TERRY SMITH looks the history of this Cold War East German car.
During the latter period of the Cold War era, and very rarely seen outside the former Eastern-Bloc countries, there was often talk of a strange little car that was both noisy and rather smoky. It was the Trabant, or what the enthusiasts now call a 'Trabby'.
The Trabant was produced by the former East German company VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau, which is a bit of a mouthful compared to saying, 'I drive a Ford'! It was first introduced in 1957 (the same year that my Chevrolet was built) and was a way of introducing motoring to huge part of Eastern Europe. Nicknamed the 'sparkplug with a roof', until 1989 it was powered by a two-stroke engine which was originally 500cc, but this was increased to 600 in 1962 which was used until 1989. It was then replaced by a 1.1 Volkswagen Polo engine after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The body was plastic panels attached to a metal unibody chassis and was available as a two-door saloon and an estate version called the Combi. It was front wheel drive with independent suspension and while not fast, handled quite well and was often used in races and rallies during the period. To say it was basic is an understatement with even the most obvious gauges omitted, it didn’t even have a fuel gauge, or even an external fuel cap or door, with drivers having to fill a small tank with the petrol/oil mix under the bonnet. The car was last sold in 1991 after well over 3 million had be produced.
The cars now have a cult following in the West, even in the USA where they are seen by classic car collectors as being such a contrast to the huge cars that were produced during the same period. Cars in good condition are starting to fetch silly money now, which would have been so against the communist ethic the original cars were created for.
This is the first version of the Trabant, the P50. This style stayed until 1964 when the 601 was introduced which is the better-known shape of the car.
This is the two-stroke engine as fitted to Trabants up to 1989, seen here in a 601 face-lifted post 1964 version. It was noisy and very smokey so would probably fail an MOT on emissions!
As well as the saloon, Trabant also offered the model as a useful 3-door Estate car, or as they called it, the Combi.
In the final two years of production the car benefited from a four stroke Volkswagen Polo engine. While it would be easier to live with, Trabby purists will tell you it has to be the two-stroke engine!
One of the very last Trabants produced. Note that the front grille is half closed off compared to earlier cars. It is currently on sale in the UK for £7250!