Over the weekend I attended a little car meetup to benefit a local dog rescue shelter, and with my Pao still awaiting parts, decided to take my other exotic, my 1991 Yugo GV Plus, also my highest-horsepower car at a ravenous 67 hp. I managed to park it in a lineup that included a Ferrari, McLaren, lovingly restored classic Camaro, an AMG GT, and more. It was the equivalent of cramming a hubcap full of Hamburger Helper that you dropped on the way there onto a hors’ d’oeuvre table between foie gras and Waygu beef crostinis.
Still, I’m pleased to say lots of people spent time looking at the humble little orphaned car, enjoying its Yugoslav charms while ignoring the Ferrari right next door.
Then on the way out, I was encouraged to burn some rubber, and did, squeaking the tires in a comic chirp, and then immediately having to pull over as my throttle cable broke.
I jammed a pen into the throttle linkage to hold it at about 35% open, which was good enough to get home, even if it meant stoplights were loud. Kind of the perfect finish to it all, really.
Jason: “The throttle-cable on my Yugo broke, but I can fix it with an ordinary plastic pen!”
*Crowd goes wild with applause*
Ferrari/McLaren owner fueled by a desperate need to one-up a Yugo owner: “When my throttle-cable breaks, I have to fix it with a Mont Blanc fountain pen!”
*Crowd glances over, goes back to idolising the Yugo*
completely serious, the yugo is the most interesting vehicle in that entire lineup.
there’s a ferrari store an hour from me. i routinely pass by it for work. it’s usually got a dozen gt3/gallardo/last years ferrari, or similar ‘stupid-money’ type cars parked our in front, usually in flashy “HAY, LOOK AT MEEEEEE” colors.
chicagoland, having a number of ford production facilities, there’s zero shortage of mustangs-it’s a high likely hood if i threw a tennis ball near any main street, i’d hit a mustang. i enjoy toying with them in my 86. if i slowly rev out 1st, they get all egotistical and have to show me what REAL horsepower is. the funnier one’s are those that try to badger me into racing them, like i could keep up, ever.
the alfa, my brother was the lead tech for a number of years in the area. seen it, ridden in it. 4c is more joyful.
there’s a mclaren at a lawyers office that he daily drives it about 15 minutes from my house.
amg? i’ve known a number of people over the years with them. they’re nice, if you’re into that sort of thing, they come off as simultaneously obnoxious and bland at the same time.
but, i have only ever seen 1 other yugo ever. and it was driving the opposite way in traffic.
You’re too modest Jason.Almost everyone *wants* you to drive something interesting.