Rally Owners iconic East German car in the US
The name Trabant means satellite or companion German Middle High Drabant German Hussite soldier, and he was inspired by the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 May 6 cars are often called the Trabbi or Trabi pronounced in English conducted without major changes for nearly three decades, the Trabant has become the most common car in East Germany the car came to symbolize the country during the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, as the Germans images of the East who cross the border into West Germany were broadcast throughout the world 7. 8
To acquire a Trabant, buyers in East Germany would be placed on a list, with the waiting time to receive according to their proximity to the capital Berlin 5.
The Trabant was a steel monocoque frame with the roof, the trunk lid, hood, fenders and doors hard plastic called Duroplast that was made from materials recycled cotton waste from the Soviet Union and phenolic resins industry of East Germany dyes September 5 This made the Trabant the first car with a recycled material body the material is very strong, so that the average lifespan of a Trabant was 28 years 9 the use of a fibrous reinforcing material is in part responsible for the misconception that it is made of cardboard, it has been dubbed Zwickauer Rennpappe ie the Zwickau race cardboard Trabant was the second car to use Duroplast, after the pre-Trabant Zwickau P70 manufactured from 1954 1959.
There were four main variants of the Trabant.
The P50 also known as the Trabant 500 item 1957.
The engine 500, 600 and 601 of origin was a small two-stroke engine with two cylinders, giving the modest performance of the vehicle Its empty weight was.
600 kg 1100 pounds at the end of production in 1989, the 19 kilowatts Trabant delivered 26 horsepower from a 37,600 cc cu traveling It took 21 seconds to accelerate from a stop at its maximum speed 100 km h November 10, 62 mph.
The engine produces exhaust smoke and very significant air pollution nine times hydrocarbons and five times the carbon monoxide to the European average car 2007 Fuel consumption was 7 100 km s 40 mpg imp; 34 mpg US 12 Since the engine does not have an oil injection system, the two-stroke oil had to be added to the 24 liter 6 S 3 U gal; March 5 Imp fuel tank gal 13 every time the car was completed, 50 1 or 33 1 fuel compared to petroleum gas stations of the time, in countries where the two-stroke engines were common, served premixed gas-oil from the pump Today, owners are an oil container at two time in the car for this purpose because the car lacked a fuel pump, the fuel tank had to be placed above the engine in the engine compartment so that the fuel could be introduced into the carburetor by gravity; a compromise of this design was an increased risk of fire in frontal crashes Early models had no fuel gauge; a dipstick was inserted into the reservoir to determine the quantity of fuel remained.
Best known for his dull color system and turn cramped, uncomfortable, the car is a fun object of ridicule for many in Germany today, considered a symbol of the fall of the Eastern bloc 14 Known as a spark plug with a roof because of its small size, the car still won public affection, and got a measure of cult status on August 7 the design of the car has remained essentially unchanged from its introduction in the 1950s; the latest model was introduced in 1964. However, the car of the West German people, the Volkswagen Beetle has received numerous updates such as improved efficiency over a similar period 15.
The Trabant was the result of a planning process that was originally intended to design a three-wheeled motorcycle 5 In German Trabant is an astronomical term for a moon or other natural satellite of a celestial body in 16 his Slavic origin, Trabant has the same meaning as the Russian word Sputnik namely companion.
The first of the Trabant left the factory VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Saxony, November 7, 1957 The Trabant was a relatively advanced car when it was launched in 1958, with the front wheel drive a composite body of unitary construction, and independent suspension his biggest downfall was his end motor 1950s many small cars in Western countries already use cleaner and more efficient four-stroke engines as in the budgetary constraints Renault and shortages of raw materials has forced the using a two stroke engine exceeded, but cheap in the Trabant When released, the Trabant was technically equivalent to Lloyd West German car, which had a two-cylinder engine air-cooled four-stroke in a vehicle of similar size, however, the Trabant was quite a modern vehicle with regard to some of its solutions t echniques, before he had a transversely mounted engine since the late 50s, and the front wheel at a time when many cars are used and west European r ear mounted motors or engines mounted on the front with traction on the rear wheels West Germany, for example, there were very few cars in the FWD 50 Volkswagen, Ford and Opel German had adopted front wheel after 1970 the main drawback of the Trabant is the fact that it was produced largely unchanged; it has become very obsolete, even since the 70s mainly because of its two-stroke engine, so that its exports to Western Europe were limited.
