Jeff Dunham's 1988 Yugo GVS - Jay Leno's Garage 

10 times more entertaining than any of the supercar episodes.

In 1991, a yugo 45 had saved the life of me and my family during the escape from Vukovar, at that difficult time (Battle of Vukovar) the car was a real blessing, and reliable companion.

“It’s not that bad” should have been the ad campaign. 😂

Thanks to both for not trashing the car and be rude about it like many other car "experts". It was a great little car, if you took care of it it definitely was reliable and decent. My father bought yugo 60 in 91, we sold it in 2003 with 140k km on the clock, never had any bigger issues. Cheers to all! 💪🏎️🚀

Finally a Jay Leno episode featuring a car that I can afford!

Fun fact for Jeff: The parts werent made in different countries, they were all made in Yugoslavia - all the names you rattled down were part of Yugoslavia at the time. 😅 The more you know! 💫

My first car, purchased in 1994 for driving to school when I was 15. One morning, a police pulled me over and requested my driving license. I handed him my moped license. He was looking at the license and my Yugo and say "You have nothing, just go, go, go.I don't want to see you again". The car had no registration and no blinkers. One time, me and my friend drive to the coast. In a spare tire i had a cloth, accidentally touching the exhaust and igniting a fire. We smelled something burning, open the hood, panicked, and sprinted to the other side of the highway, anticipating an explosion like in the movies:) Nothing happend. Luckily, a road maintenance truck arrived, extinguished the fire , and left. Returning to the car, we continue our trip as if nothing had happened. The car reached a maximum speed of 134 km/h. However, during winter, the cooling fan malfunctioned. On one occasion, after a night at a disco, my friend fell asleep in the car with the engine running for five hours. The car overheated, depleting the water tank, and melting some plastic stuf around the engine. Surprisingly, after that the car's top speed was 147 km/h.

By far the most entertaining of all the Leno car demonstration videos. We need more of the humble, utilitarian cars to remind us where we came from.

Guy walks into a parts store and says “I’d like a gas cap for my Yugo”. Guy behind the counter says, “Sounds like a fair trade”…ah, that dad joke never gets old 🤣

My dad had one. It was our first family car. When we would leave the Banja Luka area to go to the Coast in Croatia, my mom put little pillows and blankets for us in the back and my brother and I slept on opposite sides in the back. Amazing and heartwarming memories from back then. I miss my dad and I miss those family vacations circa 1988-1991 when we were all in one country.

Used to drive it for years, the one made for American market. Only 4 gears, never broke down, never let me down, snow, rain, whatever :) Still going strong with mini repairs. Not worth to sell, cause it's probably worth 400$ now. Doesn't consume much fuel, repairs cost 20$. Good memories.

I road around w this gal back in school that drove her Yugo like a ralley racer ,n it never failed. That thing never quit ,no matter what she put it through

Yugo was awesome!! Simple and easy to maintain. They were dirt cheap so no one maintained them properly. My neighbor drove one for 18 years with regular maintenance

I love the way a Yugo looks in 2023, this is the nicest one ive seen. I would drive this everyday

I liked how Jay seemed legit annoyed at that puppet. I was right there with him!😂

The best part is when Jeff is laughing at his own jokes and jay is just straight facing it 😆

My mother bought one of these things and looking back, I'm amazed that we survived it. We took it on a road trip to California that involved crossing the Mojave Desert in the summer and it almost overheated going up those hills on the interstate. We took it camping to Yellowstone in 1988 when the giant first fires had just gotten started. We also somehow managed to fit 9 people in it to go to a birthday party. Most were kids, but that was an accomplishment, considering.

I sold a good many of these while working at a Dodge dealership. The funny thing was a lot of the sales were for multiple cars. Parents would buy a couple for their kids etc. I had one buyer who bought three; one red, one white and the last of course blue. The owners who brought their Yugo in for regular servicing had well over 100k miles on them with no major issues.

It's like a 3 legged puppy, a little broken but still adorable. Reminds me of Oliver.

Jay and Jeff had another car follow them to film this excursion. It also served as a guaranteed ride back for when the Yugo breaks down.

