A defunct Soviet car brand never looked this good.
When one thinks of words to describe the defunct Soviet car brand Yugo, “attractive” and “desirable” would never, ever come to mind. That is until digital designer Dejan Hristov decided to redesign the car brand for the modern age in bold and exciting ways. After receiving much support for his designs, Hristov has now designed a range of new Yugo products he believes could get the brand off the ground again, including this: the Yugo Roadster – a Mazda MX-5 Miata rival that looks pretty exceptional.
Now Hristov says that he aimed for a roadster that was a Mazda Miata in theory, but the concept landed closer to the first-generation Tesla Roadster instead. Hristov told CarBuzz, “A combination of attractive appearance, sporty spirit, and maximum driving pleasure, this car would pretend to be a much cheaper option to Italian supercars,” and depending on what elements of the car you look at, we can see what he means.
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The car is full of creases instead of graceful sloping lines while still very obviously achieving the iconic roadster look. In our opinion, the front end lands somewhere between the recently discontinued Acura NSX and the new MG Cyberster with all of the folds and angles. There's also a strong resemblance to the Honda S660 kei sports car, save for one aspect – this is electric.
Down the side, there are strong hints of Alpine A110, and at the rear, the single light strip is always a clean and good-looking choice. There are no exhausts, but a prominent diffuser looks very racy, despite the fact this likely wouldn't be quick enough to make full use of said diffuser.
If these are the images the car is conjuring, then we feel like Hristov isn't just swinging for the fences, but instead, he knocked it out of the park.
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He says that ever since he started reimagining the Yugo brand years ago, his goal has been to make waves across the automotive world to perhaps reach the right people. People like potential investors or maybe even a large manufacturer that could see the design potential of reigniting the brand. He even says, “Since Serbia has one of the cheapest labor forces in Europe, I think the Yugo could easily repeat the successful example of Dacia.”
Can he do it? Who knows, especially because he definitely doesn't own the rights to the Yugo brand, but weirder things have happened.
Outside of exploring a Yugo revival, Hristov has also used his talents to pen vehicles like a retro-inspired BMW CS Hommage and even a crazy-looking electric supercar concept for Aston Martin. He's explored more plebian car brands like Jeep, too, imagining the brand's electric future before the Jeep Avenger arrived. He keeps coming back to Yugo, though, and his accompanying designs for a VW ID. Buzz rival, a hatchback, a crossover, and an off-roader all look incredible.
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Keyword: Designer Envisions Yugo Roadster To Rival Mazda Miata