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Trabant, a car that failed from the start



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 The Trabant is a car that was produced in East Germany, Trabant meaning “companion” Trabant was also an astronomical term for a natural satellite. The Trabant VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau factory in Saxony on 7 November 1957. It had a small air cooled two stroke engine it had a transversely- mounted engine and was front wheel drive when most of the cars were either rear wheel drive or, many had rear mounted engine. The engine was a 500 cc engine derived from a pre-war Dampf-Kraft-Wagen, (DKW), DKW was an auto union went defunct in 1969. The production was finally ceased in 1991, there were more than three million Trabant’s that have been sold, with the last generation which had an engine from a VW. The cars body consisted of monocoque shell made of steel and outer body made from Duroplast, a phenol-based material with an organic filling that was devised as a response to the DDR’s steel shortages.


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The car had an interior that looked as empty as a desert. It had a lighter and a tiny glove box apart from the speedometer. What were the options you ask? Well there were no additional options or accessory. The owners Manuel gave tips as to how to virtually reassemble the entire car. When the wall was broken and now east and the west were free to trade, the Trabant which was still motoring on with minimum funds that was given by the government could not keep up to the modern cars from the west. The production was very labour intensive and hence the production came to a permanent halt in 1991.



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The Trabant was later on famous for being abandoned by the Eastern Europeans as soon as the crossed the border. You also had to add mix oil with each gallon of fuel as it was a 2 stroke engine. But what the Trabant really is, is a badly built and a true example of what lack of car knowledge along with poor engineering and lack of funds can create. This was a car that was produced in a time when there were cars like the Datsun maxima a small family sedan that had all the modern features, while the Trabant was missing a headliner, turn indicators and a tachometer. So it is safe to say that the Trabant is an awful car but it also memorable and is piece of history. 
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Comments

  1. pjr14 November 2017 at 20:12

    Never knew such a car existed. thanks for sharing the post. You are right Trabant seems to be what a car not ought to be.

    ReplyDelete

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