We go for a ride in a 1967 Trabant!!! A rare car in the USA Trabi
2015 ж. 30 Қыр.
77 993 Рет қаралды
It isn't often that one can get a ride in an East German automobile where I live. I jumped at the opportunity.
It isn't often that one can get a ride in an East German automobile where I live. I jumped at the opportunity.
Beautiful and nice to see that people in USA own Trabants and enjoy them.
Trabant's are the best ;) I've got first Trabant 20 years ago and I had over 20 Trabants since then. This is kind of car which you love or hate nothing between. Sound of 2 stroke engine, smell inside the car make you feel happy ;) No modern car will give you that much fun because Trabant has completely unique construction. I'll be keeping my 5 Trabants forever 🙋
+trabiman26 just like any of the old car is unique Do you smell the smoke in your car then you got holes in muffler:-)
I wish I had one of these
Great to see this Zwickau legend there in the US ❤️
In Germany and Europe, nobody says 1967 Trabant. People say Trabant 601. Later, the Deluxe version also had a fuel gauge. The license plate says that the vehicle was registered in Berlin. It's nice to see that the owner looks after the Trabant and enjoys the vehicle.
Thanks for your kind words.
One of these made it to the US back in the early 90's ... inside the case of a Yugoslav built aircraft that was a copy of our AT-6 Texan. I had the honor to drive it down to the nearest auto show in October that year, and it was quite the attention getter as you cruised at a 45mph top speed. An East German woman came by and asked if we knew how to turn it into a sports car .... then laughed and said "Put a pair of Nike's in the trunk!"
+Steelgreyeyes Well 2 stoke engines are quite tuneable aren't they? It's all to do with the exhaust manifold design, expansion chambers and such.
nice to see trabi lives across the pond!
Thanks Chuck! The owner did a great job of describing the Trabant. These cars have quite a "Cult" following in Europe. I have seen some that have been heavily customized. 2 Strokes forever!
+MCTeck They are very rare here.
My dad was a dealer off trabant in The Netherlands. I remember he sold the first weekend 25 new trabi's. He sold some as "delux" That was with chrome bumpers and chrome rings on the headlichts. Brings back the memories.
+Ad van der Velden a trabant dealer in the netherlands, that's not something i would have ever guest at or put money down as a bet.
+Ad van der Velden that was a last 1991 601 version?
+Aki Ami Masen It was indeed model 601. But it was arround 1965.
***** Well the eastern types market of the Trabant 601 was made with chrome bumpers and headlights only in 90 and 91. So that's why i'm asking cuz western 601 versions were made with better parts with high end stuff of the De Luxe. Exactly the same thing was with other cars like Fiat Volga Lada etc.
+Aki Ami Masen mij father Let The bumper chromt by a local Shop.
It's nice that the owner of this car is so knowledgable about them. It's always interesting to hear about the history and details behind a particular automobile make.
I had breakfast with John this morning. He informed me that he has entered his better Trabant in the Geneva Concours Show.
probably the most underestimated and missunderstood car ever. When You look at what the car had to be: cheap, simple, reliable, easy to maintain and repair (even by the owner), lightweight, with a high transport capacity, long lasting. It did it all.
The 2 stroke version production ended in June 1990. The fourstroke version, build with VW Polo 1.1 liter engine, was ended in 1991.
I love it. Simple peoples car with tons of character. Wil still run in a 100 years.
The number plate at the front indicates that this "Trabbi" was registered in Berlin. The first character (in this case an I) showed in which federal country the car was driven. Our Wartburg had a C for the city of Neubrandenburg.
it is so crazy!! the east german trabbi in the USA...unbelievable!! greetings from east Germany!
A verry cool Car. My new its from 1964 and he needs some Work. And i can make the first drive when the weather its a little bit better as right now. Sincerelly Paul from Germany
+trabbipaul well that is a great car i was have a Trabant 601 Sedan De Lux from 1986 but the engine was dead so i sold it and now i regret cuz i dont have the place for this car and taxes were too high for me at the time. In present times a one year ago one oldtimer was one Trabant 1.1 with Volkswagen engine and he don't wanna sell it to me but after some negotiations he say yes but I was late on that day and some other mutherfucker was steal this car and burn it cuz he can't turn engine in this car. Stil i can't handle with that i was lost that piece of modern Art like a substitute of USA cars from 50's like a Chevy 55 or 57.
basically powered by a snowmobile engine. one cool feature of the plastic body is that they don't dent or rust out.
