Product Description
An exhaustive chronicle of the rise and fall of the Yugo, as well as the people and political situations that played a part in the story…. More >>
Product Description
An exhaustive chronicle of the rise and fall of the Yugo, as well as the people and political situations that played a part in the story…. More >>
#1 by Jill Raywood on July 2, 2010 - 7:59 pm
I generally do not undertake long books during the school year, but the title and cover of this book looked too good to pass up. Did I make the right decision? Oh, yes. As a history teacher from the state that started the auto revolution I rarely pass up books that dig into the history of long gone auto makes. As a person old enough to have been driving when the Yugo came out I also had to know more about the car. Mr. Vuic does an excellent job of tracing the history of the man behind the mess, one Malcolm Bricklin. Many of you may remember the SV1 by said Mr. Bricklin. As a Subaru driver I also had to know more about Mr. B. He brought the 1st Subie to these shores: the infamous 360! Mr. Vuic does an excellent job unraveling the intricate web that Mr. Bricklin and his cohorts constructed. The cast of characters almost boggles the imagination and seems too implausible to be true. Even after reading the book I am not really sure just how I feel about Malcolm Bricklin. Was he a shyster, an automotive Michael Milkin or Bernie Madoff? Or was he a Preston Tucker: a man with big dreams who was just never able to turn the dreams into reality? Mr. Vuic also shows his deep understanding of Yugoslavian culture and late 20th century politics. He is able to explain just why Serbia, Croatia, etc blew up in the latter half of the 1990s. I have to admit to having been somewhat baffled by these circumstances, too, before reading this work. Mr. Bricklin also, according to Mr. Vuic, had two other commercial failures with electric cars and electric bicycles. This I was unaware of, but not surprised at. His venture to import the Proton, a thinly veiled Mitsubishi, from Malaysia was also fascinating. This scheme involved one Henry Kissinger and a Mr. Lawrence Eagleburger; two well known high level American diplomats if ever there were any! If you like cars, raconteurs, scalawags and true tales that seem almost too crazy to be true, Mr. Vuic has written the book for you. In the meantime I am going straight to eBay to find my pristine SV1! Or maybe a DeLorean……
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by Thomas A. Hutton on July 2, 2010 - 10:53 pm
As a former Yugo owner I had to read this book. But it’s more than a book about the Yugo. It’s about American excess, why communism failed, a business case study, and a brief history of Yugoslavia. All in just 213 pages. The pacing is brisk. The writing is impeccably clear and easy to read. It is well researched both through printed sources and interviews the author himself conducted. This book will probably stand as the authoritative history of the Yugo in America. Why would anyone write another? Very well done Professer Vuic.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Kathleen Roberts on July 2, 2010 - 11:40 pm
I loved this book! Jason Vuic weaves a tale that is so fascinating (and often hilarious) that I couldn’t put this book down. I found myself laughing out loud at Vuic’s stories of the Serbian autoworkers’ booze-swilling on the assembly line floor and the cars rolling out of the factory with the rust marks already in place. I kept turning to my husband and saying, “You just won’t believe this!” Not only is it a darn good story, it’s also well-researched history. The footnotes are almost as interesting as the text itself. If you’re a car enthusiast, a Cold War history buff, or simply lived through the 80s, you’ll love this book.
Kathy
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by D_shrink on July 3, 2010 - 1:15 am
A very unique way to present an abbreviated history of the former Yugoslavia Federation and especially its Serbian state through its second largest industrial complex the the Zastava automobile complex that began producing the car known in America as the Yugo. The internal strife between the various Yugoslav states and the communist regimes way of doing things is well documented. But the majority of the book is devoted to the Malcolm Bricklin and associates who were the importers of the Yugo in America. He had also built a nasty piece of steel called the Bricklin, as he was a rather ego-maniacal personality. He had far too many other failed ventures to discuss in a short review, but needless to say most people have heard of the various companies from the Handyman Hardware stores of the 1960’s to the Proton automobile manufactured in Malaysia by Mitsubishi. Mr. Brickln was rather a rogue and an idea man rather than a nuts and bolts type of entrepreneur. He lived large and fast flying his own helicopter and renting out the Tavern on the green for a dealers breakfast, but not checking the guest list, so that a bunch of freeloaders came in for the free grub. The book is written in a factual but still quite humorous manner. The book is listed at 262pp, but the actual reading material stops on page 213, with the rest being supporting notes. The nice thing about the author’s writing is that he doesn’t bother the reader continually by stopping to say who said what to whom, but allows you to look on the index pages to see where he got his information. The author is an asst. professor of European History and I would be interested in taking a class from him were I still in the college age group. Try the book, you’ll not want to put it down until you see how it ends; well all except for the Yugo itself. But then again even that is in debate as the last chapter indicates it may still arise with a African nameplate in the future.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by TV Tuner on July 3, 2010 - 4:05 am
I bought the audio CD version,and I am glad I did.The voice of the narrator is just perfect for the task of telling the tale of Yugoslavia,Malcolm Bricklin,and the lowly Yugo.
What an amazing story it is.Who would have ever imagined so many behind the scenes goings on over the whole Yugo America operation.The average carbuyer would never realize the full story of the struggle that Yugo faced in marketing their low budget car here,in a country that treated it with total disgust.The audio version is very easy to get hooked on,wanting more even after the final chapter has run.
Its easy to see,thanks to this expose,that Yugo America was a fantasy-driven importer,the car was not USA-worthy,Zastava was a shoddy manufacturer,and those Yugo dealers were lied to and taken for a ride,and they seemingly turned hostile towards unfortunate Yugo owners.The whole enterprise was a scam,one of the biggest scams ever foisted on America,and this tale is one amazing account of one unbelieveable era in time.A time,that with todays market,and environmental/regulative demands,will never come again.
Rating: 5 / 5