How a Capitalist and Some Communists Gave Us the Worst Car Ever Made: The Yugo
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 9 May 2025
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, six months after its introduction in 1985, the Yugo was a punchline; within a year, it had become a staple of late-night comedy. By 2000, NPR’s Car Talk declared it “the worst car of the millennium.” For most Americans, that’s where the story ends. Jason Vuic, author of The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History, tells the rest.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and I'm the host of the on-purpose podcast, and I'm excited for my next episode with Chloe Kardashian. |
| 0:13.1 | God, I've been through so many things that at this point, I would rather not feel than feel because feeling is too much for me to handle. |
| 0:21.3 | I am Chloe Kardashian. |
| 0:22.8 | Connie Kardashian, everybody. |
| 0:24.0 | Chloe Kardashian. |
| 0:25.2 | No one understands how it's, I'm not just a TV show. |
| 0:28.6 | Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 0:35.7 | Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? |
| 0:40.8 | The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. |
| 0:46.3 | So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West |
| 0:51.3 | and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we |
| 0:55.8 | experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the IHeart |
| 1:01.6 | Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glead. |
| 1:07.4 | And this is season two of the War on Drugs. By the game. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war this year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. |
| 1:17.0 | This is kind of starts that in a little bit, man. |
| 1:19.2 | We met them at their homes. |
| 1:20.6 | We met them at their recording studios. |
| 1:22.9 | Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. |
| 1:24.9 | It makes it real. |
| 1:25.7 | It really does. |
| 1:26.8 | It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.