In terms of the craziest things we have ever seen, this Yugo which was built by Jim McKamey sits atop the pile of awesome things that actually run and drive. We’ve seen plenty of werido cars in mid-build shape that never see the light of day as a finished product, but this one certainly was completed and it is used regularly by its owner on the autocross. The engines are late 1960s, early 1970s, 500-cubic inchers that appear to be largely stock. Even in stock form these were monster torque engines so the Yugo is making about 1,000 lb-ft and roughly 900+ hp right off the bat. Jim makes a reference to the incredible weight of the engines but they really aren’t that much heavier than a small block Chevy. We’re not trying to argue a point with him but something that perked our ears up and that we wanted to clarify.

While the engines are certainly “the story” here, the bodywork done to the Yugo is astounding in is execution and quality. The fenders are stretched, everything has been widened, and in fact few of the panels on the car have gone unchanged but to the untrained eye, you’d think the whole thing was factory stock. See, all the body changes were made with the stock panels as the base so this isn’t a deal where fiberglass “widebody” fenders have been added or some other stuff. Nope, this is a situation where the stock panels themselves have been manipulated.

As far as the suspension, control arms from an S10 truck are used in conjunction with RideTech shocks and a bunch of other Voodoo magic to turn it into a handling machine. Oh, and owner Jim McKamey knows about handling machines. The guy has had an exceptionally cool driving career, still holding track records at several courses around the country, and he was a driving instructor until he retired from that post. Currently entering his 70s, Jim is a knowledgeable, talented, whimsically thinking hot rodder who built lots of this car with his own hands and that’s the best part. Hot rodding like this gets us up in the morning because we know there are people like Jim out there thinking up amazing ideas and then applying the resources of companies like RideTech to make their stuff even faster.

This video gives a detailed tour of the car and shows it hammering the autocross!