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I grew up in East Germany, but i don't have any kind words to say about the Trabant; a small two-stroke engine (all East German engines were two stroke engines)

I grew up in East Germany, but i don't have any kind words to say about the Trabant; a small two-stroke engine (all East German engines were two stroke engines) that was quite bad to the environment (and to the poor guys who were frequently sick with some kind of asthma), what's so cool about that? (and the Chassis was made of pressed papier-mache, not even plastic; i have never seen one burning, but it would have been burning like a match)

berkes 5y ago
I have seen one burning. On a hillside in (then) Czechoslovakia. The trabi overheated, then caught flame. Drivers got out, but the car was standing there, burning. We could not back up, because of a line of cars, trucks buses behind us who all were stuck on the very windy road. Indeed it burned "like a match", with thick black smoke. When the breaks burned through it rolled downhill, towards us, scary AF. Luckily it did not hit us nor the car in front of us, but passed a few meters and ended in a ditch, below the road. Where it exploded: almost like in the movies; just more black smoke. No-one was hurt. I was 12 or 13, but I remember the burning trabi like it was yesterday. I can almost feel the heat and smell the burning plastic, when I think of it.
- xattt 5y ago
  The Trabant was made of Duroplast. (1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast
quakeguy 5y ago
I’ve seen one burning in the early nineties, it was abandoned and me and some friends lit it on fire… the paint bubbled up in some unhealthy ways on those paper parts. We pissed on it to put it out, be we failed. Got out there with our bikes pretty quick and later it was put out by the local fire brigade. :)
flohofwoe 5y ago
The body panels are neither plain plastic nor paper-based, but more akin to Bakelite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast The cardboard thing was more like a joke because (I guess) when banging against the panels it sounded like a cardboard box :)
- MichaelMoser123 5y ago
  Another popular name for the Trabant was 'Rennpappe' - 'racing cardboard'; but you are right, i mixed things up a bit.

berkes 5y ago

I have seen one burning. On a hillside in (then) Czechoslovakia. The trabi overheated, then caught flame. Drivers got out, but the car was standing there, burning. We could not back up, because of a line of cars, trucks buses behind us who all were stuck on the very windy road. Indeed it burned "like a match", with thick black smoke. When the breaks burned through it rolled downhill, towards us, scary AF. Luckily it did not hit us nor the car in front of us, but passed a few meters and ended in a ditch, below the road. Where it exploded: almost like in the movies; just more black smoke. No-one was hurt. I was 12 or 13, but I remember the burning trabi like it was yesterday. I can almost feel the heat and smell the burning plastic, when I think of it.

xattt 5y ago
The Trabant was made of Duroplast. (1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast

quakeguy 5y ago

I’ve seen one burning in the early nineties, it was abandoned and me and some friends lit it on fire… the paint bubbled up in some unhealthy ways on those paper parts. We pissed on it to put it out, be we failed. Got out there with our bikes pretty quick and later it was put out by the local fire brigade. :)

flohofwoe 5y ago

The body panels are neither plain plastic nor paper-based, but more akin to Bakelite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast The cardboard thing was more like a joke because (I guess) when banging against the panels it sounded like a cardboard box :)

MichaelMoser123 5y ago
Another popular name for the Trabant was 'Rennpappe' - 'racing cardboard'; but you are right, i mixed things up a bit.