{"id":1889,"date":"2007-06-17T23:59:14","date_gmt":"2007-06-17T23:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2025-02-06T17:14:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:14:43","slug":"go-trabi-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2007\/06\/17\/go-trabi-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Go Trabi Go!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found myself at the 50th Anniversary Trabifest in Zwickau in the former East Germany. Not sure I fully<\/i> 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.”<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The former Est Germany isn’t exactly noted as a prime tourist destination. However, much to our surprise my girlfriend and I had a fabulous time there. And Trabi’s certainly are quite entertaining little things, as these images will indicate… <\/i><\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

Trabifest, Zwickau 2007-06-16 and 2007-06-17<\/b><\/h2>\n

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! 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<\/span>” by the Trabant 601 cognoscenti. Real Trabis should sound like sewing machines and leave a trail of dense blue smoke behind them, apparently.<\/p>\n

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<\/i> will ensue. Nowadays, this is often punctuated by a rock band headed up by a very convincing David Hasselhoff clone. Yes The Hoff<\/span> 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!<\/span>” – or something like that!<\/p>\n

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