First look at 80s-inspired supermini being brought back to life almost 20 YEARS after long-forgotten carmaker went bust
A LONG-forgotten car brand has returned after decades away with an 80s-inspired supermini.
Zastava Yugo, most commonly marketed as Yugo, was originally designed as a shortened version of the Fiat 128.
2
The Zastava Yugo is making a comeback with an 80s-inspired supermini
Credit: Instagram
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The company hopes to launch the new hatchback in 2027
Credit: Instagram
Its production began in the 1980s and ceased in 2008.
The fresh vehicle - revealed as a 1:5 scale model at Car Design Event in Munich, has drawn inspiration from the Fiat's model.
Dr Aleksandar Bjelić, a Serbian professor, has enlisted compatriot designer Darko Marčeta, who has lifted the lid on what the future Yugo will look like.
The latter's
eye-catching design will give the Yugo a modern aesthetic - complete with slim
LED lights
front and rear, bulky alloy wheels and flush-fitting door handles
.
read more in motors
As more brands announce plans to introduce cheap entry-level EVs to encourage motorists to make the switch away from petrol and diesel cars, the revival of Yugo couldn't be more timely.
For those not ready to make the switch just yet, the upcoming Yugo will be available in either a petrol or
The owner hopes to launch the new hatchback in 2027, but plans to introduce the car to the UK remain unknown.
In the meantime, the company plans to raise publicity for the model by using a fleet of classic Yugos to drive from Kragujevac,
Most read in Motors
The trip is a recreation of one originally made by the company in 1975.
ENGINE RESTART
It comes after a huge car brand looks
Flying car wows Clarkson, Hammond and May on Grand Tour episode
The sparkling set of wheels is catching the attention of off-roaders now the Chinese-funded motor is back on the scene.
Spanish 4x4 manufacturer Santana has been given a new lease of life thanks to backing from Chinese firm Zhengzhou Nissan.
Together they have produced a brand spanking new model which offers a choice of diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
The motor is "designed for -if-road enthusiasts" and is said to contend with the iconic Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster - a rugged, trusty pick-up truck.
Information about Santana's new vehicle has been kept very hush-hush with images simply showing a cloaked car.
The sultry silhouette of the motor teases its chunky shape, but that's about it.
Santana promised fans it would reveal the entire model range at the end of 2-25.
The motors are being produced in the former Santana plant in Linares, Spain.
Santana was originally founded in 1956 as Metalúrgica de Santa Ana S.A and began manufacturing Land Rovers under licence in Spain a couple of years later.
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The Irish Sun
10 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
I own the ‘worst car in history' that's comically cheap from 80s but I LOVE it – I can't wait for its dramatic comeback
AN OWNER of a ridiculously cheap car from the 1980s considered to be the 'worst in history' says he actually loves it. The Yugo 45 was a small car that was built in the former Yugoslavia and picked up the unfortunate moniker over the years. Advertisement 8 Despite its faults Allan Smyes loves his Yugo 45 Credit: Allan Smyes 8 Allan hopes the car will make a successful comeback when the car gets relaunched Credit: Allan Smyes 8 Allan says the interior is like a Caramac bar Credit: Allan Smyes Allan Smyes, 50, picked up his model five years ago and is now hoping the vehicle will make a dramatic comeback as Yugo Automobile is set for a relaunch before the end of the decade. Allan, who lives just outside York, is the proud owner of a 1988 Zastava Yugo 45. The model was first available in 1981 and cost around £3,000 at the time. It's cheap price meant it undercut it main rivals like the Austin Mini Metro, Ford Fiesta and the Vauxhall Nova. Advertisement Read More in Motors It was known for its low quality construction, safety concerns and reliability issues, making it the cheapest car between 1981 and 1991. However, this affordability still did not enable the Yugo to become a successful or popular car for the long run. In the initial years it was available in the UK, Zastava sold around 3,000 models every year, going on to sell tens of thousands, largely due to the low cost. Around 794,428 Yugos in total were produced, but only a fraction of these were sold in Britain. Advertisement Most read in Motors By 2018, just 19 remained on the