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= Trabant =
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Introduction
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Trabant () is a series of small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by
former East German car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke
Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant 500, Trabant 600, Trabant
601, and the Trabant 1.1. The first model, the 500, was a relatively
modern car when it was introduced.
It featured a duroplast body on a steel chassis, front-wheel drive, a
transverse two-stroke engine, and independent suspension. Because this
1950s design remained largely unchanged until the introduction of the
last model, the Trabant 1.1 in 1990, the Trabant became symbolic of
the former East Germany's stagnant economy and the collapse of the
Eastern Bloc in general. Called "a spark plug with a roof", 3,096,999
Trabants were produced. Older models have been sought by collectors in
the United States due to their low cost and fewer restrictions on the
importation of antique cars. The Trabant also gained a following among
car tuning and rallying enthusiasts.
Overview
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The German word 'Trabant', derived from Middle High German 'drabant',
means 'satellite' or 'companion'. The car's name was inspired by the
Soviet Sputnik satellite. The cars are often referred to as "Trabbi"
or "Trabi". Produced without major changes for nearly 30 years, the
Trabant became the most common automobile in East Germany. It came to
symbolize the country during the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, as
images of East Germans crossing the border into West Germany were
broadcast around the globe.
Manufactured by a state monopoly, a Trabant took about ten years to
acquire. East German buyers were placed on a waiting-list of up to
thirteen years. The waiting time depended on their proximity to
Berlin, the capital. Official state price was 7,450 GDR marks and the
demand to production ratio was forty three to one (1989). The free
market price for a second-hand one was more than twice the price of a
new one, and the average worker had to wait ten to thirteen years on a
waiting list, or, if available, pay more than double for a second hand
model.
The Trabant had a steel frame, with the roof, boot lid, bonnet, wings
and doors made of duroplast, a hard plastic made from recycled cotton
waste from the Soviet Union and phenol resins from the East German dye
industry. It was the second car with a body made of recycled material;
the first was the AWZ P70 Zwickau, produced from 1955 to 1959. The
material was durable, and the average lifespan of a Trabant was 28
years.
The Trabant's build quality was poor, and it was loud, slow, and
poorly designed.
The car had four principal variants:
*The Trabant P 50, also known as the Trabant 500 (produced 1957-1962)
*The Trabant 600 (1962-1965)
*The Trabant 601 (1964-1990)
*The Trabant 1.1, produced in 1990-1991 with a 1043 cc VW engine
The engine for the 500, 600 and the original 601 was a small
two-stroke engine with two cylinders, accounting for the vehicle's
modest performance. Its curb weight was about 600 kg. When it ceased
production in 1989, the Trabant delivered from displacement.
It took 21 seconds to accelerate from zero to its top speed of .
The engine produced a very smoky exhaust and was a significant source
of air pollution: nine times the hydrocarbons and five times the
carbon-monoxide emissions of the average 2007 European car. Its fuel
consumption was 7 L/100 km. Since the engine was two-stroke, oil had
to be added to the 24 L fuel tank at a 50:1 (or 33:1) ratio of fuel to
oil at each fill-up. Contemporary gas stations in countries where
two-stroke engines were common sold a premixed gas-oil mixture at the
pump. Because the Trabant had no fuel pump, its fuel tank was above
the motor so fuel could reach the carburettor by gravity; this
increased the risk of fire in front-end accidents. Earlier models had
no fuel gauge, and a dipstick was inserted into the tank to determine
how much fuel remained.
Known for its dull colour scheme and cramped, uncomfortable ride, the
Trabant is an object of ridicule for many Germans and is regarded as
symbolic of the fall of the Eastern Bloc. Known as a "spark plug with
a roof" because of its small size, the car did gain public affection.
Its design remained essentially unchanged from its introduction in the
late 1950s, and the last model was introduced in 1990. The 1980s model
had no tachometer, no indicator for either the headlights or turn
signals, no fuel gauge, no rear seat belts, no external fuel door, and
drivers had to pour a mix of gasoline and oil directly under the
bonnet/hood. In contrast, the West German Volkswagen Beetle received a
number of updates (including improvements in efficiency) over a
similar period.
Origins
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VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau had its origins in the former
Auto Union/DKW business which had operated out of the site prior to
the war, and the company's first products were essentially copies of
pre-war DKW designs. Following the partition of Germany, Auto Union
re-established itself in West Germany (ultimately evolving into Audi),
leaving VEB Sachsenring with the two stroke engine inherited from DKW.