I visited East Berlin a couple of times before The Wall came down. When the lights turned green at intersection and about 1000 of those things revved up you could neither hear a thing nor breathe. Disgusting devices they were, though fascinating. Nice car there :)
this was my first car, drove it from 1995-1999 -.-' I still miss it.
Thanks for the nice balanced review. Without silly jokes and political comments. Thanks!
That can't be an 1967 one, because the vents on the "C" column first appeared in 1969. Also, the heating system is from a newer car too. It's maybe 1967, but it has been trough a lot of modifications, far from original. But still, it's nice to see a trabi so far from it's home. :)
Wolfgang Sander the Trabant featured in this video can't be a '80 or '81 because the steering wheel is a two-spoke. The Trabants manufactured after 1980 had 4-spoke steering wheels.
The cars serial number is 2296754 (you can see this in video), so the chassis dates of 1976. The motor seems to be a P63 (mixture 1:33) produced up to 1974. In east germany the people daily used this cars for very long time and after decades(!) older cars were a mix of many spare parts from different "epoches". This car is nonetheless a very nice one and it seems to be in very good optical AND technical condition! I would be happy to own this one.
Only the S and De Luxe models had 4 spoke steering wheels.
When I was there in the 70's both East and West Germany has separate gas pumps for premix gas-oil or gas. A god send for us with 2 stroke vehicles without oil injection a la Japanese bikes of the same vintage (1970's). I had a 1957 RT 250 DKW motorbike.
Real exotic car for the US ! Evan here in germany it became a rare car. Back to the car basics like a 2CV ( wich I drive) makes a lot of fun and takes you back in history.
I still can't believe I had a ride in one.
Thank you for this video. I really like the sound of the acceleration and shifting at 07:30 - 07:43. Such a rich and beautiful sound. You used a recording device with good bass response and minimal/gentle AGC - which in my opinion is very important to properly capture car/engine sounds. (Most car videos here on youtube lack that)
One thing about the fuel: Back in the days there were two types of premixed fuel available at the gas stations, so there was no need to fumble around with an extra oil can and such...
Cars are one of my passions, this is a great old beast!
This dude knows his trabant. The car is in very good and original condition. The car starts excellent and smoke is minimal. Even the tires are good fitting the time. Congrats! I love it!
Btw. The radio is from Czechoslovakia and for sure "after market".
I love that Trabant! Two-stroke, baby!
Great interview and wonderful video of this historical vehicle. Thanks so much for posting this.
Finally someone who doesn't hate on Trabis! :D
They are not bad cars for their time. Yet it took 5-10 years for one to be delivered and they were produced well beyond the time they should have. Every bit as much sandbagging as Intel did with their quad core CPU's but x15. Its quite weird what no competition will do to a market, or a system of organization.
What a fascinating video with a iconic car! a real bit of automotive history that, thanks for sharing!
Nice to see that even in the US some Trabants are preserved and driven.
Berlin licence plate...I did learn to drive in the 1959 "600" model,my grandpa used to own...
dont forget that the Trabant was literally made from nothing
And 1970 also starts at the Monte Carlo Rally - and won it's class.
Except recycled clothes and the same plastic we make our toilet seats out of
Very interesting car. Thanks for sharing
I use to own a '91 model, the latest one. It got newer igniton system with hall sensor not the old contact breaker. I have no problem with the car ever, altough brakes and wheelbearings weren't designed to handle the "racingstyle" driveing, what I practiced that time :), so I had to pay extra attention to keep them in good condition. It was quite comfortable too. One occasion I reversed into a ditch and the car banked on its sill. I'm wasn't a bodybuilder, but I could lift it up by its rear bumper and push it out. I have lots of great memories with that car. To be honest, I've had good few modern cars since. BMW, Peugeot, Mazda, etc.. But non of them was that perfect to me. Trabant was just a simplyfied and pure car. Made up to the job. Every minute I spent to drive that car was joy. Oh, and once I replaced the neadle sleeve bearings of the pistons wrist pins during my lunchbrake. And even I have left time to eat my lunch too. :)
I love it! - Congrats for the video! :)
My first car was a Trabant 601S. Greetings from Hungary. :D
rrrrrrrran tan tan tan tan tan tan tan :-D
reng deng deng deng reng reng reeeeeeeennnnng deng deng deng reng deng deng deng (as we would say in german ^^)
Rrram bam bam rrr bam bam bam bam bammm bam bammm bam here in the Netherlands ;)
If you were driving a barkas (which was wartburg van) it would go BLEM BLEM BELM BLEM BLEM DUNDUDDNDNDNDNDNDN BLEEEEEM DUDNDNDNDND
Trrrra ta ta ta ta (Poland)
Lets leave it at crazy frog😂🤣
I was stationed in Germany from 1989-1993 and I would have never thought to see these cars in the USA and I saw a lot of them over there.That "gas gage" killed me LOL!!