When I was a teenage kid in Zagreb - Croatia (part of former Yugoslavia) back in the 90s, we use to "steal" Yugos from our parents and drive around on the weekends. Yugo could do close to 100 km/h in 1st gear. I remember this like it was yesterday, the engine was making all kinds of noises and basically screaming like a scoulded cat but it refused to explode or fall apart. Ohh what a time, what a days. Golden Age of my and my friends lifes. Yugos were everywhere, it was part of the family, your best friend, true working horse and staple of transportation and economy in former Yugoslavia. It will definitely be remembered in our hearts and minds, as part of our childhood, a nostalgic memory, just like huge landsails for young Americans. And especially because it represented and still represents a united Yugoslavia and all of its nations. Oh yeah, and one of my friends had an "racing" GVX version, i remember we all thought it was so darn cool.

The Yugo is built on the Fiat127 platform. It's strange that you don't know that all those countries that produced parts for the Yugo were part of Yugoslavia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Yugo continued to be produced under the name Zastava Koral in Kragujevac, Serbia. The redesigned version had a Peugeot engine. All in all a practical car for that time.

'Yugo' ('Jugo')was named in a public competition in the old Yugoslavia (Jugoslavia), ordinary citizens voted and that name was chosen among many proposals according to the wind blowing on the Adriatic Sea, but since it is pronounced differently in the English-speaking area, it was renamed to 'Yugo', in essence is a game of words. 'GV' is the equipment level for the American market and stands for Grand Value, because of the low price, obviously because it was cheaper in America than on the domestic market. It was never a copy of a FIAT vehicle, but a successor to the FIAT 127 and a product of Italian engineers and local ingenuity, although we called it the first fully domestic car. FIAT did not want to put its mark on a model that was produced in Italy, but used the name of its earlier model and tools in a closed factory and made it under the name 'Innocenti Koral' ('Koral' is the name under which it was produced for a while in our country). Even a prototype electric model was made. The car was of terrible quality but we all still love it. It weighed about 750kg, that would be approximately 1655lbs (for your market is a bit more weight, it seems to me because of safety regulations).Greetings for Jay from Serbia! 😉

We had a joke about Yugo. Why does it comes standard with heated rear window? So that your hands don't freeze when you're pushing it after it breakes down😂 There was a ton of these here in Slovenia (which it's obvious since Slovenia is a former Yugoslav country) when I grew up. You could get good runing one for something like 100$ in early '00. Now you mostly see few of them tuned and racing here and there.😊

I am from the former Yugoslavia, today we are an independent country, Slovenia. YUGO has always been a stepping stone, a first car. Later we progressed to YUGO SKALA 55 or even ZASTAVA 101. With independence, the car market opened up and the rest is history. What a memories.

My wife bought me a brand new Yugo in '90, so I'd stop riding my ZX10 Ninja to work in -19 degree freezing rain and snow during the winter. $3,400. and a two year bumper to bumper warranty. They'd even refill the windshield washer fluid! I loved it, and it was surprisingly quick to get around in. I have thought that any true car enthusiast would enjoy driving a Yugo, as it teaches energy management, much like any lower powered vehicle does.

How real car people do a review, real pro work! 99.9% of Yugo videos is trashing and repeating jokes, and this is refreshing to watch. Fun, informative, two car guys sharing love and respect for any car.

A selling point of the Yugo is that nobody will believe it is Jay Leno driving. Built in stealth!

Show of hands who’d like to see Jay do more of these “regular guy” cars?!

I was the Yugo specialist at the dealer I worked for . I have a certificate that hangs on my wall that proves it 😊 The reason I was appointed as the guy for them was because my mom was from Yugoslavia ! I have respect for the car . The parent company was Zastava

OH this brings some memories:):):) we had the YUGO 45 from '88 to '92 in 1990 we went with it from Serbia to Greece for summer vacation, I remember we couldn't overtake anybody on the freeway it was so funny, but my brother and I also had our pillows and we were sleeping like babies in the back seats. I don't know just how my parents managed to pack everything for vacation in that little booth these days I'm driving an SUV and we still go almost every year to Grece on vacation and we always have a problem packing everything in a rather large booth. AHHHH these were the days 🥰

25:24 All these parts were made in ex Yugoslavia which had 6 republics. My mom still drives a yugo, made in 2005, it has a peague engine 1.2 with 5 gears and it's pink. After 18 years it's still a good car! Greetings from Serbia!

