I did not have the opportunity to meet Pete Mulhern, the previous owner of Yugo #2, and based on the love and respect shown by those who did know him I can only surmise that is a great loss on my part. I hope to fix up Yugo #2 out of respect for Pete and the generosity of his lovely wife Helen so that it will carry on as a reminder of his spirit.

Below is a posting made by Dave Benton about his relationship with Pete and I wanted to make sure it had its own little spot on the net so that anyone who stumbles across my humble site to learn more about Yugos can also learn a bit more about one of the men behind the scenes and what he meant to his friends, family and the industry.

By Dave Benton

If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it does it make a noise? This past week a tree in the vast woods of the auto industry fell and there were many who heard it but I would like for all of the people in the auto industry woods to hear about him. Last week we lost my best friend, and the best friend to anyone who knew him, Peter Mulhern.

I met Peter when he was an eighteen year old student of mine in automotive school. He was quiet and bright and far surpassed those around him with an enthusiasm to learn all he could about everything. For a few years we bounced around together working in car agencies and for a while he worked in my shop. We worked with all kinds of what we called in those days foreign cars, but mostly Fiats, Alphas, and Porsches.

During that time he met and fell in love with Helen, the girl that would become his wife and the mother of his daughter, Heather. About the time of their marriage I moved away and lost touch with Pete. He went on to work for Fiat as a factory rep. for 17 years. During this time he helped many FIAT owners to grow to love and appreciate their cars as parts of their families.

I have met many of the people who worked with him at that time and they ALL knew him as a bright hard working person who would cut off his right arm for anyone including Fiat. His loyalty to ANY endeavor he went into was unmatched by anyone I have ever known.

He was a loving husband and father even though he had to spend long days and some times weeks away from them to reach the goals of the people that he worked for. There came a great time in his life the birth of his daughter Heather the joy of his life. He would come home, and I mean to a home, to his wife and daughter and give them the time and love that he could and kept a garden in the back of the house. He was very proud of the vegetables he grew. During the past few years, when I would call, Helen would say "He is out praying to his plants".

After losing contact for quite a few years I bought a YUGO and fell so in love with it I drove to the YUGO America office and begged for a job. I was told that IF the guy in Technical Service would hire me I was in. I walked into this office and there was Pete. He looked up and said, "You are hired". Like long lost brothers we were able to start right where we left off. Once more this great relationship with this outstanding person and my great friend was in full swing.

Pete had just returned from Yugoslavia where he had been a liaison with the factory and as usual knew more about the cars than anyone I could find. In Yugoslavia he had been very ill for a time but do to the strong loyalty to any company he worked for he remained there to finish what he started. The next five or 6 years with YUGO were the best years of working that I have ever had and most of it was due to the friendship that I had with Pete.

At Yugo Pete did much of the tech writing and in my book was the best I ever met. In his unassuming quiet way he kept a quiet low profile and I am sure that Yugo did not fully realize how great his contributions were. After the Yugo experience Pete worked for Yale fork lift and as usual put his all into his work.

Then suddenly his heart began to fail and he was forced to retire. This was extremely hard for him because of his great drive to have a purpose in life. Then I built two Yugo racecars and Pete was back for a few years. We would get together and buy up Yugos and go together to the races and have the fun in life that he deserved.

During this time a great gift came into his life. His daughter brought forth into the world a little boy named Robin, the pride of Pete, and if you look he is just a "little Pete" destined to become as great as his Grandfather.

But now I want all to know that as I sit here typing this Pete is watching over my shoulder. I know you can't see him but I know he is here.

You see Pete left this world to go on to the next last week and as I walked along by his casket I asked him to do something for all of the auto people in the world. "Pete take good notes and write a good manual for all of us to use when we get there."

Dave Benton