Dip sticks never lie....
Great vid ! I have a trabbi I drive regularly here in Australia and am always surprised at the attention it gets
thank you for educating us about this Cold War era car, a really special car in its days
Good job John L!
Great classic car...very rare.
Great to see an American appreciate the Trabbie. When the Berlin wall fell thousands of these little cars came chugging over the border and many were practically given away. You can still see a few privately owned ones in Germany and in Berlin they have fleets of them as taxis for tourists! It's the sort of car that pees off the common as muck Ferrari and Lamborghini posers as they see more folks staring at that funny little car!!!
I expect that this car is very rare here in the US. Neat little vehicle that kinda reminds me of the older Saabs that were 2 stroke.
The vehicle still has the old 6V alternator and the old 6V starter. The vehicle can be converted to 12V, as it was later equipped with 12V electrics ex works. That is definitely better than 6V. I would replace the radio. There were also other car radios in the GDR. The radio inside is a cheap radio with medium and short wave. Listening to something like that is no fun. If you like, you can also fit the vehicle with a rev counter and a fuel gauge. That was also available back then. The recommended mixing ratio of oil and gasoline was till 1972 1:33 and from 1972 1:50 (further developed engine). The ignition is also in need of maintenance. The breaker contacts have to be adjusted again and again and replaced if necessary. Later, there was a maintenance-free electronic ignition. You have to look after a car like this, always lubricate the grease nipples etc. In any case: Always have a good trip with your Trabant.
If there is something to be liked about this car I would say that shifter is very convenient to use: 0:08
Man how I love this car, nice video! I thought americans can only laugh about this car but this video showed me the opposit thank u man! Bth I am from germany.
Thanks for watching!
Everything about this car is beautiful. Glad it still is in a stock condition. I just came across a 78 buick opel for sale which i plan on purchasing. Gotta love the oldies, lol am the only 22 year old here looking at these old beaters?
We have been running an opel at the 24 hours of lemons for a couple seasons. We punish her badly and she just keeps going. Love that little thing! Enjoy yours
Independent suspension? Damn, I bought a 2015 car and it only has semi-independent. And it's a 4 door hatchback. You can cut down the frame of the doors and you can call your trabi a coupe :)
I want one! Because of the history and how simple the engines are
+Sony Trinitron Not only the engine. The whole car is very simple. No offence in my comment. Its the simpliest car I have ever seen. And yet fully functional and does what you can expect from a car.
give her a little love and she will run forever
If I have shall so much money that I could to go to see You car and You in USA. Unfortunatelly nowadays is some problems , but maybe it is possibly later . I´m from Finland, near of DDR. Oh yeh.
Hi Chuck i run a large Facebook that is devoted to Socialist era cars mainly from 1945-1991 also a few members from the States with Volgas a Zil Trabants Lada's Wartburgs old Skodas and even a Dacia 1300 :D its called Eastern bloc cars over 5,000 members
Facebook group :D
Oh man that's very cool hey bud if you're around this way anytime soon I'll get you to come down turn around and stuff all your ignorance straight up your stupid fucking ass and then you can go home smarter then you were how's that sound bud?
thanks for sharing
I like the "gas guage" -worked or the Model T and it works for this!
I drove one in Hungary and it was real fun
I would love to pull up to some upscale restaurant or hotel and have the Valet park it. Smoke out everyone AND he probably wouldn't be able to get it into gear!!
The Trabant won the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally in the class up to 850 cc with a double victory.
