Editing Trabant (section)

== History ==

=== Origins ===
VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau had its origins in the former [[Auto Union]]/[[DKW]] business which had operated out of the site prior to the war, and the company's first products were essentially copies of pre-war DKW designs. Following the partition of Germany, Auto Union re-established itself in [[West Germany]] (ultimately evolving into [[Audi]]), leaving VEB Sachsenring with the two stroke engine inherited from DKW.

The Trabant was the result of a planning process which had been intended to design a three-wheeled motorcycle.<ref name="Go Trabi" /> In German, ''Trabant'' is an astronomical term for a moon (or other natural satellite) of a celestial body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interglot.com/dictionary/de/en/translate/Trabant|title=Translate Trabant from German to English|website=www.interglot.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021005/http://www.interglot.com/dictionary/de/en/translate/Trabant|archive-date=7 October 2017}}</ref>

=== Full production ===
[[File:Trabant P50.jpg|thumb|alt=Two-door sedan, with a driver at the wheel|A 1959 P 50]]
The first of the Trabants left the VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau factory in Saxony on 7 November 1957. It was a relatively advanced car when it was formally introduced the following year, with [[front wheel drive]], [[unitary construction]] and independent suspension. The Trabant's greatest shortcoming was its engine. By the late 1950s, many small West European cars (such as the [[Renault]]) had cleaner, more-efficient [[four-stroke]] engines, but budgetary constraints and raw-materials shortages mandated an outdated (but inexpensive) two-stroke engine in the Trabant. It was technically equivalent to the West German [[North German Automobile and Engine|Lloyd]] automobile, a similarly sized car with an air-cooled, two-cylinder four-stroke engine. The Trabant had a front, [[Transverse engine|transversely mounted]] engine and [[front-wheel drive]] in an era when many European cars were using rear-mounted engines or front-mounted engines with rear-wheel drive. Its greatest drawback was its largely unchanged production; the car's two-stroke engine made it obsolete by the 1970s, limiting exports to Western Europe.

The Trabant's air-cooled, {{convert|500|cc|cid|abbr=on|adj=on}} engine—upgraded to {{convert|600|cc|cid|abbr=on|adj=on}} in 1962–63—was derived from a pre-war [[DKW]] design with minor alterations during its production run. The first [[Saab Automobile|Saab]] car had a larger (764 cc), water-cooled, two-cylinder two-stroke engine. [[Wartburg (marque)|Wartburg]], an East German manufacturer of larger sedans, also used a water-cooled, three-cylinder, {{convert|1000|cc|cid|lk=on|abbr=on|adj=on}}, two-stroke DKW engine.

The original Trabant, introduced in 1958, was the [[Trabant P 50|P 50]]. Trabant's base model, it shared a large number of interchangeable parts with the latest 1.1s. The 500&nbsp;cc, {{convert|17|PS|kW|0|abbr=on}} P50 evolved into a {{convert|20|PS|kW|0|abbr=on}} version with a fully synchronised gearbox in 1960, and received a {{cvt|23|PS}}, {{convert|600|cc|cid|abbr=on}} engine in 1962 as the P 60.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0503-0015-001, Sachsenring Trabant 601.jpg|thumb|alt=Trabant with brown trim in a museum|A 1963 Trabant 601]]

The updated P601 was introduced in 1964. It was essentially a facelift of the P 60, with a different front fascia, bonnet, roof and rear and the original P50 underpinnings. The model remained nearly unchanged until the end of its production except for the addition of 12V electricity, rear coil springs and an updated dashboard for later models.

[[File:Trabant P1100 front 20040924.jpg|thumb|alt=A blue Trabant|P1100 prototype]]
The Trabant's designers expected production to extend until 1967 at the latest, and East German designers and engineers created a series of more-sophisticated prototypes intended to replace the P601; several are displayed at the [[Dresden Transport Museum]]. Each proposal for a new model was rejected by the East German government due to shortages of the raw materials required in larger quantities for the more-advanced designs. As a result, the Trabant remained largely unchanged for more than a quarter-century. Also unchanged was its production method, which was extremely labour-intensive.

Production started from 34,000 p.a. in 1964, reached 100,000 p.a. in 1973, to a high of 150,000 in 1989.<ref name=":2" />

The Trabant 1.1 was a 601 with a better-performing 1.05-litre ({{convert|1050|cc|cid|abbr=on|disp=out}}), {{cvt|45|PS}} [[VW Polo]] engine. With a slightly modified look (including a floor-mounted gearshift), it was quieter and cleaner than its predecessor. The 1.1 had front disc brakes, and its wheel assembly was borrowed from [[Volkswagen]]. It was produced from 1989 to 1991, in parallel with the two-stroke P601. Except for the engine and transmission, many parts from older P50s, P60s and 601s were compatible with the 1.1.

