Editing Trabant (section)

{{NPOV|date=April 2025}}
{{Short description|1957–1991 automobile brand of VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau}}
{{About|the car}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox automobile
| name = Trabant
| image = IFA Trabant Logo.svg
| manufacturer = [[HQM Sachsenring GmbH|VEB Sachsenring]]
| production = {{ubl |1957–1990 ([[East Germany]]) |1990–1991 ([[Germany]]) |3.7 million produced}}
| body_style = {{ubl |2-door [[sedan (automobile)|sedan]] |3-door [[station wagon]] (Universal) |Doorless jeep ([[Volkswagen Kübelwagen|Kübelwagen]])}}
| layout = [[Front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout|Transverse front-engine, front-wheel-drive]]
| engine = {{ubl
  |499&nbsp;cc [[Two-stroke engine|two-stroke]] [[Straight-twin engine|I2]] (1957–1962)
  |594&nbsp;cc two-stroke I2 (1962–1990)
  |1043&nbsp;cc ''[[List of discontinued Volkswagen Group petrol engines#AAK|BM&nbsp;820]]'' four-stroke [[Straight-four engine|I4]] (1990–1991)
  }}
| wheelbase = {{convert|2020|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<ref name="Legends">{{cite book|title=Legends of the Open Road|publisher=Rizzoli International Publications|isbn=978-88-6130-066-8|year=2007}}</ref>
| length = {{convert|3360|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<ref name="Legends"/>
| width = {{convert|1500|mm|in|2|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite book|title=World Cars 1978|year=1978 |publisher=Herald Books|isbn=0-910714-10-X}}</ref>
| successor = [[DKW F12]]
}}
'''Trabant''' ({{IPA|de|tʁaˈbant|lang|de-Trabant.ogg}}) is a series of [[B-segment|small car]]s produced from 1957 until 1991 by former [[East Germany|East German]] car manufacturer [[HQM Sachsenring GmbH|VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau]]. Four models were made: the [[Trabant P 50|Trabant 500]], [[Trabant 600]], [[Trabant 601]], and the [[Trabant 1.1]]. The first model, the 500, was a relatively modern car when it was introduced.

It featured detachable [[duroplast]] body panels on a galvanised steel unibody chassis, front-wheel drive, a transverse two-stroke engine, and independent suspension. Because this 1950s design remained largely unchanged until the introduction of the last model, the [[Trabant 1.1]] in 1990, the Trabant became symbolic of the former East Germany's stagnant economy and the collapse of the [[Eastern Bloc]] in general.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.autotrader.com/car-video/the-trabant-was-an-awful-car-made-by-communists-258699|title=The Trabant Was an Awful Car Made by Communists|date=November 2016|first = Doug | last = De Muro | website=[[Autotrader.com]]|access-date=17 November 2018}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2025}} Called "a spark plug with a roof", 3,096,999 Trabants were produced.<ref>{{cite news | last=Williams | first=Adam | title=Boxy East German icon plans comeback | publisher=[[Reuters]]| date=2007-09-06 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-trabant-idUSL0678633320070906 | access-date=2020-05-13}}</ref> Older models have been sought by collectors in the United States due to their low cost and fewer restrictions on the importation of [[antique car]]s. The Trabant also gained a following among [[car tuning]] and [[rallying]] enthusiasts.