Johannah Freund of Appling gets a lot of stares when she drives down the street.
The 38-year-old drives a 1986 Yugo -- a small, discontinued car that was originally made in the Serbian town of Kragujevac.
The price tag: $300.
She has had the car for a little more than a year and spent six weeks fixing it up. She bought the vehicle from a friend, and it had only 56,000 miles on the odometer.
"It's a good little car. It's good on gas mileage. The gas tank in it is not even eight gallons. I can go back and forth five days a week, and I live about 30 miles from my job. It gets 40 to 45 miles to the gallon," Ms. Freund said.
She works at Waffle House on Belair Road.
"People look at me and say, 'Where did you get that? I haven't seen one of those in ages,' " Ms. Freund said. "For a while there, some of the car lots had them buy one, get one free. They said they were not a dependable vehicle. So you'd buy one for about $3,500, and you'd get the other one for free because they said they broke down so much. But once I got this one up and running, I've not had a problem."
She found two Web sites that carry parts and spent $2,000 replacing the fuel lines and the brakes.
"It's a 55 horsepower engine. My lawn mower has more horsepower than my car does," she said.
Overall, Ms. Freund said, she feels safe. The car has seat belts and good steering and handling. Still, she hasn't driven the car faster than 80 mph.
"It's so light and at 80 it starts to go all over the place. Everybody tells me that if I hit anything, it's totaled. That it's a little tin box on wheels. I get picked on unbelievably at Waffle House from our regular customers," she said.
Her manager has a friend who knows three other people locally who own Yugos.
"I would like to buy them and get them up and running. It's a cute little car. Everybody knows me wherever I go," she said.
Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.
YUGO HISTORY
The Zastava Koral, or the Yugo, is a subcompact vehicle built by Zastava Corp.
1980: First Yugo produced by Zastava Automobili in Kragujevac, Serbia
1985: Yugo brand, priced at $3,990, was introduced in the U.S. by an American entrepreneur.
1989: Yugo America went bankrupt.
1992: Sales of Yugo in the United States ended.
2008: The last Yugo rolls off the production line at the Zastava factory in Kragujevac.
Sources: nytimes.com; rferl.org
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Good for her for not caring what other people think about what it is she drives! I have to laugh at the people who drive big, expensive Cadillacs, and then they pull into a mobile home or a shack...nothing against living in a mobile home or a shack! I just think it's funny how people would rather be seen around town and work driving something that's nicer than the home they spend so much more time in. I drive my father's old '92 Toyota because it gets great gas mileage and it's very dependable. Just so long as it gets me from here to there, I don't care much how it looks!
Where around here is the speed limit 80 mph? Oh, I know people drive 80 mph all the time, but to admit to breaking the law in a newspaper article? You gotta love it.
on most parts of I-20; 80 is the required speed to avoid being ran off the road. Hatchback Love!
That's ok debby, you'll get to drive I-20 some day.
It runs, gets great gas milage and it is paid for, what more could you ask?
$2,ooo for fuel lines and the brakes. wow
I thought where ever You-Go, it didn't. Guess she proved me wrong.
If she is so good at fixing cars, how come she still works at Waffle House and not as a mechanic? I think she would be far better off getting her certification as a mechanic and get a higher paying job, best of both worlds to her!
Funky little cars. I'm restoring an old beetle right now (fifth restoration) and even though im probably three years away, i cant wait to drive it. As for being a mechanic, be careful what you wish for. Ive been a tech for ten years, and you dont make the money they say you will. $2000 seems high for a DIY job, but think, they dont sell this car anymore.
Yugo IS a great small car. I drive it for 24 years , all year long and after being installed the liquid gas equipment it's even cheaper to drive. So it's hybrid now, by my husband plans to make it a double hybrid - plans to insert golf cart motor so that it can driven as an electric powered one ,too.
What ca one ask more from a "city" car - good enough for work, shopping and taking chldren to and from school.
As for 80m/h - believe me, it run as much as the milage scale can show - just the right tires and optics ,and a "heart" for the speed.
As for not being goodlooking - send me the e-mail and I'll send you the photo of my cutie.