=== {{anchor|Late production (1989~1991)}}1989–1991 ===
[[File:Checkpoint Charlie Nov. 1989, Ostberliner überqueren zum ersten Mal die Grenze nach Westberlin ohne Grenzkontrolle. DF-ST-91-01399.jpg|thumb|Trabant 601 entering [[West Berlin]] in 1989, [[Checkpoint Charlie]]]]
[[File:Trabant 1.1.jpg|thumb|alt=Two-door sedan with a man standing behind it|Trabant 1.1 with [[VW Polo]] four-stroke engine]]
In mid-1989, thousands of East Germans began loading their Trabants with as much as they could carry and drove to Hungary or Czechoslovakia en route to West Germany–the so-called "Trabi Trail". Many had to get special permission to drive their Trabants into West Germany. The cars did not meet West German emissions standards and polluted the air at four times the European average.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sebetsyen|first=Victor|title=Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|location=New York City|year=2009|isbn=978-0-375-42532-5|url=https://archive.org/details/revolution1989fa00sebe}}</ref>

A licensed version of the [[Volkswagen Polo]] engine replaced the Trabant's two-stroke engine, the result of a trade agreement between East and West Germany. The first prototypes were built in 1988, with pre-series cars appearing in 1989, but series production only began in May 1990 - By which time the two German states had already agreed to [[German reunification|reunification]]. The locally built [[List of Volkswagen Group petrol engines#EA111|EA111-series engine]] was given the model code BM&nbsp;820 by the East Germans; the plant also made 1.3-litre versions for the [[Wartburg 1.3]] (BM&nbsp;860) and the [[Barkas (van manufacturer)|Barkas utility vehicle]] (BM&nbsp;880).<ref name=PK1>{{cite journal | url = http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/13998/DBGT28_2003Kirchberg.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151220174611/http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/13998/DBGT28_2003Kirchberg.pdf | archive-date = 2015-12-20 | title = Die Implantation des VW-Motors in den DDR-Automobilbau. Ein Bericht zur Innovationsgeschichte der DDR | trans-title = The installation of VW engines in East German cars: An episode in the history of East German innovations | language = de | first = Peter | last = Kirchberg | issue = 128 | journal = Dresdener Beiträge zur Geschichte der Technikwissenschaften | page = 129 | date = 2003 }}</ref> The model, the Trabant 1.1, also had minor improvements to its brake and signal lights, a renovated grille, and [[MacPherson strut]]s instead of a leaf-spring-suspended chassis.

By April 1991, after only eleven months, the Trabant 1.1 was discontinued. In total, 3.7 million Trabant vehicles had been produced.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://krasivmir.tk/?p=361 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110414143248/http://krasivmir.tk/?p=361 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 14 April 2011 | title = Trabant}}</ref> However, it soon became apparent that there was no place for the Trabant in a reunified German economy. Its inefficient, labour-intensive production line had only survived thanks to government subsidies.

The [[Zwickau]] factory in Mosel (where the Trabant was manufactured) was sold to [[Volkswagen]] AG; the rest of the company became [[HQM Sachsenring GmbH]]. Volkswagen redeveloped the Zwickau factory into a centre for engine production; it also produces some [[Volkswagen Golf]]s and [[Volkswagen Passat|Passats]].

=== {{anchor|1990s and beyond}}1990s and later ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F086568-0046, Leipzig, ausgeschlachteter PKW Trabant (Trabbi).jpg|thumb|alt=Junked, vandalised car|Many Trabant vehicles were abandoned in Germany after 1989 (this one photographed in [[Leipzig]], 1990). A [[Volkswagen Golf Mk2|Volkswagen Golf]] can be seen parked in the background. Private brands like [[Volkswagen]] spilled over into East Germany after its state-owned auto industry collapsed.]]
[[File:Trabi World (Berlin-Mitte 2013) 1209-1089-(120).jpg|thumb|Trabi World, a tourist attraction in Berlin featuring a Trabant museum and a self-driven tour of Berlin in Trabants.]]
According to Richard Leiby, the Trabant had become "a symbol of the technological and social backwardness of the East German state."<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard A. Leiby|title=The Unification of Germany, 1989–1990|url=https://archive.org/details/unificationofger00leib|url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood|page=[https://archive.org/details/unificationofger00leib/page/185 185]|isbn=978-0-313-29969-8}}</ref> Trabants became a symbol of the GDR's serious flaws in the West after the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], when many were abandoned by their Eastern owners who migrated west. Unlike the [[Lada Niva]], [[Škoda 120|Škoda Estelle]], [[Polski Fiat 125p|Polski Fiat]] ([[Fiat 125|design licensed]] from the Italian car manufacturer) and [[Zastava Koral|Yugo]], the Trabant had negligible sales in Western Europe.

