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Originally Posted by Arragonis
The original Yugo
Is really one of these, a FIAT 127
Which was pretty much at the forefront of Euro car tech in the early 1970s = FWD, Monocoque (aka Unibody) construction, OHC engine and end-on gearbox.
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Fiat was, and is, pretty good at being at the forefront of Euro car tech. what they are decidedly not good at is building a car that will last. The 127/128 Fiats had reliability issues at every level; interior, electrical, engine, transmission, brakes, suspension. They were technically interesting pieces of garbage.
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Compare that with the US compact car market which was the Chevette and Pinto with their RWD live axles - the FIAT/Yugo win.
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The Fiat might win in terms of technical doodads, but Chevettes were remarkably long lived vehicles. I still see one occasionally. (I'll stay away from Pintos - too much badness there with all of the fires and Ford's unwillingness to back their product.)
Yugo sold a 'performance' version of their little crapbox in the US; they put a lip spoiler and a bunch of vinyl stickers on it, and called it the "Yugo GY". I loved that name. "GY (gee, why) would anyone do something like that to a Yugo."