The places that Jeff Dunham is listing at 25:30 were all Yugoslav republics. So yes, the entire car was made in Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was a federation consisting of 6 republics: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

My dad had one of these back in the late 90's. It was so simple and dead reliable. In a weird way I really miss that car.

I had one and loved it. The timing belt broke and bent the valves so I got new valves put them in myself for less than $100 and drive the heck out of it. Bought it for $500 sold it 3 years later for $500. All in all it was a great little car.

Imagine yelling a question to the occupants of this unusual car and realizing that the person responding was Jay Leno. That would be the story I would never tire of recounting.

I love how the constantly go to the exterior shots with the motor SCREAMING 😂

My friend has the same Yugo, from new with 256,000 km on it. He has driven it from Vancouver to Halifax six times. Never did anything more then undercoating and maintenance.

That's the car I took my driving test in back in 1990. (driver instructor owned it). I remember when you go 30mph the feeling was like racing at 80mph. Lovely car, once it was a dream come through, we in Bosnia even have a song about it. Thank you for representing it to the rest of the world.

I laughed and smiled more on this video than I think any Leno vid in a long time. Jeff is one of a kind! Thanks Jay !

Jeff saved my life in 2009, so I take the opportunity to thank him here. He told a joke that pissed off my wife and I laughed so hard and long that she divorced me. I am alive today due to a joke, keep it up Jeff. Save some more of us.

i drove three yugos during my youth till 35 years...those times were the best in my life...yugo was cheaper to maintain than my tomos moped..greetings from slovenia,,ex country from yugoslavia..AND IT IS NOT THAT BAD AS THEY JUDGE IT TO BE!!!!!!

LOL for a minute when Jay said about backing over the dummy, and then Jeff bent down like that I thought he was going to lie down behind the car.

I remember a comedy film starring Dan Akroyd where his character refered to the Yugo as " The pinacle of Serbo - Croatian technology " LOL 😂

This was great! Automotive peasantry instead of automotive royalty. I hope Jay drives more old cheap cars in the future cause this was a really fun episode :)

In 1989 we saw one one these parked in front of a house with a 'Free' sign on the windshield. The keys and title were in it. It started right up. My friend Jimmy plated it and drove it for two years. The interior plastics were just dust but it ran fine without much trouble. Like Jay said...it's not bad!

I worked in maintenance at a Yugo dealership years ago, and in the Service department was a huge banner hanging on the wall, out of customers sight of course, that said: “The Yugo gets the best gas mileage of any car because one tank of gas outlasts the life of the car!“😊

Fun fact: I lived in Yugoslavia at the time this car was produced and I drove one. The owner was proud that it was an American model. For some reason, some ended up on the local market. Probably some manufacturing error. So, there was also a version for the Yugoslav market and many are still on the road :) The manufacturer is Zastava and there are other similar models.

How cool is this, I had the exact same car. Same year and model. Everyone laughed when I bought it but it was a sturdy little car that handled the narrow rough roads where I lived like a champ.

A good friend of mine in High School immigrated from Yugoslavia. He was Croatian. The Yugo was very much the product of national pride. Yogoslavs could build a car of their own. He mentioned to me on several occasions that the Yugo was also in part a bid to unify the country. The parts were built all over so that the disparate regions and ethnic groups had to cooperate to make all the parts for a whole car. That didn't work out so well.