road, according to official registrations data. The car might not be such a rare sight on British roads for too much longer. Mike Brewer Predicts a £10,000 Future for the Audi TT The return of the vehicle comes as part of a project by Serbian university professor, Dr Alekasandar Bjelić, who hopes to bring the car back to the market for 2027. Dr Bjelić is linked to the automotive industry in Germany, and unveiled his 1:5-scale vision for what the Yugo could look like soon. Advertisement This new design for the Yugo was debuted at the Car Design Event 2025 in Munich. It included stylish compact car features such as slim LED lights on the front and rear, along with large alloy wheels. A fully working prototype of the new Yugo is expected to be shown at the Belgrade Expo in 2027. On top of that, Bjelić said it would be initially sold as an "affordable" two-door model, adding that there is potential for "different body versions" to follow. Advertisement Affordability of the new Yugo is hoped to be facilitated by introducing the vehicle a petrol engine, and choice of manual or automatic gearboxes. Yugo Automobile did add: "electrified versions are possible." 8 DVLA records show just seven remain on the road today Credit: Facebook / Carole Nash Inside Classics 8 Despite it's bad reputation it could be relaunched before the end of the decade Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Advertisement 8 The Zastava Yugo 45 has been branded the 'worst car in history' Credit: Getty With this project, Yugo are teasing a "fun-to-drive car" that "meets all relevant safety standards," hinting it will use a shared platform borrowed from a "cooperation partner". Allan told 'Look at what Renault has done recently with the 5. Even when they've turned it electric it's been a huge success. Advertisement 'The new Yugo could do the same. It looks really quirky and will be totally different to the cars on the market at the moment.' Despite the car being branded as the 'worst car in history' Allan still believes the car can be a success. He said that if the vehicle manages to keep the same characteristics of the original then drivers will appreciate it as a cheap form of motoring, but added that will depend on just how well built it is. Allan added that the car manages to attract lots of attention whenever he goes out in it, which he admitted isn't that often. Advertisement He added that while you don't see them on the roads anymore, everyone still remembers them and wants to tell him about friends or family who owned one. Asked if the original Yugo warranted the dreadful reputation it had gained, he said that in the 1980s he probably would have agreed with that assessment but now that he was the owner of one he could appreciate it for what it is. He said that the car offered a no frills, basic form of transport and that people expected too much from them. Despite saying it was clunky and poorly built he said he still loved his model. Advertisement The interior décor of Allan's car is caramel with him saying it looked like a Caramac bar, adding it's 'glorious but in an awful way'. BADLY MADE The Yugo was notoriously badly made with the bodykit simply riveted onto the bottom of the bumper, meaning that it flaps around if its picking up speed. Not that it can go fast. Allan said it can reach 70mph at a push but it only has a four-speed gearbox. Although he added while it's comfortable doing 60mph it's best not to go much faster and warned you wouldn't want to hit anything. Advertisement UK imports of the car stopped in 1991 due to the start of the Yugoslav civil war, with dealers at the time offloading models for just £2,795, around £8,600 today. By then it had become renowned for being rudimentary, poorly engineered and ugly. Just how bad the car was, was outlined in the book "The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History' by Jason Vuic. He wrote: 'Six months after its American introduction in 1985, the Yugo had become a punch line; within a year, it was a staple of late-night comedy.' Advertisement Allan, who works in the motor trade buying and selling cars, is also a keen collector, preferring motors with a bit of a difference. Among his collection is a Skoda Estelle, a couple of Metros, two Rover 75s, a Talbot Alpine, a Peugeot 106, a Vauxhall Cavalier and a Citroen BX. In total, he said he had about 25 cars to his name but the Yugo remained one of his favourites. Thanks to its basic design, if anything goes wrong he can fix it himself and so far, it has been reliable. Advertisement 8 The Zastava Yugo is making a comeback with an 80s-inspired supermini Credit: Instagram 8 The company hopes to launch the new hatchback in 2027 Credit: Instagram
