EXCLUSIVE: 1988 Yugo GVX Hot Hatch
Back in the eighties, hot hatches were hot. Volkswagen may have kicked things off with their GTI, but many manufacturers jump on the bandwagon and released their own hopped-up hatchbacks. Yugo even entered the fray with their GVX. They didn’t sell a lot of them and few have survived, so if you’re into rare pocket rockets, this one might be worth a look.
The GVX came with alloy rims, a body kit, 5-speed manual transmission, and a larger engine. We aren’t talking about blistering performance here, but when the base engine only has 1,100 cubic centimeters, I’m sure the extra 200 was a welcomed improvement. This particular engine has covered 123k miles, but has been well maintained by its owner with a long list of work done recently.
VW had special upholstery in their GTI, so Yugo stitched up some nice striped fabric for their competitor. Unfortunately, there are seat covers in place here so you can’t see what’s underneath. Everything is claimed to work with the exception of the rear window washer. It may sap some power, but the air conditioning is nice to have because hot hatches really do get hot in the summer.
This little Yugo is a little rough around the edges, but appears to complete and mostly original. It could use some cosmetic attention, but otherwise looks like a fun little oddball. Vincent would like to get $5k, but is willing to hear any reasonable offers. The car is located in Aurora, Colorado and you can use the form below to contact him. There haven’t been many of these sell recently so it’s hard to gauge the value. What do you think it’s worth?
Thanks for listing this with us Vincent. We hope it goes to a good home. If any of you have an interesting or odd car that you are thinking about selling please consider listing it with us!
Recent Maintenance Completed:
@ 113 K Miles = Timing Belt, Tensioner, Cam Seals, Clutch Cable.
@ 118 K Miles = New Clutch, Pressure Plate, Main Seal, Front Brakes & Rotors.
@ 119 K Miles = Oil Sending Unit.
@ 121 K Miles = New Battery, New Catalytic Converter.
@ 122 K Miles = Electric Fuel Pump.
@ 123 K Miles = Rear Brake Shoes and Wheel Cylinders.
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Comments
Yesterday is was a 1980 Ford Fairmont with a continental kit. Today it is a performance version of the Yugo (and an exclusive listing at that!). If modern technology gave us a way to see what tomorrow will bring, today would not be a good time to use it.
I don’t know what is more surprising…that this Yugo didn’t melt into a pile of rust or that someone loved it so much they sunk all that maintenance into it.
I used the maintenance history as a surprising education in what parts you can still get for a Yugo. And to see “Yugo” and “123,000” in the same paragraph? Wasn’t expecting that!
Usually they only appear together after 2 or 3 engine swaps. Head gaskets commonly failed with 60K miles max.
A well maintained Yugo…good job owner…good for another 100,000 miles.
“Would like to get 5K but is willing to hear reasonable offers”………………………….Let’s see………figure the current price of gas at $2.40 a gallon. Assume that it holds 15 gallons……..36 bucks to fill it………….that would make it worth about 75 bucks. Translation=”reasonable offer”.
Here in Eureka,CA,regular gas is 315.9 a gallon,
so that would raise the price for me.
I suppose with that wood dash you could convince yourself that you’re in a British car; the build quality is certainly the same.
I think we can remove “hot” from the description,unless the ac doesn’t work!
The only thing hot about this hatch will be the engine after it has overheated!
This is one interesting car, I love it! I also love to see the sun shade in the windshield, that’s a sign that the owner cares about the car, in my opinion. It’s much easier to not put it in there so kudos to them for taking the time to make sure that the dash stays in top shape. I religiously use a sun shade, and, like signaling my lane changes, I thought that I was the only one who did!
Today is April 20th. If it were 19 days ago I would assume listing this “Hot” Yugo as an exclusive for 5000 bucks was an April fools joke.
Yea, using the turn signal is a lost art nowadays. I guess it’s to hard to flick on while your texting!
Right?
123k miles must be a record!!
Yugo, the cutting edge of Serbo-Croatian Automotive technology……know why Yugos have rear window defoggers? To keep your hands warm in the winter while you’re pushing it.
Must have been towed behind a motor home for 120,000
Miles
Isn’t 5000 about what it costed new ?
Actually, less. A New York Times article from 1988 says the sticker for the GVX is $4199.
A 1988 Honda Civic s hatchback had a $6,300 msrp….you’d be driving it today with 250000 to 500000 miles on it and could sell it to a high school kid for $1,500!
I like almost any vehicle but this one’s a turd. Who knows…maybe its the next “gogomobile” in another 39 years?
I remember when they where new. I was an insurance adjuster and we had a wrecked one that needed a door. You ordered it and it cam complete with trim panel window regulator everything in color. and it was about 250$. Shows what it actually cost to make a car.