I remember seeing these cars in Atlanta, Georgia, back in 1988, & they were everywhere. I was only 22 years old at the time & couldn't afford one, but if I could have, I would have bought one, & now at the age of 58 years old today I still think that it would have made a great car for my needs at the time. 💜💯

I had a Yugo, but 5 five-gear version. It was a fantastic car for young guys, and very popular in Serbia from 1990-2000. The fun thing was that almost every owner knew how to repair regular problems with it, The time mu pad for the gear switch collapsed (it was 200.000km), and I just lay down below a car, took a simple nail, made altogether, secured it with a nail and it worked, only reverse gear didn't work. I was lazy and drove it for a month before repair. I always had a spare distribution cap and platinum buttons, and I knew when it broke and replaced it in 3 minutes. There were no other issues, he was really reliable if you know few tricks. I sold it with 242.000km, but since it shows only 5 digits(42.000), I said he has 142.000, I also bought it with 65.000 on the clock, who knows was he 65.000 or 165.000. :-)

Considering the crappy cars that were on sale in the 80s, in America and especially in Europe, the Yugo was actually a decent little car that, to the surprise of many, didn't break down much and you could fix it on the side of the road for $2

Jeff is absolutely right about the main reason why Yugo was breaking down so often in US. Demographic who bought a $4K car never maintained it properly or did preventive maintenance on time. Only when it would break down. At the same time in home country Yugoslavia it was very reliable and did the job better than you would expect. BTW Yugoslavia is English spelling for Jugoslavija and therefore Jugo is how it was written in home country. When export started it was natural to change Jugo into Yugo. When you compare Yugo designed for Yugoslavian roads at the time and its presence on US roads, then you can understand its underperformance especially compared to US car market at the time. In those days Yugoslavian rads were mostly two way traffic on a single narrow two way road on windy and hilly terrain. If you could afford any American car from that era to import and drive on those roads, I can tell you Yugo would leave them in dust. Being light and with perky 1100 cc engine it was more than adequate to get it through the bands quicker than more powerful but heavier cars of those days. So it is not a bad car but it was sold on the wrong market. Yes it was rusting badly because of the old technology of manufacturing and protecting metal sheets but the repair was so cheap (in Yugoslavia) you didn't care. Or if you did care then you just wouldn't drive it in the middle of winter when it was snowing and they would use insane amount of salt on the road to prevent the icing. Local models did not have an aircon but because of the roads you couldn't drive at freeway speeds so windows were open anyways. Only in city traffic jam on stinking hot day you would often think about it. And lets not forget it, in Yugoslavia (brand new) they cost even less than $4K so people could afford it. They would rather buy and drive a car without aircon than take a public transport WITHOUT aircon. When they started exporting the car then they upgraded the gearbox to 5 speed but I can tell you from personal experience, the 5 speed was a bit quieter on the freeway and more economical, but I preferred a 4 speed gearbox over it as it was better matched with the 1.1L engine. Gear ratios were better suited. Maybe a 950cc motor (in some models) were ok with the 5 speed but not 1100cc. This model on this video has a special sports exhaust and the timing and carby were probably modified and that is why it is running a bit rough when idling, but the original was idling very smooth and quietly. Thanks for the upload, brings me so many good memories...

Jeff's YUGO looked very much like the 78 VW Rabbit that my wife had for her first car! Functional and self-serviceable. Jay, you should do a special with the YUGO, a LADA, a Citroen 2CV, and a Reliant Robin!

When the car is so loud the mics barely work. Jeff is absolutely GIDDY about this thing and it's awesome.

When I was about 21, I worked at a small parts store. We actually sold a carburetor kit for a yugo. I was surprised. No one ever bought it, but we had one.

The joke was, the Yugo had a rear window defroster to keep your hands warm while you pushed it off the road!

I bought a Yugo new. Very good car. Reliable and inexpensive to maintain. Wish I still had it.

