[/url] Trabant by sastrugi1977, on Flickr[/img]

600cc of two-stroke power!

Brilliant – how much did you pay?

Do they have an oil tank or do you have to pre-mix?

We paid £500.00 for it but had to replace the engine and recondition the gearbox. It’s a 50:1 ratio which you have to pre-mix.

What is it? Thought it was a herald to begin with

Trabant,

Is that the right number plate. ? Some info for you http://www.team.net/www/ktud/trabi.html old bloke next door to my dad had 1 he used to rev the nuts of it every Sunday morning. I think they did an estate model.

Sachsenring Trabant 601 S

It’s a UK registration plate as I believe it was imported back on the 90’s

Just drove it back from the garage getting a few looks due to the noise!

Honestly.. what is the matter with you?

Take it up the tip.

Money/pit/drain and you know it 🙂

Terrific. Isn’t the bodywork some sort of glass fibre/papier mâché mix?
Can you chip it and stick a turbo on it?

Are the wingmirrors heated?

Oldgit as for a Money pit you might be wrong. Body wise then not the best but there very basic to work on if you keep on top of the electrics then not much to go wrong with them.

Engine Two-stroke, two-cylinder, placed at the front transverse
Capacity (cc) 594.5cc
Max. power (kW/bhp) 23 DIN (26 SAE) hp @ 38000-4000 rpm
Max. torque (Nm) 52 @ 2700-2800 rpm
Max. speed 100 km/h
Fuel consumption (l/100 km) 7-9 l
Transmission 4-speed synchronised + reverse.

Your not getting any were fast.

The steering ranges between unpredictable over and under steer, the brakes need stamping on and don’t inspire confidence, the suspension consists of transverse leaf springs and little to no damping and the transmission seriously in need of an overdrive.

All of that said, I love it and couldn’t give two hoots about the cost. It’s my wife’s car and she’s wanted one since the wall came down in 1989. Also I look forward to working on it with my lads.

EDIT: Heated wing mirrors were an optional extra, this one came with the multi-changer CD player 🙂

thisisnotaspoon – Member
Are the wingmirrors heated?

*Applauds*

t’s my wife’s car and she’s wanted one since the wall came down in 1989.

can we swap? mine just wants shoes!

I might be wrong but I’m sure you can fit an old polo engine and there was an old fiat one that fitted. Might be wrong.

There is a bit of role reversal in our house, I had to to ask her to move the new engine out of the hallway the other day 🙂

By the time I got to work in Germany back in the mid 90’s Trabbants were very rare and pretty much frowned upon due to the fact that they were too slow for autobahns, seriously polluting and the bodyshell, whilst made of papier mache and fibreglass wont bio-degrade, well, thats Germany for you. Still, seriously iconic wheels mister.

Hmm, nobody has yet made any U2 or Bono references so shall I be the first?

🙂

This is what we are planning to do with it 🙂

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snEuERpUjhw[/video]

The E prefix number plate is circa 87-88, strange as i thought that imported vehicles of that era had ‘Q’ plates. Or maybe its the E reg 1st time round? Was it already registered before it came over do you know? (sorry for being such an anorak!!) 8)

Personally I think it’s a pile of crap, but each to their own. If you like it, then my opinion is irrelevant.

*remembers the eye watering, throat melting fug from many trabbies/dacias in early 90’s Cluj Napoca*

Your wife is clearly mental – in a good way.

The stated build date is 1988 but no idea when it was imported – the german paperwork has a berlin stamp from 1991 so after then I guess.

First UK MOT was 2005 that I can see.

I think you are brave, very brave. Good luck. 🙂

bellys – Member
I might be wrong but I’m sure you can fit an old polo engine and there was an old fiat one that fitted. Might be wrong.

I think the later ones had a 1.1 Polo engine. Theoretically you could swap it, but would then need to uprate the brakes etc.

it would have had an age related plate assigned on registration in the uk. stops you passing off a car as newer than it really is.
a mate had one ( not uk registered either! ), but it refused to climb the hill at the end of my road with 3 of us in it. 😀

Think you come un stuck due to MOT emissions
Either skip it or take the roof off and dump ya shite in it !
Classic crap

Hora will be along shortly to say that he’s ‘ thinking of buying one ‘…

andypaul99 – Member
The E prefix number plate is circa 87-88, strange as i thought that imported vehicles of that era had ‘Q’ plates. Or maybe its the E reg 1st time round? Was it already registered before it came over do you know? (sorry for being such an anorak!!)

According to the internets this car was first registered on the 20th August 1990, and was originally blue, not white…

Seriously cool car though!

Lady I used to work with was widowed. Deceased husband was a copper here in Scotland, and had been friends with a policeman in East Germany (a hands across the water situation, IIRC.)

She and the the East-German cop became friends over time, and eventually it blossomed into romance. However, the wall was still up, so they had to plan their meetings several years in advance.

He’d been on the list for a car for a very long time, and eventually his number came up. A shiny new Trabant was his! So, after applying for permission, off he set for Glasgow by road.

Oddly, while over here, the wall came down, and suddenly he could have his pick of any old cheap car over here, the bulk of which would be vastly superior in every way to the Traby. So what did he do? Well, he promptly donated it to the Glasgow Museum of Transport (now Riverside Museum), and its still there.

Thats a quality story 😆

All true as well Will. I occasionally wonder how she got on, this was 15 or 16 years ago, and she’d he be in her late 50s or early 60s at that point. Lovely lady- I hope she and he found happiness with each other.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

It actually is blue just doesn’t look very much like it in the picture. As I understand it as it is a two stroke engine the emissions test is not the same.

Having said that I had better plant a small coppice to offset the CO2!