Very cool owner
Make some oil in the rubber of gearshifter-its very easier to shift. Greatings from east Germany, near berlin, where the car is from.
I'd love to drive one of those, just once even.
Keep your eyes open. There might be one near where you live.
@@RideswithChuck I'm close to Chicago, so similar to the DDR for sure!
realy nice car
Many of these cars are in remarkably good condition for their age. In a planned economy, East German citizens had to get on a 10 year waiting list for one of these unless they worked for the government. They didn't have an option to say screw this, I'm getting a VW, an Audi, or any of the other West German vehicles. So when they got the Trabant after waiting a decade, they took great care of it.
Great video! Just search like 'East Berlin 1987' on youtube and youll find some more. For elderly guys like me, it really takes me back in a good way.
Nice! I videoed one for sale at Mecum Kissimmee! :) Jack
Als Ostdeutscher freut man sich sehr! As a Eastgerman you be very happy!
The roar of that beast
Thanks. I never saw one before.
+jay capp I'm glad to be of service.
IS this the Citroen guy a few videos back. I like collectors of cool and interesting cars.
Thank you for that nice Video Chuck and John!My grandpa had two and my dad had one of these.Since I am a GDR born guy, I know these pretty well.The smell of the interior, the sound and all the small odds.You could say I grew up on the back seat of the 601 my dad had.It became a collectible classic here and people care for them really well.You can get all the parts you need, even NOS parts.There are a lot of clubs around here. For one of the next video, maybe you can find a Volvo guy who has a nice 240 series from the early years.Cheers!
The "S" means "Sonderwunsch# or extra .
s.O.
@Mathias Wiegand: er meinte nicht das S auf der haube sondern hinter 601 du vogel. ;)
Amon Herntrich nö ist genau richtig.
Sonderwunsch = "special edition" or "special request"
Wo siehst das?
Do you take this car to cruise nights?
In Germany, we use the shorter form of pronouncing 'Trabant'. We were glad to have 4 stroke engines in west germany, but now we are happy to have some Trabants still on the street, but not much. Preservation of the past if you will. Very reliable for its kind.
Where are you In Illinois western springs?
That almost looks like an "Opal" badge up the front..I would have liked to have been in the design room when that idea came about..
+ZIGgassedUP. It's simpel, The manufacturer of the Trabant is VEB SachenRing. S for Sachen and a ring for the ring in the manufacturer name
Wow...never seen one in person.
+austx290 then go to EU and Eastern part of the EU Germany Czech Republic Hungary Poland
yes my second part of family in east side of Czech Republic still owns one Trabant. When i rode inside it 10 years ago I felt a little ashamed, but now like everything changed in our world i would have felt cool:)
i want one, i don't know why, but i want one.
Ein Top Zustand für dieses Alter wow
2 stroke engine good in frosty weather are cooled :)
+Noel Conroy That car was great during the winter time.
Yes Stoke have a good week ahead and family regards :))
Noel Conroy but more effective cars are with RWD on snow than FWD from these two. But you can't compare with AWD and 4x4 drive
I owned the Trabant 601S from 1996 to 1999 and I loved it. It was perfect in winter. I truly miss it.
Thanks Chuck! Good video. I worked for the DoD from the late 70's until today, with the "Cold War" pretty much over since '92. We were actually scared of the Soviets even though their 1970 cars weren't as good as we were building in the late 1940's. You can now see why US troops never had to fight this 'boogeyman'... Soviet technology was SO far behind us and our Western European allies it wasn't even funny.
I was always under the impression that, while Soviet technology was pretty limited in civilian life, the military and space tech was highly innovative and advanced. The documentary on the NK-33 rocket engine, for example, highlights this. It was a super efficient engine designed and built in the '60s that utilized a closed-cycle system that Western engineers believed wasn't feasibly possible and was a sort of Holy Grail for rocket design.. Only when the Soviet Union collapsed and these old engines were revealed did it become apparent that Russian engineers 30 years prior had successfuly built something that the West thought couldn't be done. Hell, they were so good that they were sold and used in modern Western spacecraft decades later. I think the real issue wasn't the technological prowess of Russia but the lack of resources inherent in the Soviet system. It seems quite possible that, at the right time, the nation and Eastern Block countries could have been capable of victory in a new global conflict. Thankfully it never happened and of course we'll never know what really would have occurred. But one thing is for sure, it would have been a bloody, bloody event for all sides.
