Rusty But Trusty

As Fiat had just pulled out of the US market, and Renault and Volkswagen’s fortunes were waning, Malcolm Bricklin saw an opportunity to jump in with an inexpensive car to round out his long-in-the-tooth model line, the Pininfarina Azzura (Fiat 124) and Bertone X1/9, with a compact, affordable car. Originally pitched with a $4500 list price, a 10-year/100K-mile warranty and free maintenance, there was no doubt this car, developed for a closed socialist economy, would be a hit in a competitive capitalist market. Hundreds of changes were made to comply with American requirements and laws, and the cars were even built on a special production line with workers who were paid extra for their effort (wait, wasn’t this car was from a socialist country?). Ultimately, the Yugo GV went on the market at $3990, but now you can have this 1986 Yugo GV, in Nashua, NH, for a mere fraction of its original purchase price at either the $2695 Buy-It-Now price or the starting bid of $995 with reserve unmet and about 1 day left.

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