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Anybody on this forum own a Trabant?

A

abruno17

Experienced Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
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Location
4104 Longworth Loop Kissimme, FL 34744
Or any East German car for that matter. Would like to write a book someday and I figured it would be ideal to hear some stories about ownership of these old relics in the 21st century and what entails keeping these cars running. Funny stories are recommended (hell encouraged) and if you live in America tell me what it was like getting the car here (I being from Florida and writing from a US perspective) and what it is like to drive Trabant or Wartburg or Skoda or Lada or what have you on American roads. Again, if you got anything really hilarious please do tell and don’t be worried about a few cuss words here or there. These are commie cars after all.
 
I presume you've seen Aging Wheels' videos on the Trabant (and other cars)? If not, that guy is hilarious!
 
Being a Canadian I have seen considerably more Lada's than Trabants or even Yugos.
Lada inked a deal to sell their cars domestically here in Canada and they sold well into the 90's with both factory gas and propane options. The build quality was about he same as you expected of the Japanese imports of the time (thin unprotected steel and fairly weak engines) but compared to the Yugo they were luxury vehicles.
From the little I've heard about the Trabant (and if this is the same can of rust that's been bouncing between all the youtube channels the last few years), it's a turd.
 
I have never seen one stateside. Seen a bunch around central Europe. Speaking of Yugos. There was one in downtown San Diego when I was living there over 10 years back.
 
Coming from Europe we used to see a lot of (former) East Block cars on the road, and of course the usual jokes were made such as "Why does a Lada have a heated rear windscreen?" "To keep your hands warm when push starting it in the winter" ;) I did briefly own a Lada 2104 back in the late 80s and it was mechanically rock solid .. bullet proof probably. Trouble was that the car weighed less every day due to the rust falling off it 🤣
 
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