I visited the local Spandau Arcade shopping centre this morning to buy a little surprise for the 14th and saw all these old Trabants (Trabbies) from the DDR period on display. The Two stroke engine is simplicity itself as shown in the cutaway sections. Being Two stroke they are a little smelly when following on the road! Luckily I had my camera with me. They are a cult car these days and many can be seen on the roads. Some in DDR condition and some in Tip Top renovated condition. Trabant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Your pictures: Trabants around the world Trabant 601 - page 1 Regards Tom
Those cars have really embedded themselves into the pop culture of Germany. Some fine examples there Tom.
Lived next door to a bloke with a Trabbie for a while, remember watching him fix a door hinge with Brown Parcel tape and then carefully colour it in black with a permanent marker. As a 'repair' it somehow suited the overall style of the car. It smelt funny as you walked past it after rain too, perhaps the aroma of damp chipboard?
Tom I believe that they were supposed to be one of the easiest and cheapest cars to service. As you say, a classic from that era. Thanks for showing us. Robert
It was the Trabbies that led the way to freedom in late 1989 when a "mass assault" on the Austrian border from Hungary was made by those from the GDR who had been given permission to travel in Hungary for holidays etc and instead diverted to the west. Saw quite a number in the former GDR when the "wall" came down.Steam trains and towns and villages in a time warp.Visit to Nordhausen Dora and an unhindered walk round without official guides giving the political slant.
Some some excellent Trabbies when in Berlin , I'll dig the photos out soon. I like the way this one is used. A trabi as a stork nest near Neuruppin on Flickr - Photo Sharing! good humour. Stork nest on Trabant in former DDR on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
My contribution to the DDR economy was a MZ 150 bike I bought in the late 70s. What a piece of junk I painted it "Panzer Grey" but it didn't run any better for it, maybe the opposite!
Mollusc & did a European roadtrip in February 1992. Here is a lovely Trabant in Hannover. SBK P 981 Onto Berlin & a pair of Trabbies . The young lad who owned one of them was too embarassed to get in the shot. he's hiding off camera to the left. That's Mollusc taking a photo of the engine. I'm sure that photo is in his loft. Also some Trabbies parked in what was East Berlin. Down in Prague I saw this old Skoda Octavia parked next to another Trabbie. More on old Skoda Octavia here. Skoda Octavia 1959-71
Owen, Good pictures. The picture with Mollusc and the Yello Trabbie, is that taken at the Sunday Flea market at Charlottenburg? The Trabbie is registered in Nauen, Brandenburg, just west of Berlin. Regards Tom
is that taken at the Sunday Flea market at Charlottenburg? er..um....it wasn't a Sunday & it was 17 years ago , almost to the day, so I can't really remember where it was.
Just had to post pictures of this monster trabi that I saw early this evening parked outside the Shopping Centre. Sorry that the pictures are too good as it was dark and my flash is really not up to the cameras quality when taking pictures in the dark. You can even have a hire Trabi Safari car, which are all painted like Zebra! Berlin - Trabi-Safari Regards Tom
Just been Googling & found some funky Trabbies. Portfolio - V8 Trabant: Odd Rods: custom cars and custom scooters fabrication and restoration in Middlesex Some interesting vids here. YouTube - Trabant commercial YouTube - Building East German Car - Trabant
Found these two Trabbies at Babblesburg Film Studios this year. A Back to the future version and a Flower Power model. Regards Tom
Haha , have you noticed the advert at the top of this page is for SAAB ?? Funny how Google Ads wrorks.
Owen, Mine are all Trabant adverts in Germany! Regards Tom ah, it's changed now , one Trabant advert included.
I reckon I've got some pics somewhere, but they're all in old style so I'll need to dig them out and scan them in first!
Whilst looking for something totally different I found this. Frankfurt 2009: Electric Trabant nT concept — Autoblog Green
I have only seen one of these "cold war" vehicles here in Montana, USA. It was in a collection and not being driven. One of the fellows who was looking at the thing mentioned that only the Communist system could possibly make the Germans build a bad car. As the Trabant’s body panels were made of "Duroplast", this is a form of plastic containing resin strengthened by wood fibers, wool or cotton they got the improper name of "cardboard" cars. Since they did behave very poorly in crash situations (wonder why?), they did come to be thought to have "cardboard" bodies, they weren’t really cardboard but they were pretty laughable anyway. It is turning out that their Duroplast body panels don't deteriorate in land-fills, nor do they rust out, nor are they recycleable. Major flaws in design. BTW, since you brought it up, here are some of my favorite jokes about the little 600 cc. two-stroke stinkers! First joke; During a visit to the Leipzig Trade Fair a filthy rich oil sheik heard that that there was a car from East Germany with a delivery time of years. Since Rolls Royce usually delivers more quickly than that, he figured it must be quite an exceptional car, which he would certainly have to have in his collection. Sight unseen, he made a request to order this Trabant. In Zwickau they're aware of this great honor, so they immediately change the running Five-Year Plan and bring forward a specimen, which they place in a shipping container and send it off. In the container, the car reaches the emirate in only a handful of weeks. The happy oil sheik immediately called his friends together, opened the shipping container, and exclaimed: "Gosh, they certainly must have incredibly long delivery times, well at least they send you a cardboard model in advance to play with!" Next; Why does the Trabant have a heatable rear window? So that you don't get such cold fingers when you're pushing it. Then; How do you double the value of your Trabant? Fill up the fuel tank! And how do you triple it's value? Fill the tank and change the wipers! Finally; How do you make a Trabant into a sports car? Put your gym shoes in the trunk.