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Trabant facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Parkeerplaats in Oostberlijn 1983
A parking lot in East Berlin, in 1983. Mainly Trabants, a white Wartburg and a dark green Lada

The Trabant (or Trabi) was a series of cars built in the German Democratic Republic. When the first cars were released, people saw them as being innovative. The cars were also easy on fuel, they did not need much fuel. Trabant had a two-stroke engine. The outside of the Trabant was not made with steel or iron, because the German Democratic Republic did not want to import steel and iron for the cars, because that would have been too expensive. Instead, the Trabant was made of Duroplast, a special kind of plastic, made by mixing formica and bakelite, and made stronger with fibres of cotton. They could afford some steel from Russia, and this was used for the engine and the floor, and to give the plastic strength. After the Berlin Wall was opened the Trabant did not sell as much as before, because the people wanted bigger cars that they could get after the wall was opened. Trabants can still be found in East Europe, for example in Hungary.

Criticism

The Trabant was a small car, good for driving in the city. The two-stroke engine created lots of air pollution, but because of the plastic body, it was stronger and safer than western cars of the same time. It was famous for being better in a crash test than a VW Polo.

Versions

Version Years of production N° of cars produced
AWZ P70 since 1954 to 1959 36.151
Trabant P50/500 since 1957 to 1962 131.440
Trabant P60/600 since 1962 to 1965 106.628
Trabant 601 since 1964 to 1990 2.818.547
Trabant 1,1 since 1989 to 1991 39.474

Between 1957 and 1990, about 3 million Trabants were built. As of January 2005, about 67.000 such cars were still registered.

Gallery

Images for kids

  • Small white Trabant in a museum

    Trabant 601 limousine

  • Simple automobile interior

    Interior of a 601

  • Two-door sedan, with a driver at the wheel

    A 1959 P50

  • Trabant with brown trim in a museum

    A 1963 Trabant 601

  • A blue Trabant

    P1100 prototype

  • Junked, vandalized car

    Many Trabants like this one, photographed in Leipzig in 1990, were abandoned after 1989.

  • White Trabant with lettering, with the Capitol Building in the background

    A Trabant during the first Parade of Trabants in 2007

  • A Trabant in Dresden in 1961

    Trabant P50 Universal, later known as the 500 Universal, at the Pirnaischer Platz in 1961

  • P 50

    Trabant P 50

  • P 1.1 Trabant Kubelwagen

    Trabant P 1.1 Kubelwagen

  • P 601 Trabant WE II - front

    Trabant P 601 WE II

  • Trabant500Pickup

    Trabant 500 Pickup

  • Trabant P50 Kombi vr bicolor TCE

    Trabant P50 Kombi

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Trabant para niños

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