I miss Yugos. So easy to make them into fun cars with a few Fiat parts.
Photography Credit: Mark Langello
The phone rang during lunch. It was Jonny Pruitt calling long distance from Texas: He planned to join us at the $1500 Challenge. The year was 1999. Suddenly, we realized, what was conceived as an editorial exercise represented more than that.
[The origins of the $2000 Challenge]
True to his word, Jonny arrived in Florida. He brought his 1988 Yugo GVX–purchased for just $200–and joined a full house. We had fun, proved that racing didn’t take tons of cash, and decided to do it again, with that first event soon maturing into the $2000 Challenge.
Fast-forward to this year. Jonny was there again–along with others from that first year, including Bill Cuttitta, Cliff Sebring and Jeremy Randolph.
Photography Credit: David S. Wallens
Make your own low-buck memories at the Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge Presented by Tire Rack, held March 29-30, 2025.
The $2000 Challenge is Presented by Tire Rack, in Association with HPX Show, BendPak, CRC Industries and Miller Electric.
I miss Yugos. So easy to make them into fun cars with a few Fiat parts.
Trying to remember the last time I saw one just driving around.
I came across one in the junkyard recently and felt like Indiana Jones discovering the Holy Grail.
In reply to ddavidv :
GVX, by any chance?
Heck no. If it were, I would have bought all the GVX bodywork.
They show up on FB regularly. By the asking prices, you'd think they were a collectable classic. And they're always in some form of decay and really low miles.
My wife and I spotted this pristine Yugo at Serbfest Atlanta today.
The history and 'weirdness' drive the prices up. They are a cultural phenomenon, sort of like the original Mini, but not with the fondness or cuteness. A collector friend of mine bought up a pretty substantial inventory of NOS parts a long time ago. He's got a half dozen quarter panels leaning against his garage wall, for example.
Fun fact: as these cars were 70% a copy of a Fiat (same tooling for the driveline), the Yugo parts book utilizes Fiat part numbers when the parts are the same. Makes finding replacement items much easier. They do have a few unique parts, like tie rod ends, that are probably difficult to source now.
I'll just leave this here:
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