INTRODUCING THE YUGO

I like cars as much as I like yappy little dogs, which is not at all.

Imagine me reading an article in the past Saturday’s National Post newspaper on the “Yugo”. The Financial Post ‘Books’ section of the paper carried a review by Andrew Allentuck on the new book “The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History”, written by Jason Vuic.

It was enjoyable reading, actually. I am interested in business business including manufacturing, so pushing through a story on a car was made palatable.

I had heard of the Yugo -- and I remember when the “Lada” hit our shores -- but did not realize how bad of a car it was; especially that pesky-poor rate-of-acceleration of ‘zero to 60 miles per hour in 14 seconds’ -- and that’s with the pedal pressed to the floor! My Lord, how inefficient; especially in those critical moments like when you’ve just given the finger to the Cro-Magnon piloting that yellow Mustang. Even I admit that the rate-of-acceleration is all important after deploying the special salute. (I’ve done it many times, but the gears keep slipping on my bicycle; which explains my ice hockey face.)

Mr. Allentuck likes the book very much, in particular the way author Jason Vuic leads each chapter with a bit of humour: “A man walks into a gas station and says, ‘How about a gas cap for my Yugo?’ The attendant says, ‘Sounds like a fair trade to me’.”