1989 Yugo 311 review from UK and Ireland

Petrol tank rubber connecting hose perished, replaced.

Clutch cable snapped, replaced.

The Yugo 311 lacks a fifth gear, but still shifts very happily on the motorway at 65-70 mph. Fuel consumption is pretty good for a car of its vintage, it does 6.5-7.5 l/100 km, depending on how you drive it. I drive it around 50 miles daily and have been on several much longer roadtrips without incident.

The car is fun and torquey at low revs, and handles very well in all conditions. Given that there are probably fewer than 100 Yugos on the road now in the UK, it attracts quite a bit of interest, and surprised looks.

So far, the car has been very reliable, with only minor problems to fix in the course of driving it 10,000 miles in just six months. Parts when needed are becoming a bit of a trial, but they are still obtainable.

The only drawback I would note is that it is *very* noisy at speeds over 60 mph, I may have to install my own soundproofing - then again, the engine is the mechanical equivalent of a troubled nightclub singer who smokes fifty a day, so I may just put up with it.

This is a great character car, which does everything I ask of it with not much fuss. I really thought I would miss my old Yugo 513 (see separate review), but I don't - this model has proven far less troublesome.