Trabant cars are small cars which were produced in the German Democratic Republic from 1957 till 1991. The Sachsenring Karosseriemodule GmbH company located in Zwickau manufactured them. The enterprise also became known in motorsports. By 1980, racing drivers behind the wheels of Trabant cars won 161 gold medals in various international championships.

Technical specifications of Trabant cars

The main concept of Trabant cars was to offer a “people’s car” which would increase the vehicle-to-population ratio. The low price had to guarantee this, so the cars were unprecedentedly cheap on the German domestic market. They cost slightly more than a motorcycle with a sidecar, and every year the price was getting even lower. At the same time the cars were reliable. So, in 1960 the P50 coupe covered over 17,000 kilometres of Scandinavian roads (often unpaved) without breakdowns.

The removable body panels were made of a special durable material – duroplast. This kind of construction allowed to quickly replace these components of Trabant cars after a road accident, and the body was resistant to corrosion.

The vehicles were notable for original technical solutions. For example, the P50/500 2-door saloon, produced in 1957–1962, was equipped with a 0.5 litre 2 stroke rotary engine. The power unit was transverse-mounted, which was non-standard, and was installed in combination with a twin-shaft gearbox located directly close to the engine. In the following, this arrangement was adopted by the world’s leading car manufacturers and was very widely used.

The cars had small dimensions. For instance, the P60/600 estate car, released in 1962–1964, was 3.6 metres long and less than 1.5 metres wide. Such compactness allowed to handle the car in tight spaces and to easily find a parking place even in large cities.

There was a wide variety of body colours. So, starting from 1964, the 601 model was sold in 6 colours. Apart from classic white, grey and blue, available were also green, brown and yellow. While the P50 cars were produced in 2- or even 3-colour versions, which was considered a feature of more expensive car brands.

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