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Buyers from 'The Pale' flock to sunspot Ballycotton as village marks first €1m+ house sale
IS Dublin, and Leinster, doing to East Cork's Ballycotton what American buyers are doing to Kinsale, driving prices up a gear, or several? Recent and just agreed sales would indicate an unqualified 'yes.' 5 Atlantic Terrace is new to market with agent Adrianna Hegarty: it dates to the early 1800s They include sale terms agreed after a swift and unrelenting bidding war at €1.1m for the refurbished Troy House, our May 10 Property & Home p1 and internal feature of a home done to the n-th degree by an interior designer owner Troy House is sale agreed at €1.1m, the strongest price to date in East Cork's Ballycotton : it soared past its €695,000 AMV, being bought by a Leinster purchaser, with a US bidder at the same €1.1 sum failing to get to view before the vendor accepted the Irish offer from within The Pale. Interior of Troy House Also just sale agreed is the diminutive boathouse, a wreck in stones on a tiny footprint by a secondary pier used by local fishermen: the old boathouse went for sale in April, guiding €70,0000 and is been bought by a Dulin bidder for €205k, to local amazement, with the buyer reportedly 'loving a project,' says selling agent Adrianna Hegarty, who says he hasn't disclosed if he plans a residential bolthole right by the water, or some commercial use. Ballycotton's old boathouse sale agreed at €200,000 'The holiday home here has taken off, people have waited years for supply here,' says Ms Hegarty as her June 2025 launch of 5 Atlantic Terrace at €395,000 (it's an executor sale) already has bidding on the c 700 sq ft quaint two-bed at €425,000 late this week, and is still climbing. View from 5 Atlantic Terrace With sea and pier views, and dual aspect/access, the compact early 19th century home has a wood-burning stove, double glazing and central heating, but still scores a F BER. Living room at 5 Atlantic Terrace Ms Hegarty notes sales on the charming terrace are uncommon, and attributes the current demand for the seaside village to a number of factors: She includes the proximity of Ballymaloe House, its cookery school and the Castlemartyr Resort; the impact of local entrepreneur Pearse Flynn whose Sea Church music venue, and just repositioned Cush restaurant (ex Pier 26) as well as the Blackbird pub and café has massively broadened the profile and driven visitor numbers to new heights. Daughter Niamh Hegarty of the same Midleton-based agency agrees: she says that relative proximity to Cork city and the airport also aids access - while parts of West Cork can be two or more hours from the city; she adds that online social media such as TikTok and Instagram reels are boosting Ballycotton's profile, beaches and beauty even further, with a number of major UK and US influencers adding to the overall lifestyle picture. 'The surprise isn't that it's happening to Ballycotton, the surprise is it's taken so long,' Niamh Hegarty says simply.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Red light: Georgia blocks licence path for Irish learner drivers
A process allowing Irish residents to fast-track obtaining Irish driving licences by travelling to Georgia has been closed. Georgian officials at the Ministry for Internal Affairs told Prime Time that new legislation has come into effect in the last week, requiring any new applicants for a Georgian driving licence to have been resident in the country for a minimum of 180 days. A memorandum of understanding signed between Ireland and Georgia last year had meant that a driving licence obtained in Georgia could be exchanged for an Irish licence and vice versa. Competent drivers can pass their tests in Georgia and receive a licence in a week or two. The country's fast and efficient driving test process has drawn applicants from across Ireland and countries in mainland Europe. As of 31 May, the national average waiting time for a driving test in Ireland stands at 20.6 weeks — a slight improvement from the 27-week average recorded at the end of April, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA). Last week, Prime Time travelled to a driving school in the city of Rustavi, around 30km from Tbilisi, Georgia's capital. The school specialises in preparing foreigners to pass their driving tests. There, Mika Vincheuski, a Belarusian living in Georgia, spoke of how he facilitates driving lessons and arranges test dates for non-Georgians who want to get their licence quickly. He said numerous Irish people had been to through