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Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

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Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#91

Post by hef19898 »

jen20 wrote: post #86
hef19898 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I checked, these brands are more expensive in Germany than the US. They are even cheaper in other EU countries, to the point exporting the papers to have them registered in a third EU country is a thing. These re-imports are usually a good deal.

Having owned BMWs in both Europe and the US, I can definitely attest to the much lower cost - both absolute and as a proportion of software developer income - in the US of an equivalent model (though ten model years apart). That said, I believe the US models are made here and not in Germany.

If I remember well, the X5 (?) sold in Europe is produced in the US as well.

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#92

Post by PicassoCTs »

ohlookabird wrote: post #87
mjklin wrote: post #69

A Texas oil man heard that there were cars in East Germany so popular that buyers had to wait years to take delivery of one. He immediately sent a check to the Trabi factory. The directors, sensing a propaganda coup in the making, arranged to send him the very next car off the line. Two weeks later the oil man was in a bar, speaking with some friends. “Ah ordered me one o’ them Trabis them folks over there in East Ge…

That's a somewhat common joke in East Germany as well (at least it was in the 80s and 90s). Typically it is a buyer from West Germany though.

Toilet paper in the eastern block always was 2 layer, cause one copy of every shit goes to moscow.

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#93

Post by INTPenis »

Any Swedes here should definitely check out the Motornörd episode with the Trabant[1].

You can hear and see it run by an enthusiast who has repaired it so it's worth a watch also if you're curious and can't understand the language.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXykD-bwets

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#94

Post by lower »

frankjr wrote: post #71

My dad used to own one back in the day and has only fond memories of it. At the same time, he says it was the most unreliable car he has ever owned. And the heating never worked. He later replaced it with Wartburg 353. If you want to see a POV test drive in a Trabant, here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzEPWttWVlk

> If you want to see a POV test drive in a Trabant, here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzEPWttWVlk

One thing to note is that this is a Trabant 1.1 not a 601. The 1.1 was produced only from 1990 to 1991 and had a four-stroke VW engine (produced under license from VW). So the sound in the video is not the one typical two-stroke engine of the standard 601. The appearance of the car is very similar to the 601, though.

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#96

Post by guenthert »

aww_dang wrote: post #2

Are these still street legal? I've heard conflicting reports about two-stroke cars in the EU.

They shouldn't be. Aside the terrible emissions from the 2-stroke engine, they're pretty unsafe. I once had the misfortune to get a ride in W-Berlin in one (early nineties). The windows/interior are so oddly designed, you have a pretty poor view. That might not have been much of an issue in the DDR with the low traffic density then, but it's unfit for the current situation in most European cities or highways.

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#97

Post by CurtHagenlocher »

eliaspro wrote: post #89
Tomte wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's funny, I grew up about 100m away. Small world. :-)

Tübingen here... and working in Böblingen (or nowadays "for a company located in Böblingen").

Cool. When you commuted did you take the Ammertalbahn and S-Bahn, or did you drive? There was no high school in Herrenberg after the war, so my dad took the train to Tübingen every day and had to cross between the French and American zones of occupation.

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#98

Post by CurtHagenlocher »

rjsw wrote: post #65
Tomte wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we were living in Boeblingen, near Stuttgart Grew up in Herrenberg (a few kilometers from Böblingen). When neighbors learned that my father was thinking of replacing his old Audi someone put a Mercedes calendar on our doorstep. Swabians are very particular with their cars.

There is a Mercedes research centre in Böblingen.

While I don't know how manufacturing is distributed today, historically the primary Mercedes production facility has been in Sindelfingen which is adjacent to Böblingen.

Re: Trabant: The East German car remains iconic

#99

Post by eliaspro »

CurtHagenlocher wrote: post #97
eliaspro wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tübingen here... and working in Böblingen (or nowadays "for a company located in Böblingen").

Cool. When you commuted did you take the Ammertalbahn and S-Bahn, or did you drive? There was no high school in Herrenberg after the war, so my dad took the train to Tübingen every day and had to cross between the French and American zones of occupation.

Took the Ammertalbahn for a while, but it was extremely unreliable due to the known issues, so I switched to cycling (2x35km) which crazily turned out to be faster, more reliable and benefitial for my health as well.
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