The Trabant was the result of a planning process which had been
intended to design a three-wheeled motorcycle. In German, 'Trabant' is
an astronomical term for a moon (or other natural satellite) of a
celestial body.
Full production
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The first of the Trabants left the VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke
Zwickau factory in Saxony on 7 November 1957. It was a relatively
advanced car when it was formally introduced the following year, with
front wheel drive, unitary construction and independent suspension.
The Trabant's greatest shortcoming was its engine. By the late 1950s,
many small West European cars (such as the Renault) had cleaner,
more-efficient four-stroke engines, but budgetary constraints and
raw-materials shortages mandated an outdated (but inexpensive)
two-stroke engine in the Trabant. It was technically equivalent to the
West German Lloyd automobile, a similarly sized car with an
air-cooled, two-cylinder four-stroke engine. The Trabant had a front,
transversely mounted engine and front-wheel drive in an era when many
European cars were using rear-mounted engines or front-mounted engines
with rear-wheel drive. Its greatest drawback was its largely unchanged
production; the car's two-stroke engine made it obsolete by the 1970s,
limiting exports to Western Europe.
The Trabant's air-cooled, 500 cc engine—upgraded to 600 cc in
1962-63—was derived from a pre-war DKW design with minor alterations
during its production run. The first Saab car had a larger (764 cc),
water-cooled, two-cylinder two-stroke engine. Wartburg, an East German
manufacturer of larger sedans, also used a water-cooled,
three-cylinder, 1000 cc, two-stroke DKW engine.
The original Trabant, introduced in 1958, was the P 50. Trabant's base
model, it shared a large number of interchangeable parts with the
latest 1.1s. The 500 cc, 17 PS P50 evolved into a 20 PS version with a
fully synchronized gearbox in 1960, and received a , 600 cc engine in
1962 as the P 60.
The updated P601 was introduced in 1964. It was essentially a facelift
of the P 60, with a different front fascia, bonnet, roof and rear and
the original P50 underpinnings. The model remained nearly unchanged
until the end of its production except for the addition of 12V
electricity, rear coil springs and an updated dashboard for later
models.
The Trabant's designers expected production to extend until 1967 at
the latest, and East German designers and engineers created a series
of more-sophisticated prototypes intended to replace the P601; several
are displayed at the Dresden Transport Museum. Each proposal for a new
model was rejected by the East German government due to shortages of
the raw materials required in larger quantities for the more-advanced
designs. As a result, the Trabant remained largely unchanged for more
than a quarter-century. Also unchanged was its production method,
which was extremely labour-intensive.
Production started from 34,000 p.a. in 1964, reached 100,000 p.a. in
1973, to a high of 150,000 in 1989.
The Trabant 1.1 was a 601 with a better-performing 1.05-liter (1050
cc), VW Polo engine. With a slightly modified look (including a
floor-mounted gearshift), it was quieter and cleaner than its
predecessor. The 1.1 had front disc brakes, and its wheel assembly was
borrowed from Volkswagen. It was produced from 1989 to 1991, in
parallel with the two-stroke P601. Except for the engine and
transmission, many parts from older P50s, P60s and 601s were
compatible with the 1.1.
{{anchor|Late production (1989~1991)}}1989–1991
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In mid-1989, thousands of East Germans began loading their Trabants
with as much as they could carry and drove to Hungary or
Czechoslovakia en route to West Germany-the so-called "Trabi Trail".
Many had to get special permission to drive their Trabants into West
Germany. The cars did not meet West German emissions standards and
polluted the air at four times the European average.
A licensed version of the Volkswagen Polo engine replaced the
Trabant's two-stroke engine, the result of a trade agreement between
East and West Germany. The first prototypes were built in 1988, with
pre-series cars appearing in 1989, but series production only began in
May 1990 - By which time the two German states had already agreed to
reunification. The locally built EA111-series engine was given the
model code BM 820 by the East Germans; the plant also made 1.3-liter
versions for the Wartburg 1.3 (BM 860) and the Barkas utility vehicle
(BM 880). The model, the Trabant 1.1, also had minor improvements to
its brake and signal lights, a renovated grille, and MacPherson struts
instead of a leaf-spring-suspended chassis.
By April 1991, after only eleven months, the Trabant 1.1 was
discontinued. In total, 3.7 million Trabant vehicles had been
produced. However, it soon became apparent that there was no place for
the Trabant in a reunified German economy. Its inefficient,
labour-intensive production line had only survived thanks to
government subsidies.
