Yugo Fever!

Since first arriving in Kosovo, there have been constant reminders of the fact that I am now living in a former portion of Yugoslavia.  However, my recent trip to Macedonia brought my awareness to a whole different level.  There's too much to write about in one post so for now, I've decided to focus on the Yugo.

One of the most interesting facts about Yugoslavia in my mind, is that the Yugoslavian powers that be decided one day, to become the world's leading automobile manufacturer and exporter.  To push ahead their communist goals and spur the Yugoslav economy forwards, they would need to take on the likes of BMW, Audi and even Ferrari in order to become the powerhouse of modern car production.  

There chosen design?  The Yugo.  A 2,000 pound, 4 speed, hatchback that cost just over 4,000 dollars brand new...      

Yugo ad?  

Before you read any farther see this article by TIME on the Yugo: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1972071,00.html

The American "hatred" of the Yugo I suppose, stems from the fact that everything that happened during the Cold War was a competition between the Capitalists and the Communists.  (Whether it was the Space Race, or the fight scene in ROCKY IV.)  Americans love a good competition and the Cold War was like having a Super Bowl ever day!  But honestly, that competition was what made life so great!  How better to compare your strength and mettle than against a brutal enemy that drank copious amounts of vodka and vacationed in the Siberian Gulags?  

Well the Yugo turned out to be a rather poorly functioning vehicle (though you should never speak ill of it in my current neighborhood...).  And Americans love to celebrate Communist failures as demonstrated in the article below... 

enlarge to read.  this was in the Pristina paper last week
and  demonstrates my point perfectly... 

a YUGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

classic hatchback. 

WE WILL CRUSH YOU! 

and another!

my last spotting of the day.  notice the side mirror...

Needless to say as a child of the Cold War myself, I can't help but feel a connection to these little guys.  In fact the first Yugos arrived for sale in the US in 1985.  Coincidently the same year I arrived in the US...  I'll write more about why I felt so stunned the whole time I was in Macedonia but I think it really all comes down to the hundreds of physical reminders of a history that I grew up participating in that is now nothing more than a fading memory in the US proper.  As mystical as it may seem in the US these days, it's still a reality in the Balkans.