Those of us of a certain age remember the Yugo. It was a typically Eastern European automobile of the '80s and '90s, small, cheap, and bearing a questionable reputation for safety and reliability. They were sold here in the United States from 1985 to 1992, with a total of a bit over 140,000 sold. Few seem to survive today, but then, the American auto companies in these years were still recovering from the late '70s to early '80s quality slump themselves. In the States the Yugo picked up a pretty bad reputation; that, along with it being a car designed and built in a communist country, doomed the cheap little car. In 2018, "Car and Driver" magazine called it "The Worst Car in History."

Now the Yugo is coming back, this time built in a free-market country with a whole new look - and new engineering.

Throughout its production life, the Yugo was a symbol of basic mobility, but in recent years, it has become an icon of pop culture. There are books and screen appearances, one of them has been floating around Brooklyn — everyone recognizes the Yugo. Even in its home of the Balkans, its nostalgic transfiguration has set in.

Now there are plans for it to make a comeback, but as an entirely new vehicle. The first sketches of the new Yugo have just been released, a scale model is set to be unveiled this year, and you should mark the 2027 Belgrade Expo to see the full-scale, running prototype.

At this time, there's no indication as to whether the new, revamped Yugo, built in Serbia (which was part of the former Yugoslavia), will be sold in the United States. The American market, following the Obama administration's "Cash for Clunkers" idiocy, could probably use a few more small, cheap vehicle options.

And if climate virtue-signalling is anyone's thing, there may be an electric version.

...the Next Yugo will be positioned as an affordable entry-level car. The technical basis will be an established platform from a cooperation partner that Bjelić does not want to disclose yet. The car will meet all emissions and safety regulations, and it will be positioned at the lower end of the market, just like the initial Yugo.

While a fully electric version is conceivable, plans are for the new Yugo to be launched with combustion engines. That will keep it affordable and fun, while setting the new Yugo apart from other retro projects such as the new Renault 5 or the VW ID.Buzz.

Of course, there is the possibility that Serbian automobiles will be heavily tariffed.

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The original Yugo inspired a lot of jokes, like the famous "What do you call a Yugo with dual exhausts? A wheelbarrow," or, "How do you double the resale value of a Yugo? Fill its gas tank." But an entry-level automobile is always a good idea, whether here in the States or in Europe, as long as it is steady, cheap to operate, and reliable. Automobile technology has come a long way since the Cold War, and if the new Yugo lives up to that, then at least young people in Serbia will have another option. And that's worth doing.