The Zwickau factory in Mosel (where the Trabant was manufactured) was
sold to Volkswagen AG; the rest of the company became HQM Sachsenring
GmbH. Volkswagen redeveloped the Zwickau factory into a centre for
engine production; it also produces some Volkswagen Golfs and Passats.
{{anchor|1990s and beyond}}1990s and later
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According to Richard Leiby, the Trabant had become "a symbol of the
technological and social backwardness of the East German state."
Trabants became a symbol of the GDR's serious flaws in the West after
the fall of the Berlin Wall, when many were abandoned by their Eastern
owners who migrated west. Unlike the Lada Niva, Škoda Estelle, Polski
Fiat (design licensed from the Italian car manufacturer) and Yugo, the
Trabant had negligible sales in Western Europe.
A Trabant could be bought for as little as a few Deutsche Marks during
the early 1990s, and many were given away. Although prices recovered
as they became collectors' items, they remain inexpensive cars. In her
'Bodywork' project, performance artist Liz Cohen transformed a 1987
Trabant into a 1973 Chevrolet El Camino. The Trabant was planned to
return to production in Uzbekistan as the Olimp during the late 1990s,
but only one model was produced.
Former Bulgarian Foreign Minister and Atlantic Club of Bulgaria
founding president Solomon Passy owned a Trabant which was blessed by
Pope John Paul II in 2002 and in which he took NATO Secretaries
General Manfred Wörner, George Robertson, and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
for rides. In 2005, Passy donated the vehicle (which had become
symbolic of Bulgaria's NATO accession) to the National Historical
Museum of Bulgaria. In 1997, the Trabant was celebrated for passing
the moose test without rolling over, as the Mercedes-Benz W168 had; a
Thuringian newspaper's headline read, "Come and get us, moose! Trabi
passes A-Class killer test".
The Trabant entered the world of diplomacy in 2007 when Steven Fisher,
deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Budapest, used a 1.1
(painted as close to British racing green as possible) as his
diplomatic car. American Trabant owners celebrate the fall of the
Berlin Wall with the Parade of Trabants, an annual early-November
rally held in Washington, D.C. The event, sponsored by the privately
owned International Spy Museum, includes street tours in Trabants,
rides, live German music and displays about East Germany.
Planned reintroduction
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The Herpa company, a Bavarian miniature-vehicle manufacturer, bought
the rights to the Trabant name and showed a scale model of a
"newTrabi" at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. Plans for production
included a limited run, possibly with a BMW engine. A Trabant nT model
was unveiled two years later in Frankfurt.
The Trabant nT consortium includes Herpa, the German
specialized-auto-parts manufacturer IndiKar and the German
automobile-engineering company IAV. The group was looking for
investment, design and production in the Trabant's original hometown
of Zwickau, with sales "in 2012". The Trabant nT electric car would be
equipped with a asynchronous motor powered by a lithium-ion battery.
Models
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* P50: Later known as the 500 (Limousine and Universal [Combi])
* 600 (Limousine and Universal)
* 601 Standard (Limousine, Universal)
** 601S ('Sonderwunsch'; Special Edition) with fog lamps, a rear white
light and an odometer
** 601 DeLuxe: Similar to the 601S, with two colours and a chrome
bumper
** 601 Kübel: Doorless jeep with a folding roof, auxiliary heating
system and RFI-shielded ignition
** 601 Tramp: Civilian version of the Kübel, primarily exported to
Greece
** 601 Hycomat: For drivers unable to use their left leg, with an
automatic clutch
** 800RS: Rally version
* 1.1: Limousine, Universal and Tramp (convertible)
Prototype and concepts
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Dozens of prototypes have been created over the years that have not
gone into mass production.