the process with him over the last year, and obtained their Georgian licence for exchange back in Ireland. "We're supporting foreigners in getting a driving licence here. It's a fully legal process where people arrive to Georgia and they go through the examination; they prepare for the exams," he said. "They need to know very well how to drive. But we guide them through the whole process so that they don't have to handle Georgian bureaucracy and figure it out all by themselves," he added. Mika has used social media to promote his business. Prime Time met several Irish people at the driving school on the day of filming attracted by Instagram adverts, each at different stages of obtaining their licences. One Irishwoman, Laura, had already passed her Georgian exam and received her motorcycle licence. Once back in Ireland, she can exchange it for the Irish equivalent in a process that will take just a couple of weeks to complete. "I did the motorcycle one, so it's been a success three days in: theory on the first day, on the third day then I did my test - passed, license in hand," Laura said. Laura and her boyfriend Pav decided to make a holiday from the trip. Both had experienced problems with the long wait times for a test in Ireland. In Laura's case, she said being unable to rent a motorcycle for the day of the exam meant that she had to cancel and reschedule. By the time she got another date, the time limit on her driving lessons had expired, putting her right back to the start of the process. Pav told Prime Time that he had only sat in the driver's seat of a car for the first time two weeks before travelling to Georgia, and hoped to earn both his motorcycle and car licences before returning to Ireland. Working in tech sales, he can work remotely in Georgia while he completes the process. Both noted the difference between the Irish and Georgian systems. "The [Irish] system must be under resourced or inefficient, one of the two," Pav said, "You'd expect that it wouldn't be as smooth or as clean over here, if we're not able to do it. There's something clearly very wrong." While the new changes to Georgian law mean that fresh applicants must now prove residency of at least 180 days, the country's licensing process remains remarkably fast and efficient. There are three elements to the Georgian driving test. As with Ireland, the first stage is a theory test. A practical exam in a controlled environment — known as the platform or autodrome — follows, where applicants must complete six timed manoeuvres. Those who pass then progress to the final stage: the city driving test. All practical exams are taken in official test vehicles, equipped with cameras, sensors, and an automated computerised system that determines pass or fail, with little room for error or discretion. Applicants show up to the test centre, take a ticket and wait to be called. The theory test can be retaken every week, the autodrome every day and the city driving exam can also be re-sat on a weekly basis. The Georgian testing system has been completely overhauled in recent years, part of broader reforms aimed at aligning with European Union standards, following Georgia's designation as an EU candidate country in 2023. Georgian officials told Prime Time that many parts of the Irish and UK driving test have been transposed into what is now a very modern and efficient new system. The formats of the theory test and city driving test in particular have also been designed to closely mirror the Irish and UK equivalents. The Georgian test system is rigorous. When Prime Time sat the autodrome exam, the first attempt ended in failure despite more than 20 years of driving experience. A second attempt was more successful. During a demonstration of the city driving test in Rustavi, Mika explained that any errors causing an automatic failure will result in the applicant being asked to pull the car over and to surrender control of the vehicle to the accompanying examiner. He said it enables authorities to complete far more tests. Automatic disqualification can happen at any point during the exam, even before the vehicle has left the test centre. Prime Time observed several failed applicants on the roads sitting sheepishly in the back of the testing cars, being driven back to the test centre by their examiner. Mika told Prime Time that he's had hundreds of requests for services from Ireland in recent months. However, the change of Georgian legislation, introduced just last week, has closed off this avenue to a licence to would-be Irish drivers. It has also closed a potential release valve for the increasing pressure on the Irish system.