They used to sell the gas and oil already mixed at the gas station.
Its so cute
The S in the Name Trabant 601-S stands for "Sonderwunsch" and this means you can have a extra wish. The radio was not the wish, someone fitted it in later probably, it was the extra shelf under the radio and this had an extra cost which was very high in the communistic GDR :D Greetings from eastern Germany ;)
+Aspera-Ari Thanks for the info!
+Aspera-Ari Sorry but you are mistaken i was having the old Trabant 601 and that car was in my family since the 1986 and there was a original radio from 1985 year even in manual there is a note on that there was a radio but only in both like S and De Luxe Version. Only in Universal just read the stock version there was no any radio inside. Btw. that was a Socialism not the Communism - so kido you should learn something before you gonna say something stupid on things you don't understand. Communism you got only in Sect's and in Catholic Church ( and to be honest that is another Sect made tho thousand years ago )
+Aki Ami Masen sorry that the terms are different in German. I'm living in the former GDR an as i said, i was not really sure which version has a Radio^^
Aspera-Ari So now you know. Radio was only with both versions of the Trabant 601: *S* and *De Luxe*
The cars panels are made of cotton with resin!
In Winter cold, in Summer hot XD
Hes in Illinois?! I need to buy one of his Trabi's
Did they ever use hemp in the body panels? Patent 672256 .
Sounds a bit more noisy than usual - maybe the heater pipe is rusty inside. That could be an unhealthy problem, the air is heated directly by the exhaust and exhaust gas could reach the inside of the car through a rusty hole. Turn on the heater for a quick test and if there's any smell of exhaust gas in the car, order a spare part soon and enjoy a quieter engine and clean, warm air from the heating-system on cold days! Nice car, btw :-)
It sounds like my scooter!
My first car in Serbia. 1994 🙂🙂🙂
Hi Chuck - Interesting automotive history and ride. How did the car pass the EPA Test for admissions? Back seat? • Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway 🚂
+trainroomgary A 1967 automobile only needs to pass 1967 standards as I understand things.
Also as its over 25 years old you can import any vehicle made before 1990 and also they made the Trabant 1.1 from the engine of a VW Polo you can buy them cheap in Hungary for around under a couple of thousand dollars
This would be such a great back up car. Simple mechanics, extremely low cost, likely easy to maintain. Sheesh, if Germany is still littered with them they can send one over to Mansfield Ohio, the ass crack of the USA.
This car was the symbol of the communist regime in the former East Germany. As well as Lada for the USSR. Great video. Thanks for sharing this for us. Superb.
+Joao Goncalves Yeah Right. Go to school and learn something before you gonna say some crap. That's not Communism *that was Socialism*. *Communism you got only in Catholic Church* And guess what Lada still is made vehicles in Capitalist Russia.
lately a bunch of my xbone crew were playing Forza 4 and showing off the different vehicles in the game including a Van that you can do in A-team livery(I pity they fool who doesn't deck out in A-team livery) an isetta, and apparently a car you can do as the Ecto 1. I've decided we need the Trabant. Seriously. WE need to put a Trabant and Wheego in the game.
thanks
+zzzdogutube First comment!!!
was that Trabi imported from Czech Republic?
+KubikCv there is a sticker *DDR* like the guy said it was taken by the previous owner in USA who buy and transfer this car from eastern Germany
that car will be never stolen.
It's a Bernie mobile!
Beim rein setzten solltest du das Lenkrad nicht so strapazieren. Sonst hast du da nicht lang Freude dran ;) ich Rede aus Erfahrung...Gruß aus Deutschland
Dacht ich mir auch so :D von mir auch Gruß aus Deutschland
Hoffentlich spricht er Deutsch, sonst ist der Kommentar sinnlos :()
"When you sit down in your trabant, you shouldn't stress the steering wheel this much. Otherwise you risk breaking it". Habe es fuer sie uebersetzt. Hoffe es ist sinngemaes richtig. Nun kann er auch ohne deutsch kentnisse ihr gesagtes verstehen. :)
@Sonstiges gibt doch Englisch-Deutsch Translator 👍
@Sonstiges hat doch schon der Junge Mann im Komentare vor dir gemacht 👍👍👍