* 1954 Trabant P50 prototype
* 1954 Trabant P50 Universal prototype
* 1959 Trabant P504
* 1961 Trabant P100
* 1965 Trabant P602V
* 1970 Trabant P760
* 1971 Trabant P610 Prototype
* 1981 Trabant P601 Z
* 1982 Trabant 601 WE II Prototype
* 1988 Trabant 1.1 E
* 2009 Trabant nT Concept
Gallery prototypes
====================
P 50.jpg|Trabant P 50
P 1.1 Trabant Kubelwagen.jpg|Trabant P 1.1 Kubelwagen
P 601 Trabant WE II - front.jpg|Trabant P 601 WE II
Trabant500Pickup.jpg|Trabant 500 Pickup
Trabant P50 Kombi vr bicolor TCE.jpg|Trabant P 50 Kombi
Gallery
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File:DSCF0008trabant.JPG|alt=Yellow station wagon with advertising|A
"billboard on wheels" in Prague
File:Trabant Feuerwehrversion.jpg|alt=Red-and-white station
wagon|Outfitted for volunteer firefighting
File:Trabant Polizeiversion.jpg|alt=Green-and-white police car|Police
car used for public relations in Bremen
File:Trans Trabant 2009 6063.JPG|alt=Two yellow cars with their
drivers shaking hands|Leaving for a 2009 trip from Prague to Cape Town
File:1,75 Trabi 601 - 1.jpg|alt=Matching station wagon and trailer|601
with homemade trailer
File:Trabant 600 Kombi hr.jpg|alt=White-and-red station wagon|600
universal
File:Berlin Wall Trabant grafitti.jpg|alt=See caption|Graffiti of a
Trabant driving through the Berlin Wall
File:Trabant601K.jpg|alt=White station wagon|601S universal, with
sliding roof
File:Trabant601.jpg|alt=White sedan|601 Deluxe limousine
File:Trabant 601 Kübelwagen.JPG|alt=Green jeep|601 Kübel
File:Trabant 1.1 Universal (02).JPG|alt=White station wagon|1.1
universal
File:East Berlin Trabant Foursome.png|Trabants in an East Berlin, East
Germany parking lot during the freedom summer of 1990 (between the
fall of The Wall and German Reunification)
File:Trabant a Monaco MC.jpg|Trabant registered Monte Carlo
(av.Grimaldi-2023)
See also
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* August Horch Museum Zwickau
* Jokes about the Trabant
* List of automobiles known for negative reception
* Ostalgie
* Soybean car
* Yugo
Further reading
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* Berdahl, Daphne. "'Go, Trabi, Go!': Reflections on a Car and Its
Symbolization over Time." 'Anthropology and Humanism' 25.2 (2000):
131-141.
[
http://is.muni.cz/el/1423/podzim2013/SOC762/re/s3/Berdahl__2001__Go_Trabi_Go._Reflections_on_a_Car_and_Its_Symbolization_over_Time._Anthropology_and_Humanism_25_2__131-141.pdf
online]
* Rubin, Eli. "The Trabant: Consumption, Eigen-Sinn, and Movement."
'History Workshop Journal' (2009) 68#1 pp 27-44.
[
https://hwj.oxfordjournals.org/content/68/1/27.full online]
* Zatlin, Jonathan R. "The vehicle of desire: The Trabant, the
Wartburg, and the end of the GDR." 'German History' 15.3 (1997):
358-380. [
http://gh.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/3/358.short online]
*
*
*
*
External links
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*[
http://www.ifaclub.co.uk/ UK-based official Wartburg, Trabant and
IFA owners' club]
*
* [
http://www.trabantforums.com/ TrabantForums] TrabantForums.com
* [
http://www.gizmohighway.com/autos/trabant.htm History of the
Trabant]
*
[
http://totalcarmagazine.com/eastofeden/2013/09/18/the_story_behind_east_germany_s_iconic_trabant/
The story behind Trabant]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20121017123108/http://home.clara.net/peterfrost/trabant.html
Sachsenring Trabant site]
* [
http://www.ifavereniging.nl/ IFA Mobile 2-takt Vereniging, de
oudste vereniging voor Oost-Duitse auto's]
* [
http://www.trabant.cz/ Trabant history and prospects]
* [
http://trabantberlin.de/unsere-oldtimer/p601s-rudi/ Technical Data
and additional Information about Trabant 601.]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20150512225839/http://www.team.net/www/ktud/601_1.html
Technical details and pictures of the Trabant 601]
* [
http://micromaniacsclub.co.uk/ British microcar club that welcomes
trabant owners and drivers]
* [
http://www.ausedcar.com/blog/trabant-east-germanys-finest.html
Trabant - East Germany's Finest]
;Media
* [
http://www.601.pl/ Interactive presentation of Red Pearl Trabant
601z]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20071025031530/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9158103117341857527
Trabant TV ad] at Google Videos
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20110627063110/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6220796499007505990
Trabant test drive] at Google Videos
*
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant
