer. I was told his son drove it to school and back and then only occasionally over the next 20+ years.
I am hoping someone can give this survivor a great home with indoor storage.