A Trabant could be bought for as little as a few [[Deutsche Mark]]s during the early 1990s, and many were given away. Although prices recovered as they became collectors' items, they remain inexpensive cars. In her ''Bodywork'' project, [[performance artist]] [[Liz Cohen]] transformed a 1987 Trabant into a 1973 [[Chevrolet El Camino]].<ref>{{cite news
 |last        = Keats
 |first       = Jonathon
 |title       = High-Performance Artist
 |publisher   = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]
 |date        = July 2003
 |url         = https://www.wired.com/2003/07/high-performance-artist/
 |access-date = 1 December 2016
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161201143910/https://www.wired.com/2003/07/high-performance-artist/
 |archive-date = 1 December 2016
}}</ref> The Trabant was planned to return to production in [[Uzbekistan]] as the Olimp during the late 1990s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/1997/08/16/050.html |title=Trabant Clunks Back to Life |publisher=Moscowtimes.ru |access-date=2 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211234731/http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/1997/08/16/050.html |archive-date=11 February 2008  }}</ref> but only one model was produced.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://courses.wcupa.edu/rbove/eco343/040Compecon/Soviet/Uzbek/040900autos.txt |title=Automobile Industry in Uzbekistan |access-date=2 December 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110703225339/http://courses.wcupa.edu/rbove/eco343/040Compecon/Soviet/Uzbek/040900autos.txt |archive-date=3 July 2011  }}</ref>

[[File:Trabant P50 or 60 during the First Trabant Rally.jpg|thumb|alt=White Trabant with lettering, with the Capitol Building in the background|A Trabant during the first Parade of Trabants in 2007]]

Former Bulgarian [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bulgaria)|Foreign Minister]] and [[Atlantic Club of Bulgaria]] founding president [[Solomon Passy]] owned a Trabant which was blessed by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 2002 and in which he took [[Secretary General of NATO|NATO Secretaries General]] [[Manfred Wörner]], [[George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen|George Robertson]], and [[Jaap de Hoop Scheffer]] for rides. In 2005, Passy donated the vehicle (which had become symbolic of Bulgaria's NATO accession) to the [[National Historical Museum (Bulgaria)|National Historical Museum of Bulgaria]].<ref name="vesti">{{cite news|url=http://www.vesti.bg/?tid=40&oid=752914|title=Соломон Паси подари трабанта си на НИМ|date=13 July 2005|publisher=Вести|language=bg|access-date=13 November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718003113/http://www.vesti.bg/?tid=40&oid=752914|archive-date=18 July 2011}}</ref> In 1997, the Trabant was celebrated for passing the [[moose test]] without rolling over, as the [[Mercedes-Benz W168]] had; a [[Thuringia]]n newspaper's headline read, "Come and get us, moose! Trabi passes A-Class killer test".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-car-comparison/petite-feat-20100824-13odc.html |title=Petite feat |publisher=drive.com.au |date=6 May 2005 |access-date=2 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325180528/http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-car-comparison/petite-feat-20100824-13odc.html |archive-date=25 March 2012  }}</ref>

The Trabant entered the world of [[diplomacy]] in 2007 when Steven Fisher, [[Deputy chief of mission|deputy head of mission]] at the British [[Embassy]] in [[Budapest]], used a 1.1 (painted as close to [[British racing green]] as possible) as his [[diplomatic car]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politics.hu/20081204/british-deputy-ambassadors-ride-small-and-green |title=British Deputy Ambassador's ride small and green |publisher=Politics.Hu |access-date=28 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721112943/http://www.politics.hu/20081204/british-deputy-ambassadors-ride-small-and-green/ |archive-date=21 July 2011  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url = http://totalcar.hu/magazin/szerelem/drtrabi/ | title = A brit nagykövethelyettes Trabantja ("The British Deputy Ambassador's Trabant") | publisher = TotalCar.hu Ltd. | first = Csikós | last = Zsolt | date = 10 November 2008 | access-date = 5 October 2012 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110812132127/http://totalcar.hu/magazin/szerelem/drtrabi/ | archive-date = 12 August 2011}}</ref> American Trabant owners celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall with the Parade of Trabants, an annual early-November rally held in [[Washington, D.C.]] The event, sponsored by the privately owned [[International Spy Museum]], includes street tours in Trabants, rides, live German music and displays about East Germany.<ref>{{cite web|date=7 November 2020|title=14th Annual Parade of Trabants|url=https://www.spymuseum.org/past-events/14th-annual-parade-of-trabants-virtual/2020-11-07/|access-date=15 April 2021|website=International Spy Museum|publisher=[[International Spy Museum]]}}</ref>