Sadly, my bike has an additional 200cc over the GVX and weighs half as much.
Hard to take a car like this serious. The bike, on the other hand, can be a handful.
Although I have no interest in this car or hot hatches in general, I can appreciate the appeal- it is unique and quirky- not just another civic or golf etc. And from a reliability standpoint, were these really any worse than many of the cars that came out of Detroit in the 60’s and 70’s? Having been around when these were sold I understand the knee jerk reaction to condemn these as junk, but the lens of time for me anyhow tends to soften such views. After all beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and any older car is going to be a labor of love. Besides Yugo’s hold a sort of special place in American automotive history- like a Pinto or a Corvair or even an Aztek. For a funny (and quirky) movie with lots of Yugos check out “Drowning Mona”.
Well, actually they were badly built and had low reliability. Probably still below Detroit cars of the 60s and 70s and certainly below the “quality” of cars built in the 80s.
I loved Drowning Mona! Almost every car in the movie was a Yugo except for the police car which is a Horizon.
” Ouch ” from the Owner !
Kinda brutal comments……
We have heard all the Jokes
But actually we like the foreign cars the unusual and unloved cars,
And it was really based off the
Fiat 128’s…..
And Fiat Is the GM of Europe
They own Ferrari .
We had his and hers Yugos at one time and this one really has been a good little car now it is a collector
Model with only 2500 produced as a Cadillac promo, the upgrades
Probably doubled the cost to produce it, Currently collector car insurance replacement value at $7900, also this car has some brief internet Fame, I used to sell the New MNI Cooper’s and for a while they had a funny advertising campaign,
to beware of Counterfeit MINIs
So we dressed up this Yugo with Racing stripes and MINI Logos
And had fun posting it as a fake MINI.
We have a dozen cars, out of room
Just want it to go to a good home 😍
Glad that you have a dozen cars. If the other 11 are Yugo’s it probably takes that many to have one that runs all the time. 5000 bucks for this thing? WOW.
There’s a book by Jason Vuie; The rise and fall of the worst car in history. He was a modern day Ralph Nader want to be or had way to much time on his hands. If your into automobile history it’s not a bad read, but read it fast or it will internal combust right before your eyes. Rumor has it that there was talk of starting production again in the year 2000, maybe that’s why NATO bombed the factory in 1999.
Back in the late 80’s, a friend purchased a new Cadillac for his wife and a new Yugo for himself to drive back and forth to work. My friend was leaving work one evening when the right rear tail light of his new Yugo fell off and was left dangling by the wires. It was hilarious.
Making fun of Yugos takes about as much imagination as making fun of cafeteria food or disco. Chevelle lovers, Mustang lovers etc are a dime a dozen- Yugo lovers on the other hand- a very exclusive club…
It would have to be a very very exclusive club, what is 10 or 12 members?
Very true Matt,
When the Yugo made it’s introduction into the US it was advertised as the cheapest car in America. So with that out comes tight asses and those on a bicycle because their credit score won’t merit much more then what they are riding. The advertising became a double edge sword. Suddenly the tight asses and everyone else were called out in public for being cheap. It actually became quite a joke.
So fault the car because 90% owners would rather buy cigarettes then common wear maintenance items for the car? How is that giving it a fair chance? Obviously someone has done minimal care and it is still alive. Bravo!
I appreciate seeing this car over the typical 70’s Corvette over and over and hope it finds a happy home. It deserves more.
The basic car was a Fiat so maybe the Mopar group would accept it hehe
I still have my 1988 Yugo GV. LOVE it. A/C still blows cold too.
Where’d they get all those parts? You couldn’t get parts for these when they stil made them!
I know a guy who had a Yugo with Cromadora wheels on it.
I think that they were worth more than the car.
“I like hot hatches. I drive a hot hatch. You, sir, are no ‘hot hatch'”
Really!!!!
Who pushes why you drive?
classic commie car, nice as a round the town beater.
My brother tried to take one to the pulverizer once, if I remember right he had to pay the scrapyard $30.00 to get rid of it. All joking a side it’s cool the reaches of automotive design and different taste of individual long forgotten rides.
I had an ’87 Yugo that I liked quite well. The one thing I didn’t like was that it was rough-riding on the highway.
The other downside was in getting parts for it. Let a friend have it and haven’t seen it since.
We always liked the Yugo. Ours is a fun collector car. A local wrecking yard had a Yugo dealer scrap these NOS panels in the late1990’s and I have have them hanging in my garage now.
Hey WD62Vette how much for the quarter panel? PM me
for 5K you can buy mine. might be the only black GVX left in the US
I am interested if this is still for real
Hungry Swedish ex yugoslavian searching for a GVX….