The Trabant (or Trabi) were actually ingenious little cars built in the German Democratic Republic. Ingenious because the GDR had no cash, in fact they didn’t have jack shit. With no steel to build the bodies Trabi engineers made them from Duroplast, something like fiberglass.
They run on filthy, distinctive sounding 2-stroke engines accompanied by clouds of blue exhaust smoke as you’d expect.
During East German times if you wanted one (everyone did), you had go on a waiting list. 11 – 15 years for the lucky ones living in Berlin, in other parts of Germany the wait was up to 18 years to get your car.
They came in some strange colours, ‘goose shit green’ & I-should-see-a-doctor mucus greens. They are a cute car, ingenious, full of character & pretty much the worst piece of shit you will ever see on a road in your life!
The Trabi plant in the city of Zwickau churned out millions of them even though they’re pretty much shitty in every way.
Sadly when the Wall collapsed in 1989 so did the sale of this Iron Curtain icon with people abandoning them in the streets en-mass despite their cult status in Germany.