Automotive Perspective, with a lethargic pony

"PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power" (petarvn) 01/18/2016 at 14:38 • Filed to: None

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After a recent conversation with my uncle, I found out that between the years of 1977 and 1980-ish, my grandfather and him owned a 1977 Ford Mustang II with a 302 V8. Now, even by 1970's American car terms, this car was not fast. as far as I could find it made at best 130hp, before the work my uncle had done to it (according to him, it was fitted with an exhaust and a larger carb that he had sourced in the states. no idea on what exactly the parts were though) My assumption would be that the car made about 160-ish hp when all was said and done. This still means that it was not a very fast car though. But, how does this change when this car is placed in a completely different environment?

(Apparently the car looked a lot like this, but was light blue on the outside)

You see, my grandfather and uncle did not live in the US. In fact, they lived in Yugoslavia, a socialist country where the vast majority of people drove cars that would give walking pace a run for it’s money. The average Yugoslavian citizen drove one of these:

This is a Zastava 750. it was an efficient small car that most people were able to buy and use daily. the thing with it was that it even in top of the line trim, it only made about 32 horsepower. Comparatively speaking, the 302 Stang, with it’s loud exhaust and big engine, was a rocketship! heck, even the “nice” cars you could buy back then, like a Simca 1600, would easily lose to the mustang in performance terms.

So just remember, even if you think your car is slow, odds are it’s pretty brisk in contrast to some other form of transport!

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 01/18/2016 at 15:11

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Wait. A Mustang, probably the most American icon worldwide, in a socialist country? Where your uncle and grandfather some kind of politicians?

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem 01/18/2016 at 16:53

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my grandfather was the chief director of Electron, the largest electrical engineering firm in Yugoslavia.

meanwhile, at the same time, my uncle was in a managing position at Belgrade airport.

so yeah, they had connections to get the car in, but also Yugoslavia wasn't a truly communist country. you were free to travel and to do as you please for the most part.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 01/18/2016 at 17:07

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If you’ve read the book Kite Runner (or seen the movie) , this reminds me very much of Baba’s owning a Mustang, only his was a more desirable black ‘69 if memory serves.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 01/18/2016 at 17:10

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yep! I’ve read it! amazing book! And yeah, it does sound a lot like that story! shame ours wasn't a '69 :P

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 01/19/2016 at 12:48

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Oh okay, explains a lot. So it wasn’t GDR or UdSSR kinda crazy socialism in Yugoslavia.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem 01/19/2016 at 14:12

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nowhere near that. it was a pretty liberal country, save for the whole “Tito is god, you must love him” thing. You were allowed to go about your life as you please, unless you were making a lot of money privately.

So getting a Stang, while hard, was not impossible for them!

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 01/19/2016 at 15:55

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Kinda hard to imagine for me as this was all way before me. But I guess they were realatively lucky in Yugoslavia then. The ex GDR is only about 1 1/2 hours away from me. But my parents told me that it felt like a third world country back then.

JR1 > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 01/20/2016 at 08:08

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Learned something new about Yugoslavia today.