The air cooling Trabant two-cylinder 500 cc 31 cu wherein has been upgraded to 600cc in 1962 3 two-stroke engine has been derived from a DKW design pre-war, with minor modifications throughout the production run of the car the first Saab car had a larger 764cc, water-cooled, two-cylinder engine two stroke Wartburg a manufacturer GDR larger sedans use a motor of a DKW three-cylinder water-cooled 1000 cc 61 cu in unit in two stages.
1958 marked the production of the Trabant, the original P50 This car was the base model of the Trabant series, and even the last 1 1s shared many interchangeable parts The 500 cc 18 hp 13 kilowatts P50 has evolved 20 hp 15 kW version 1960, winning a gearbox fully synchronized among others, and eventually got a 23 hp 600 cc engine in 1962, becoming the P60.
The updated P601 was introduced in 1964. This car was essentially a facelift P60, with a different front fascia, hood, roof, and rear, while retaining the original P50 underpinnings This model remained virtually unchanged until the end of production, with the most significant changes being Electrics 12v, springs for the rear, and a different dashboard to the latest models.
Trabant production designers should be extended to 1967 at the latest, and German designers and engineers have created a series of more sophisticated prototypes over the years that were to replace the Trabant P601; many of them can be seen at the Dresden Transport Museum However, each proposal for a new model was rejected by the leadership of the GDR due to ongoing shortages of critical raw materials, which were needed in larger quantities for more advanced models Consequently, the Trabant has remained largely unchanged for more than a quarter century also unchanged was its method of production, which was extremely labor.
Trabant 1100 P1100 also known was actually a 601 with a VW Polo engine, of 1 05- liters and producing 45 HP, giving the car a few decent performance he had not only a more modern look, but was much quieter and cleaner than its predecessor it also had a more recent dashboard gear lever is mounted to the floor is also equipped with disc brakes front and all wheel was also borrowed from Volkswagen it was produced between late 1989 and 1991 in parallel with P601 with its 2 stroke engine many more parts P50 and P60 601 were compatible with P1100, with the exception of the engine and the transmission; However, some owners have made modifications such as the addition of a VW engine Trabant P50.
Many Trabant were abandoned after 1989 he photographed in Leipzig in 1990.
From the summer of 1989, thousands of East Germans packed their Trabant with as much as they could carry and led either Hungary or Czechoslovakia en route to West Germany of the Trabi Trail supposedly many of them had to get special dispensation to drive their Trabant in West Germany, as many of them did not meet the standards of West German emissions of water pollution was four times the European average 17.
In 1989, a licensed version of the Volkswagen Polo engine replaced the old two-stroke engine, the result of a trade agreement between the two German states The model, known as the Trabant January 1 were also minor improvements to fires braking and signaling, a revised grille and MacPherson strut at the sheet instead of the suspended chassis spring, however, when it went into production in May 1990, the two states had already agreed to reunification.
In April 1991, 3 7 million vehicles were produced 18 It soon became clear that there was no room for Trabant in the German economy reunited Inefficient production line, workers were kept open only because of government subsidies demand fell as residents of Germany's favorite East West used cars which were more efficient and produces less pollution.
Trabant production line closed in 1991 and the plant in Mosel Zwickau, where 1 1 Trabant was produced was sold to Volkswagen AG a move that was seen as ironic since Volkswagen owns Audi Auto Union which was formerly the original owner of the factory before it is forced liquidated by the Soviet regime and its leaders forced to flee to the West, where the company was re-founded in its current home in Ingolstadt Bavaria the rest of the company Trabant HQM become Sachsenring GmbH Volkswagen has significantly redesigned the site Zwickau, which is now a center for the production of engines, as well as small scale production of the Golf and Passat.