I'm one of those guys, that always bought used. In fact, I never regretted it. At the used lot, if a car had any bugs, they would either be worked out, or become apparent. There were usually no surprises, if you looked it over thoroughly before buying. I test drove plenty of used vehicles that were on their way out, as used cars. The cars that were in good condition, were typically survivors, and they gave me plenty more years of service. That's one reason, a Yugo never made sense to me. Sure, there's a little bit of promise in a cheap and brand new car. But, if a more upscale new car is going to lose its value, why wouldn't a cheap car lose value as well, as soon as it's driven off the lot? I had always heard stories about various parts falling off at the dealerships, when it came to Yugo. When I was with a friend, I had looked at one of those Cabriolets, that was parked there. One thing I immediately noticed, was that the handle was loose. In fact, the hex bolt that was holding it on had backed out so much, that it was almost ready to come off. Sure, it could have been a pretty decent vehicle, if everything was put together right, but multiply that build quality issue, among all the parts. You have something that potentially shouldn't be inspiring much confidence. In its favor, it's pretty simple. Parts aside, it should probably be easy to maintain. If I were ever to get one, I'd probably go over every bolt and fastener, to make sure it was tight. On the other hand, I'd probably still find it much more rewarding to invest in one of its peers, that had a better history. Although, the Yugo was featured in Aykroyd's Dragnet.

This baby looks like a first-generation Golf, and looks like it's just about as reliable as one too. Beautiful little thing.

Back in the late 90s, there was an older guy, Dave "underdog racing" Benton, who used to show up at all the early import drag events (NIRA, etc) on the east coast with a blue Yugo with a custome intake, custom cam, fiberglass body panels, and slicks. The best part was he used to flat tow it to the track with another red Yugo that was was was also his SCCA autocross car. Real cool guy, who was racing for ages. Edit: apparently he passed away this summer. RIP Dave.

I will always remember the feeling when I drove a Yugo for the first time. Feared for my life at 80km/h. A few years ago we still had heaps of Yugos here in Serbia. It's now getting very rare.

Drowning Mona .. the Yugo 45 is legendary !!

My grandpa had this car in the states. Legendary car.

My neighbors had a Yugo growing up. They were large people. And you would see the whole family piled up in this car. Lol. It ran for a long time. ❤❤👍😂😎

Right before I started college as a bit older college student I bought a brand new Ford Festiva they had some ridiculous deal on them I drove it off the lot for 4995 took it home under coated it with spray cans. Lubed absolutely everything siliconed all the rubber parts used a high-end synthetic wax on the paint. Put mobile one synthetic oil in The motor. I remember it had 13 inch tires. College was an hour each way from where I lived four days a week. I drove the hell out of that thing. Five speed manual. 40 miles to the gallon. There wasn’t a radio there was not air conditioning. An absolute basic car. I drove the hell out of that! Still to this date one of the best cars I’ve ever owned. The best money I ever spent. I wish somebody would make something like that again. No frills absolutely inexpensive to drive and maintain.

"Does it come with a can opener?" LMAO

My dads best friend had one of these bought it new and honestly it never broke down and took me and him on many adventures. He was a postmaster and hated waisting money on flashy cars 😂 his famous saying was yugo we all go for ice cream 😂😂 and as kids those was the best days 😂😂

I learned to drive a manual transmission in a Yugo, IT WAS GREAT!!!

Yes, all these countries that produced parts and assembly for Yugo were a part of the former Yugoslavia, before it collapsed it was a federation. And you are right, here it is a part of history, thanks for featuring the car in your video.

I dont know about reliabilty in the US but my Yugo 45 lasted for 20 years without any issues. Unbreakable. And i wasnt takeing it easy on the car. At the end it had some rust, nothing major, but thats it. It was fun and if you learn to drive on it you can litteraly drive anything.

Actually owned one. Double barrel carb, modded cam, suspention upgrades and other slight fixes, it will take on anything on a track. Years of Fiat tuning history on thag 128 engine.

When I was a kid I came up with my own slogan for Yugo's. "You go but the car stays" 😂

Me and the boys leaving the bar in the late 80's left many Yugos and LeCars on the sidewalk.

I love this video. When I was in high school in 1987 a girl at my school had a brand new one that her parents bought her. It was dark brown and even then it would attract a crowd when it was parked. People didn't admire it, they were more fascinated by its novelty. Same thing when the Hyundais first hit the road around that time. they were so cheap and the plastic so thin.

