Want a ride in a Trabi?
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
March 3, 2020 5:50am CST
I had a fascinating time in Berlin last October. My son went to a games convention and asked me along for the ride. I had three clear days to explore the city and tried to make the most of them - taking a huge number of photos in the process!
This one was of a parade of Trabant cars. You can apparently book a short ride in one in order to recall the days before 1989 when this 2-stroke, extremely smelly and unreliable car was just about all you could buy if you lived on the East side of the wall.
It is amazing that these Trabis have survived so long, although I did notice that one of the passengers had to keep hold of the door to prevent it from flying open!
5 people like this
5 responses
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
3 Mar 20
I think there has been quite a lot of cannibalising of Trabis to keep a relatively small number of survivors on the road.
I used to drive into Coventry for work every morning and was often in a traffic queue behind a conserved Trabi. The appalling exhaust smell as it drove away in a cloud of blue smoke was well remembered when I took the above photo!
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
3 Mar 20
@sh2ker It may be that the age of the engines makes a difference. I can well remember two-stroke motorbikes back in the 60s and 70s that smelled terrible and certainly gave off smoke. I imagine that the engines they put in Trabis at roughly that time were not very different.
@amitkokiladitya (171988)
• Agra, India
3 Mar 20
Omg....I don't think I would be ever excited to ride them
1 person likes this
@amitkokiladitya (171988)
• Agra, India
3 Mar 20
@indexer they are like the old fashioned fiat we used to have around 20 years back
@msdivkar (23356)
• India
3 Mar 20
This remind me pre 1980 traffic scenario in India. Before Suzuki in collaboration with Maruti came to India, It was all Ambassador and Premier Automobiles (Fiat), similar to the one seen in the picture but the vehicles were 4 stroke and not 2 stroke as mentioned by you. and since the bookings were very heavy nobody bothered to improve their condition. These vehicles are outdated in India now.
