Trabifest, Zwickau 2007-06-16 and 2007-06-17
![Go Trabi Go](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2008_01_17_normal_dscf1518.jpg)
c/w Chinese-made model Tabant 601’sand a litre bottle of Jagermeister, mmm…
I found myself at the 50th Anniversary Trabifest in Zwickau in the former East Germany back in June 2007. Not sure I fully understand the enthusiasm for these funny little cars – though I did find myself becoming bitten by the bug. I guess there is a large cultural element to this phenomenon. It seems the humble Trabi has become another cultural icon. One enthusiast I met described the Trabi as, “A smile rising from a troubled past.”
They certainly are quite amusing little things, as these images will indicate…
Trabant memorabilia – a golden Trabi 601 + a few Trabi books
Firstly, I managed to glean from some friendly Trabi enthusiasts that there is a heirchical distinction between the four-stroke models and the earlier two-stroke versions. Cars fitted with the Volkswagen-built four-stroke engine can be distinguished from earlier two stroke models by their larger rear light clusters. These came with the amazing modern innovation of built-in reversing lamps!
![Two stroke rear view](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2004_08_13_normal_dscf2287.jpg)
![Two-stroke front view](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_17_normal_dscf4093.jpg)
The four stroke-models also had asymmetric radiator grilles. However, I am reliably informed that the four-stroke versions are not considered to be”real Trabis” by the Trabant 601 cognoscenti. Real Trabis should sound like sewing machines and leave a trail of dense blue smoke behind them, apparently.
![Four-stroke front. Note the grille only has slots down the vehicle's left side](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf2996.jpg)
![Four-stroke rear view. Note the larger rear light clusters](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf2797.jpg)
![Mmm, I love the smell of fresh Trabi in the morning!](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_17_normal_dscf3587.jpg)
Trabis are strange but endearing little machines. And the Trabi people? Well they are a funny old bunch too. I have often observed that if you put three hundred or more Germans into a relatively confined space and add copious quantities of German beer, then the mass-singing of traditional German oompah music will ensue. Nowadays, this is often punctuated by a rock band headed up by a very convincing David Hasselhoff clone. Yes The Hoff is still very big round these parts – remembered not for his roles in Baywatch or Knightrider, but for his Berlin Wall Concert in 1989, where he sang “Keep on Tabi-ing in a Free World!” – or something like that!
Certainly the popular notion that Germans don’t know how to enjoy themselves is total nonsense. These folks were having a wail of a time. And so did I…
![Sachsenring (Trabant) Logo](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_clipart_car-badges_badge-sachsenring.png)
![A true Trabi enthusiast, this guy really has let his Trabi go to his head!](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf3377.jpg)
![But that is not a strange as these guys from the Eilenburg Trabi Fanclub that I secretly snapped in the massive beer tent, dressing up in their East German Army uniforms.](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf3381.jpg)
![But the local brew was excellent](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf3055.jpg)
![And once you have downed a couple of litres of "Trabi Deluxe" beer, you could always buy a flashy paint-job and a "smiley" radiator grille for your smoky old pride-and-joy!](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf3273.jpg)
![Trabant Trabants leaving the show](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_17_normal_dscf3727.jpg)
Trabi links
- Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant- “An unofficially sad Trabant site”, yes that’s what it’s called:
http://www.trabant.org.uk/
![Trabi 601 Combi police car](https://www.garfnet.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/www.garfnet.org_.uk_coppermine_albums_2007_06_16_normal_dscf3180.jpg)