Richard Leiby said the Trabant became a symbol of technological and social backwardness of the East German state 19 Trabant became well known in the West after the fall of the Berlin Wall where many have been abandoned by their owners East after westward migration However, unlike many other cars eastern Europe of the block of time is particularly Lada Skoda Estelle Polski Fiat and Yugo Trabant was not a strong seller in Western Europe.
In the early 1990s, it was possible to buy a Trabant for as little as a few Deutschmarks and many have been given later since they have become collectibles, prices recovered, but remain very cheap cars popular culture today around the Trabant was referenced by Liz Cohen performance artist in his BODY project that transformed an East German Trabant 1987 Chevrolet El Camino in 1973 20.
In the 1990s, there were plans to put the Trabant production in Uzbekistan as Olimp; 21 one model was produced 22.
In 1997 was celebrated the Trabant to pass the moose test Elchtest, has 60 km h 37 mph slalom maneuver lurch without tipping as W168 Mercedes-Benz 1997 A-class infamous A Thuringian newspaper had a headline saying, Come to us , Trabi moose killer pass test class 24.
Trabant at the annual parade Trabant in Washington DC, 2007.
American owners Trabant celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall with an annual gathering in the US capital of Washington, DC called the parade Trabant The free event, which is sponsored by the International Spy Museum includes the street side visits Trabi, rides, live German music, and displays on east German takes place in early November 27.
In recent years, more Trabant are imported into Canada and the US A recent auction Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in Madison, Georgia saw a Trabant P50 and corresponding to the Wohnwagen camping trailer will look.
They can be dated first car set attempts since the early production time, when a great amateur rally drivers of community fiddled with names designed flight picks of the plastic used for several exterior parts of its carrossery surpass their rivals in their own lightweight rally racing category and traction of the front wheels of the car has allowed a large amount of poor handling on the rally track.
The particularly archaic appearance and only its two-stroke engine of the Trabant was a well-liked model among tuners cars in Central Europe.
Many variations exist, although two large families were born.
The first care preserves the two-stroke engine sound This is achieved either by the original two cylinder engine tuning for better performance or using a propulsion unit in two stages designed for another car, eg Since 1000 cc Wartburg Trabant is very light about 750 kg 1653 lb, a small increase in engine power can rapidly increase its power to weight ratio a number of fans have made use of sustainable vehicles and adjusted easily rally other race types.
The second family goes beyond the sentimental sound and encompasses a range of changes These range from a complete upgrade of the pull the car to a complete replacement of the engine, leaving only the body to hide a modern car and powerful as for example, Sascha Fiss Volkswagen Lupo GTI 28 another popular modification is to combine a Trabant with a Japanese superbike engine, as in the Suzuki Hayabusa a combination known as the Trabusa Some of these cars have a nominal power over 150 hp 112 kilowatts light weight gives the car a power -to-weight ratio of 11 lbs hp 149 kg W, which allows these vehicles to achieve comparable performance to modern cars midrange sports.
It has become an established tradition for Trabant fan clubs in Central Europe to organize annual meetings to present new setting changes and performance accessories for the vehicle.
The company Herpa, a manufacturer of miniature vehicles in Bavaria bought the rights to the name Trabant and showed a scale model of a new concept plans Trabi 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show for the production included a limited run, possibly be with a BMW engine August 7 29 a new model Trabant nT was unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt motor Show 30.
Trabant nT The consortium includes Herpa German specialized manufacturer of auto parts and IndiKar German automotive engineering company IAV 31 The group is looking for investment, design, production in the hometown original Trabant Zwickau and 32 sales in 2012 33 the electric car Trabant nT will be equipped with an asynchronous motor 45 kW powered by a lithium-ion battery 34 nT will be a range of 160 km 100 mile on a full charge, a top speed of 80 mph 130 km h, and a cost of $ 19,600.
Trabant P50 later called Trabant 500 Limousine and Combi Universal.
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East German car launched in 1957 which was built in zwickau_2, is German, launched.