| It was the people's car but the people supposedly | | | | customers had no choice of color. |
| hated it. It smelled awful, emitted blue smoke and | | | | In spite of its faults, however, the Trabant did |
| made horrible noises. It was listed in Time as one | | | | appeal to certain people, especially the film and |
| of the worst cars of all time. Time also called it | | | | music industry. |
| the car that gave communism a bad name, | | | | It was a car star in the German film "Go, Trabi, |
| although one wonders if communism had a good | | | | Go" in which an East German family tours Europe |
| name to begin with, especially during the Stalinist | | | | in a Trabant. It appeared once again in "Goodbye, |
| era when it was developed. The car in question | | | | Lenin," a film about the fall of the Berlin Wall. |
| was the Trabant, nicknamed the Trabi. | | | | Another film, "Driving Me Crazy" was about the |
| First designed to be a motorcycle, the Trabant | | | | development and theft of a Trabant that could be |
| was converted to a car in the final stages of | | | | fueled by turnips, instead of gasoline. And the |
| incubation. It would fulfill the Stalinist dream of a | | | | 1996 Czech film, Kolja, stars a protagonist who is |
| "people's car" and be the Communist response to | | | | overjoyed at receiving a Trabant. |
| the Volkswagen. | | | | The Trabant also made its mark in the music |
| The Trabant body was a masterpiece of | | | | world. The Serbian rock group, Atheist Rap, |
| recycling. It was constructed of Duroplast, a type | | | | recorded a song entitled, "Blue Trabant." U2, |
| of plastic manufactured from various recycled | | | | another rock group, used Trabants for props on |
| materials such as wool, cotton waste, and phenol | | | | their Zoo IV Tour. These now hang from the |
| resins from the dye industry. The manufacturing | | | | ceiling in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. |
| process however, was always labor intensive and | | | | Almost four million Trabants were produced |
| East Germany had to import guest workers from | | | | before the company folded. Today, there are |
| Vietnam to staff their production facility. | | | | about 52,000 registered Trabants in Germany |
| The first Trabant manufactured, the P50, was | | | | where it has acquired the status of a cult car. A |
| equipped with a small, lightweight, two-cylinder, | | | | well-restored Trabant might sell for the Euro |
| two-stroke engine with a maximum speed of 65 | | | | equivalent of almost $21,000. On the net, there |
| mph. The P-50 was followed by the P-60, which | | | | are 130 Trabant fan clubs, scattered throughout |
| had a 25 hp engine. | | | | Germany, Europe and the United States. |
| Then in 1964, the engine was upgraded again. | | | | Moreover, it has now been scheduled for a |
| Some modifications were also made to the | | | | comeback. The German company, IndiKar is |
| electrical system and the interior. The result was | | | | developing a new version of the GDR economy |
| the Trabant 601, which continued in production | | | | car. However, there will be a vast difference |
| until 1991 when the company ceased operations. | | | | between the new and the old. Although retro |
| The blue smoke, which streamed out of the | | | | styled with a sky blue body and white roof, the |
| exhaust pipe, was loaded with air pollutants. And | | | | "New Trabi" will comply with European safety and |
| due to the fact it was a two-stroke engine, the | | | | emission standards. The "New Trabi" is scheduled |
| exhaust had a most unpleasant odor that | | | | for introduction to the public at the 2009 |
| resembled burnt oil. The engine was also | | | | Frankfurt Auto Show. |
| extremely noisy. And like Ford's famous Model T, | | | | |