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- Why you should buy a Trabi now
- These classic cars are not garage gold
- In the 90s, the Trabi was a joke
- That’s how wonderful the old Opel GT is
- The ideal entry-level gold timer
Why you should buy a Trabi now
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After the fall of the Wall, most of them just wanted to get rid of their Trabi. It’s now cool to drive one again. As a station wagon version, the Trabant is particularly popular today….
Source: Haiko Prengel
Whether the trailer hitch pulls away modern caravans? ">
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Of course, original GDR folding bicycles belong on the luggage rack. Whether the trailer hitch also pulls modern caravans away?
Source: Haiko Prengel
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In the past the Trabi was often laughed at, now it is even coveted; in this case a memorial was even erected for him. The long mocked cart made s…o something like mass motorization in the GDR.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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The Trabi Museum in Zwickau tells the story of this car. Unfortunately, the number of visitors is rather manageable. This is probably because the exhibition was not closed…and is almost impossible to find for those who are unfamiliar with the area.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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The museum is worth a visit, because the Trabi is also a piece of contemporary history. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, many East Germans rattled over with this car …the inner-German border.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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This P50 rolled off the production line in Zwickau in 1959 and is one of the very first vehicles from the Trabant series. At first the car was quite advanced and didn’t have to be…t hide from the competition in West Germany, where curious cabin scooters like BMW Isetta or miniature vehicles like Goggomobil were used at the time.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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Over the years, however, they lost touch in the east, and the Trabant‘s technology was out of date by the 1960s.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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Fill up the tank once, please: There was no fuel gauge in the Trabant, just a simple dipstick.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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How much oil does the gasoline have? Today very few drivers know how to refuel a two-stroke engine.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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The Trabant was also available as a camping version. The curious recreational vehicles are special rarities today.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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The GDR border troops also drove Trabants. The gas mask helps today when the two-stroke flag becomes too penetrating.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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The fire brigade Trabant is a one-off and served as a command vehicle for a volunteer fire brigade. The Trabant was not built in series as an emergency vehicle.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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Although this police Trabi is fully functional, it is also one of a kind. The GDR People’s Police drove Lada and Wartburg.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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While the Intertrab exhibition is dedicated to the more modern cars “made in Zwickau”, only vehicles from pre-war history are on display in the August Horch Museum.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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The Horch Museum looks back to the beginnings of Zwickau’s automotive history around 1900. You can see classics from the former luxury brand Horch, but also vehicles from later…en Auto Union from Audi, Wanderer and DKW.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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This IFA F 8 Cabrio was built on the basis of the DKW F 8, a small car that Auto Union brought onto the market in 1939. The front-wheel drive in particular was trend-setting.
Source: Haiko Prengel
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This F 9 was built in 1953 and refined as a convertible by the glasses factory in Dresden. Only 20 copies of the F 9 Cabrio were built, this is the last original.
Source: Haiko Prengel
Trabis wasn’t worth much more than garbage for a long time. But in the meantime a lover scene has formed around the Ost-Mobile. With the result that even a perfectly normal 601 becomes an investment.
M.Sometimes even a pile of junk turns into something precious – you just have to wait long enough. It took almost exactly a quarter of a century for the Trabant. After the German reunification, the GDR’s Volkswagen was no longer worth a damn.
It wasn’t until much later that people realized that a piece of contemporary history was also being destroyed. With the result that the remaining Trabis are now coveted collector’s items that are cherished and cared for by their owners, says Manfred Schurer. "People are interested in the Trabant again."
Schurer helped build the cult car as a locksmith in final assembly at VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke in Zwickau. There, 30 years ago, on April 30, 1991, the last of a total of more than three million vehicles from the Trabant series rolled off the assembly line. The dilapidated production halls and other parts of the huge factory premises are still standing today.
These classic cars are not garage gold
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With the MG TF (1953 to 1955) you can drive affordable roadsters. Fans rave about the sheer driving pleasure. Nevertheless, the prices are going down. The typical owners are 65 b…is 70 years old – young people can’t do much with the car anymore. Loss of value: From 36,000 (2011) to 27,700 euros (2015).
Source: Getty Images
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The Biturbo (1981 to 1986) was smaller than the usual Maserati models, but it was also much cheaper. But because of technical problems, he bought one straight…a legendary bad reputation. Today, therefore, high maintenance costs discourage purchases. Loss of value: From 9500 euros (2011) to 8900 euros (2015).
Source: picture-alliance / dpa
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The Jaguar XJ 12 Series III (1979 to 1989) is often available for comparatively little money. But be careful, the maintenance costs can be extremely high. Loss of value: From 15,200 euros (2…007) to 14,100 euros (2015).
Source: Thomas doerfer -CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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The British called the TR 7 (1976 to 1981) "The Wedge". The weird coupe completely flopped, today it is representative of the decline of the British auto industry…ie. Loss of value: From 6900 euros (2007) to 6300 euros (2015).
Source: Charles01 -CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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With a displacement of 8.2 liters, it doesn’t matter how lean you set the engine to be: the fuel consumption of the Cadillac Eldorado Coupe (1976 to 1978) will tear holes in your wallet. And find…n you a parking lot with this monster! Loss of value: From 19,200 euros (2007) to 16,500 euros (2015).
