autoevolution
 

The German Communist Inside You Will Love This Trabant

Built between 1957 and 1991, the Trabant was as common in East Germany as bratwurst. Most people in the Eastern Block hate it because they basically weren't allowed to drive anything else. Many were scrapped after the Berlin wall came down, but there's a touch of nostagia that pushes tome people to hold onto their even after all this years.
Trabant rendering 1 photo
Photo: X-Tomi Design
With 3 million Trabants sold in 2-door sedan and estate bodies, they area instantly recognizable in a lot of countries.

Back in August 2009, German automaker Herpa took everyone by surprise when it announced that it would debut a new Trabant at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The car that was in its concept stages of development was in fact a purely electric vehicle, maybe a little ahead of its time.

The original plan was for the car to be ready for production by 2012, but it never reached production due to lack of funding.

Hungarian renderer X-Tomi Design took photos of that concept and brought them to 2013 levels of design. The grille and headlights have been changed and now the Trabant looks a bit like a cross between itself and a MINI.

For all the ill-fated attempts to take over Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen is ideally placed to revive Trabant and create a budget brand. After all, the Traby used 1-liter Polo engines between 1989 and 1991.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories