5 ms·

Yes iconic. It has the iconic sound of a lawnmower. Meanwhile the west had BMWs. Tells a lot about how things were.

flohofwoe 5y ago
At the time when production started in the 50's and 60's, the East German cars weren't all that bad compared to the rest of the world (especially if you compare to anything else than West Germany, which after all built the best high-end cars in the world). The problem was that the East German economy quickly went downhill starting in the late 60's, and there was no will, and no resources to bring new cars into production. For instance, East Germany had almost invented the VW Golf class of cars if the engineers had their way, but such innovations were blocked by the "higher ups": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartburg_(Automarke)#Wartburg_355_(Prototyp) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartburg_(Automarke)#Wartburg_...
- raverbashing 5y ago
  > had almost invented the VW Golf class of cars if the engineers had their way, but such developments were blocked by the "higher ups" Interesting. But yes, that's what you get when you have politicians making decisions about products and market (doesn't apply only to Eastern countries and doesn't apply only to governmental politicians - think office politics/people "falling up").
  - TazeTSchnitzel 5y ago
    > governmental politicians Does “politician” just mean “person who makes decisions for reasons I don't like” to you? Politicians can also make good decisions.
    - mangamadaiyan 5y ago
      I am envious of the fact that you live in a world where politicians make good decisions.
      - TazeTSchnitzel 5y ago
        I can't seriously engage with someone who believes politics never results in anything positive.
        hulitu 5y ago
        Some examples of positive behavior of politicians will be apreciated.
        mangamadaiyan 5y ago
        I'm sure there are plenty of examples of good coming out of politics, all across the world. The evil politician stereotype is neither new nor completely accurate. I'd assume that much depends on the system in which the politician in question operates. Some systems easily lend themselves to abuse and corruption, and others are slightly more robust. In a word, it's complicated :)
        nickpp 5y ago
        There is no incentive for a politician to make good decisions for her constituents. The politician is incentivized to make decisions good for himself (of course), his party or for his reelection. Re-election decisions are usually populist. Sometimes they are good for the people but most often they are harmful on the long run. Seldom you get a politician like Reagan or Thatcher who made unpopular decisions great for their country but they were so rare that they are statistically insignificant.
        mangamadaiyan 5y ago
        Statistically insignificant, perhaps - but usually the good decisions taken by a politician in power outlive them, and have long term benefits - at least, until they are undone by a future potentate, representative of the "bad politician" set.
        mangamadaiyan 5y ago
  - dsego 5y ago
    Thank god we now have the EU bureaucrats making decisions. Because forcing the companies to cheat on, ehm I mean "innovate" on emissions is democratic and western. Somehow the markets don't care about ecology, which is strange, because market knows best.
- slver 5y ago
  I really like the sharp lines of old designs. Probably terrible for aerodynamics, but they look great.
slver 5y ago
> Yes iconic. It has the iconic sound of a lawnmower. And the car body was made of paper.
- FabHK 5y ago
  A joke making the rounds in Germany back then: There's this American car collector who has every fancy car imaginable, but then he hears that there is a car in East Germany that is so popular that the order backlog is many years. So he orders one. At the factory, they're perplexed that someone from abroad would order one, and so keen to satisfy their first foreign customer that they ship one out immediately. Later, a friend asks: "So, did you get your East German car yet?" - "No, but they sent me a fully functional cardboard model."
aww_dang 5y ago
Some love the sound of 3 cylinder two-strokes. The Saab 93 has a cult following. The engine was originally licensed from a German manufacturer. I believe Auto-Union, but someone can correct me? https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-saab-850-gt-monte-carlo-2/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-saab-850-gt-monte-car...

At the time when production started in the 50's and 60's, the East German cars weren't all that bad compared to the rest of the world (especially if you compare to anything else than West Germany, which after all built the best high-end cars in the world). The problem was that the East German economy quickly went downhill starting in the late 60's, and there was no will, and no resources to bring new cars into production. For instance, East Germany had almost invented the VW Golf class of cars if the engineers had their way, but such innovations were blocked by the "higher ups": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartburg_(Automarke)#Wartburg_355_(Prototyp) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartburg_(Automarke)#Wartburg_...

raverbashing 5y ago
> had almost invented the VW Golf class of cars if the engineers had their way, but such developments were blocked by the "higher ups" Interesting. But yes, that's what you get when you have politicians making decisions about products and market (doesn't apply only to Eastern countries and doesn't apply only to governmental politicians - think office politics/people "falling up").
- TazeTSchnitzel 5y ago
  > governmental politicians Does “politician” just mean “person who makes decisions for reasons I don't like” to you? Politicians can also make good decisions.
  - mangamadaiyan 5y ago
    I am envious of the fact that you live in a world where politicians make good decisions.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 5y ago
      I can't seriously engage with someone who believes politics never results in anything positive.
      - hulitu 5y ago
        Some examples of positive behavior of politicians will be apreciated.
        mangamadaiyan 5y ago
        I'm sure there are plenty of examples of good coming out of politics, all across the world. The evil politician stereotype is neither new nor completely accurate. I'd assume that much depends on the system in which the politician in question operates. Some systems easily lend themselves to abuse and corruption, and others are slightly more robust. In a word, it's complicated :)
        nickpp 5y ago
        There is no incentive for a politician to make good decisions for her constituents. The politician is incentivized to make decisions good for himself (of course), his party or for his reelection. Re-election decisions are usually populist. Sometimes they are good for the people but most often they are harmful on the long run. Seldom you get a politician like Reagan or Thatcher who made unpopular decisions great for their country but they were so rare that they are statistically insignificant.
        mangamadaiyan 5y ago
        Statistically insignificant, perhaps - but usually the good decisions taken by a politician in power outlive them, and have long term benefits - at least, until they are undone by a future potentate, representative of the "bad politician" set.
      - mangamadaiyan 5y ago
- dsego 5y ago
  Thank god we now have the EU bureaucrats making decisions. Because forcing the companies to cheat on, ehm I mean "innovate" on emissions is democratic and western. Somehow the markets don't care about ecology, which is strange, because market knows best.
slver 5y ago
I really like the sharp lines of old designs. Probably terrible for aerodynamics, but they look great.

slver 5y ago

> Yes iconic. It has the iconic sound of a lawnmower. And the car body was made of paper.

FabHK 5y ago
A joke making the rounds in Germany back then: There's this American car collector who has every fancy car imaginable, but then he hears that there is a car in East Germany that is so popular that the order backlog is many years. So he orders one. At the factory, they're perplexed that someone from abroad would order one, and so keen to satisfy their first foreign customer that they ship one out immediately. Later, a friend asks: "So, did you get your East German car yet?" - "No, but they sent me a fully functional cardboard model."

aww_dang 5y ago

Some love the sound of 3 cylinder two-strokes. The Saab 93 has a cult following. The engine was originally licensed from a German manufacturer. I believe Auto-Union, but someone can correct me? https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-saab-850-gt-monte-carlo-2/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-saab-850-gt-monte-car...