Book Log 2010 #25: The Yugo by Jason Vuic

While the Yugo went down in history as potentially the worst car ever sold in the US (the guys on Car Talk dubbed it the worst car of the past millenium), this book gives much more of the detail surrounding its creation and failure, giving depth to a vehicle that is, to most people, merely a punch line (as witnessed by the Yugo jokes that start every chapter).

Beyond the car, we also get a good picture of the man who brought it to promenance, Malcolm Bricklin, a serial entrepreneur who was at both his best and worst when it came to car companies. He was great at launches, but never was able to develop and nurture his launch into a going concern. This had its most comical result with the Yugo, an underpowered and sub-standard vehicle produced by a facility that would never be able to produce a car that could compete in the US.

In addition to that, Vuic points out that the 1980s wasn't the best time to launch a small car, given the focus on personal excess and the fading memories of the oil crunches of the previous decade. I'm not sure that's fully correct - Hyundai first launched in the US at about the same time, with a small car of low price and marginal quality - but the shoddy standards of the Yugo certainly didn't help it fight off whatever social standards were in place at the time.

I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and would certainly recommend it, especially for children of the '80s and anyone interested in cars.