Source: CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
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The car may be luxurious. But would you like to drive to the supermarket in a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (1977 to 1980) or stop at daycare with it? "Then wi…About bought an S-Class, Germany is simply Mercedes country, ”says Classic Data expert Brune. Loss of value: From 34,800 euros (2007) to 27,100 euros (2015).
Source: Denver Post via Getty Images
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Loud nailing, sluggish draft – old diesels generally have a hard time being old-timers. The Opel Rekord E (1977 to 1986) is an example of this. Depreciation: From 2400 euros (2007) …to 1500 euros (2015).
Source: Opel
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The Camry was a gray mouse even when it was new – and 30 years later it still is. Some cars just never become coveted collectibles, no matter how old they are. Depreciation…t: From 1900 euros (2007) to 1500 euros (2015).
Source: Wikipedia
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Skoda has enjoyed a good reputation for a number of years. This did not apply to the Skoda 120 (1984 to 1989), the car still exudes old Eastern bloc foul. Loss of value: from 3100 euros (…2007) to 2200 euros (2015).
Source: Wikipedia
Assembly fitter Schurer worked for Sachsenring for many years. "Unfortunately, I never got my own Trabi," says the pensioner, still a little disappointed. In the GDR the waiting times for cars were extremely long. Many had to be patient for up to 15 years, some even waited in vain.
“Then I drove a Skoda,” says Manfred Schurer. Today the 66-year-old is involved in the international Trabant register "Intertrab e.V.". The association maintains a considerable collection of vehicles "Made in Zwickau" in the Saxon city.
The long waiting times for the Trabant were incidentally due to the GDR’s shortage economy and not because the Trabant was such a good car. No, with its stinking 26 hp two-stroke engine and the cotton-reinforced thermoset body, it was technically hopelessly out of date by the 1960s.
When the Berlin Wall finally fell in 1989, Trabis were the first cars to drive west across the inner-German border. The emotionally charged images went down in the history books. But then nobody wanted the Ostmobile anymore. The liberated GDR citizens longed for Mercedes, BMW and the other western brands, which for decades they could only admire on television.
In the 90s, the Trabi was a joke
The Trabi, on the other hand, only had a scrap value, the image collapsed practically overnight. Even the switch to four-stroke engines couldn’t change that. The Trabant 1.1 with a significantly more powerful four-cylinder from Volkswagen went into series production in 1990. But the demand remained low. “Apart from the engine, the Trabant was built almost unchanged,” remembers Manfred Schurer.
In the 1990s, the Trabant became a figure on four wheels. The reunified Federal Republic of Germany told itself about Trabi jokes, knocking on the thighs. For example: “Why doesn’t a Trabi drive off when the traffic light is green? The Benz behind him switched on the ventilation. ”And in comedies like“ Go Trabi Go ”he laughed at the Ossis who discover the wild west with their bizarre vehicles.
Only a few Trabant enthusiasts and far-sighted speculators put a copy aside. Patience is now paying off: Today, well-preserved or restored Trabants cost 5,000 euros and more. One again sees people transporting Trabant wrecks on trailers; but not to take them to the nearest dump, but to restore them in the workshop. What happened?
That’s how wonderful the old Opel GT is
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“Only flying is better.” This was the slogan that Opel used to advertise the GT at the end of the 1960s. At that time it was a real dream car with classic sports car proportions and sensational sound…ppheadlights that turn sideways and were often called "sleepy eyes".
Source: Thomas Geiger
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Opel delivered a good 103,000 copies of the sports coupe between 1968 and 1973, around half of them in the USA.
Source: Thomas Geiger
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GT customers had the choice between two engines. The 1100 cc engine of the GT 1100 develops almost 60 hp, while the GT 1900 mobilizes 90 hp and a top speed…speed of 185 km / h. The GT 1100 was rather unpopular and was therefore discontinued in 1970.
Source: Thomas Geiger
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All Opel GT models were rear-wheel drive and equipped with a manual four-speed gearbox as standard. However, there was also a newly developed three-speed car for an extra charge…atik – but this was very rarely ordered.
Source: Thomas Geiger
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The starting price for the Opel GT was a relatively cheap 10,767 marks.
Source: Thomas Geiger
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With its bucket seats, synthetic leather seats, the three-spoke steering wheel and the round instruments that were modern for the time, the interior of the Opel GT still exudes the typical…neat 60s flair.
Source: Thomas Geiger
Somehow the Trabant turned the corner, from a cult and fun vehicle to an Eastern classic that you can even drive to classic car meetings without being laughed at. "These vehicles are now clearly recognized in the scene," confirms Marius Brune from Classic Data, the expert organization for classic vehicles.
The Bochumers have been observing the price development of historic vehicles for more than 30 years and have recently registered an increasing demand for cars from the former East. Especially with rare models like a Wartburg 313 Sport or Trabant tubs with removable roofs have increased prices significantly in recent years.
The ideal entry-level gold timer
But even bread-and-butter cars such as the mass-produced Trabant 601 are no longer available for an “apple and an egg”, emphasizes the expert Brune. "The days of cheap vehicles are over."
For many fans, it is above all the simple technology that makes the Trabant the ideal entry-level gold timer. "If you can hold a hammer in your hand, you can actually repair everything on the car yourself," says ex-assembly fitter Manfred Schurer from Zwickau.
On the other hand, nonsense is the legend that the Trabant cannot rust. Although its outer skin is only made of plastic. But underneath there is a frame made of sheet metal. And that can rust like any other car.
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