Title: The Worst Car Ever Made
Date: 20190606
Tags: cars trabant
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My two big hobbies are computers and cars. I've written about some of my pile
of computer projects. This is about one of my car projects.
The Trabant is considered by many to be the worst car ever made. It was made in
East Germany during communism and, relatively unchanged for almost 30 years, is
a stark contrast to the automobiles available in the Wast during the same
period.
Built in the DDR by VEB Sachsenring, almost 3 million Trabant 601s were made.
They features an air cooled, 2 cylinder, 2 stroke, 26 HP engine, and (in)famous
cotton body. For anyone previously unfamiliar, yes, it is a car made out of
cotton. Sort of. To be fair, just the outer panels are made of cotton and
resin which is really not much different than fiberglass. So the car is
basically the same as a Corvette. The Trabant 601 (which had the 2 stroke) was
made from 1963 to 1990. By 1990, the US had the whole Muscle Car era, the split
window '63 Corvette, the huge Ford LTDs and Cadillacs, the Buick Grand National,
and all the sports and luxury cars from Europe as well as Japan (this list could
go on forever). Contrast the big iron of American cars during that time with
the Trabant's ~1300 pounds and ~11.5ft length.
East Germany got 30 years of cheap, utilitarian, easily repairable
transportation. That's what it is. Transportation. It's a lawn mower with 4
seats that can't cut grass. Actually, today's lawn mowers are 4 stroke and more
powerful.
I wanted a Trabant because of how different it is from anything we've seen in
the US. I thought our cars were pretty simple in the '60s but nothing comes
close to the no-frills, basic, bare minimum of the Trabant. I wanted a Trabant
because it's so simple. I love simplicity. I love being able to understand an
entire system and work on and maintain it myself. I wanted a Trabant because it
represents people doing more with less. It didn't stop them because steel was
in short supply. And to the people who were able to get one after the 10 year
waiting list, they were able to get by in their daily lives with it. I wanted a
Trabant because despite how out classed it seems compared to other cars, people
even raced them. I was into Rally racing and videos of these little things
rolling over in the dirt and continuing on like it was nothing was
awe-inspiring.
I'm in the US so Trabants are extremely rare here. I ended up importing a
Trabant from Hungary. I had never seen one in person, let alone driven one. It
was a bit more of a risk than I usually take but hey, it's a hobby. Now that I
own one, what's it like? It's as simple as you can imagine but lacks nothing.
The 2 stroke engine means no oil pump, the gravity fed fuel means no fuel pump,
the air cooling means no water pump. The only pump is for the windshield
washer. It has no fuel gauge, no tachometer, no reverse lights, the turn
signals don't auto-cancel, no power steering or brakes, and no radio. It has
only what it needs, nothing more. ...Plus an ashtray. When driving it, the
passenger compartment is so cramped there is no where to put your left foot
because of the wheel well. I am only 5'5" and it's tough for me to be in. The
gas pedal is in the middle of the car way off to the right. The car wants to
fight you to go straight when you turn, up to a point when it then suddenly
fights you to turn more than you want it to. The brakes are hard and useless
until they decide to lock up. The transverse leaf spring, swing arm suspension
makes it handle like a drunk clown on a 10 foot unicycle. The engine is loud
and vibrates the whole car. There is no sound deadening or insulation anywhere.
The engine can't coast in gear except in fourth so you're constantly shifting in
and out of neutral. It is by far the most unrefined driving experience I can
possibly imagine.
All of this is what makes the Trabant the best car ever made.
About the Trabant:
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Trabant
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Trabant_601
Trabant Rally clips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghzyllkZHlQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snEuERpUjhw
Lies about the Trabant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqHVU-ngxU
Trabants traveling the world:
http://tamazpet.transtrabant.cz/
My Trabant:
https://photos.kagu-tsuchi.com/trabant/index.html
gopher://kagu-tsuchi.com:70/0/phlog/images/front.six
gopher://kagu-tsuchi.com:70/0/phlog/images/side.six
