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MY TRABANT
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Well, this is my beloved death trap, I mean Trabant, acquired from the Swindon Area. The
paintwork is not original as it was a Valencia Blue type of colour (Triumph owners will hate me for
that comparison!) The reason it is this colour was due to the fact that it was used as a
travelling advertisement for a company in East Germany. The vehicle is called the "Bat Mobile"
due to the fact that a previous owner's
(Jon Hacker) four year old daughter named it that way.
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Apart from being totally black, the car also had some of its panels
and bits re-sprayed a rather fetching PINK colour. Namely, the front valence, wheels, roof, badges and
light surrounds. Unfortunately a previous owner, who shall not be named (the
infamous Paul Farrow - you know who you are) decided to cover the pink paint with lovingly brushed on
Hammerite! Assuming I live long enough to keep this car, I hope to restore these colours and the sign
written doors to make the car as near to the way it looked when it was trundling around East Germany.
This photo was taken
by Jon Hacker when he owned the Trabant originally.
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Here we have the unique Trabbie interior. I think the designers had a
slightly Greek influence when creating it, i.e. