|
Written by Garfield Lucas
|
Trabifest, Zwickau 2007-06-16 and 2007-06-17 DVD's of German-made "Go Trabi Go" movies
c/w Chisese-made model Tabant 601's
and 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, a sort of smile rising from a troubled past 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 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" by the Trabant 601 cognoscenti. Real Trabis should sound like sewing machines and leave a trail of dense blue smoke behind them, apparently.
 Two-stroke rear view
 Two-stroke front view
 Four-stroke rear view,
note the larger rear light clusters
 Four-stroke front,
note the grille only has slots down the vehicle's left side
Besides only the two stroke model does this!
Mmm, I love the smell of fresh Trabi in the morning!
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 A true Trabi enthusiast,
this guy really has let his Trabi go to his head! 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. But the local brew was excellent
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! 
If you like Trabis - or if you just want a bit of a chuckle - then you'll find more high-resolution Trabi pix than you can shake a stick at in my personal Trabifest compilation album. This features lots of Trabants that I have snapped over the years, from all over the former Eastern Bloc.. |
|
Last Updated ( 2008-01-30 14:34 UTC )
|
