Remember the Yugo? If course ya do! It was Yugoslavia’s answer to quality vehicles that actually lasted a while. Unfortunately, the yugo wasn’t exactly the best in terms of quality, and it’s hard to find any still in existence on the road today. But it made a splash when it first entered the US Market in 1985, as the cheapest car sold in the US (at a base price of $3990… adjusted for inflation, the car would cost $6633.59 today).
And cheap it was! Insurance companies were reluctant to write policies, saying the cars weren’t crashworthy. Owners complained of faulty brakes, electrical systems, engines that would prematurely die, and defective shifters (automatic transmission? what’s that?).
Unfortunately, all the patriotism in the world couldn’t save the Yugo, and the American arm of the company went bankrupt in 1989. The company lingered on life support until 1991, when the last Yugo was imported.
Why the history lesson? Well, it appears that some idiot wants to start importing cars from Chinese automakers into the us:
The plan is to have the dealers sell as many as 60,000 Chinese-built cars and trucks at prices starting below $10,000, by the end of the year, Shelburg’s business associates told Reuters.
And what would a China Motors car look like?
Something like that. While it looks more up to date, it kinda bears a resemblance to a certain Yugoslavian import from the ’80s, don’t you think?