I loved my Yugo !!! I drove it like i stole it and hated the person i stole it from.very durable little car

We had a 1990 go plus. It had Bosch fuel injection. It made it to 250000 miles. Changed oil every 3000 miles

" can we open the hood? " " I dont know' does it come with a can opener? " 😂😂😂😂

In 1996 or 1997, the New York School of Design held a design competition for its students using old Yugos. The exhibition was called "Yugo Next" and the entries were creative and hilarious. Those converted cars are the true collectibles.

Loved my Yugos and had several including a 5-speed 1300 GL that actually went well and stuck to the road like glue. Drove on all around Portugal having set off from Wales and had no hassles at all. Are they fantastic? perhaps not but then they were way better than Mini Metros and other base model cars.

The Yugo was built as a car for city driving and it lived up to its role!!! It's small you can push it everywhere and park wherever you want!!! The Yugo is driven as a national rally class even today, but with a stronger engine, upgrade suspension and reinforced with a cage inside the shell!!! The savior of Yugoslavian people!!! The standard Yugo is not this loud, this one had some work done on it, maybe the exhaust manifold!!! Of 1991 is all made with parts from Serbia 🇷🇸 (pure Serbian car)!!! Good car!!!😂😂😂 Greetings from Serbia!!! 🇷🇸🇷🇸

Jay: "Can I open the hood?" Jeff: "I dunno"

bro a Yugo 45 in cherry red with leather interior is all you need and the slavic ladies can't get enough 😍😍👍👍

I friend of mine worked in a garage that sold Yugos. They had a brand new one in the showroom and one of the dials was mounted upside down. That's quality control!

I am from Serbia and been teen when this was released. I have been many times in this car. It was made in time when Serbia was been in Yugoslavia and Yugo is short for Yugoslavia. It was been in Movie Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson drove them in movie Die Hard 3 as "Disposable car" Also Yugoslavia is pronounce in English but originaly is writen Jugoslavija but is pronounce in English as Yugoslavia but instead of I at the and replace with Y. Also Yugo had Yugo Florida. And yes all parts was done in former republics of Yugoslavia. Remember letter J in Serbian language is pronounce as in English letter Y. That car is a symbol of unity of all people of former republic of Yugoslavia. Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina (Herzegovina) Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and autonomna pokrajina (Autonomous province) Kosovo. Banjaluka you can go to Google translate and in Serbian you type Banjaluka and hit icon with speaker to hear, that is correct way.

My father in law still drives it, he calls it simply "the vehicle" 😂

Always enjoy Jeff bringing his treasures to Jay's garage. Jay understands Jeff's sickness for odd ball cars!!!

“You get into an accident, Yugo to the hospital.” 🤣 Sorry. Just has too, lol. 😁

I had one, bought new off the lot. Got crushed by a semi, pushed right into a fence made with railroad ties, both doors and the rear hatch were open. It was real fun car to drive, I live in rural Pennsylvania, and my friends and strangers were always amazed by the places it would go.

"The gearshift moves with the precision of a broomstick in a barrel of coconuts." One of my favorite ever lines written in a car magazine, from the Car and Driver review of the Yugo.

Interesting to see something as simple as a Yugo on this channel, and I'm impressed with the condition of this one.

I remember when these came out and my older brother now deceased went to look at them on a Sunday afternoon. We both really liked it, so we went back on Monday, and he ended up buying one. Overall, it wasn't that bad in the two years he kept it. Minor things but it never failed to start or get you to and from where you wanted to go. Base price was 3,990.00.

I love cars that are not seen anymore. Good luck getting parts for this though.

my first car back in 80s Yugo 55.

I remember seeing these in Popular Mechanics when they were introduced. Popular Mechanics hailed them as the beginning of a new era, the era of disposable cars.

Spent my childhood in a Yugo. My grandfather had one, and my mother had one.

I love this episode, It was great! BTW, the name Jugo, (sounds the same as Yugo in Serbo-Croatian, and it's the way is spelled), derives from the south wind that blows to the Adriatic coast, named Jugo. Yes, the word jug, (yug), means south. Not very complicated story...

"Does it come w a can opener?" 😂😂

As a young sailor, I had a Yugo and I loved it. Had it for about a year and drove it through a Upper Peninsula blizzard with no problem. The only problem I had was when I traded it in for a S-10.. Lost money on that.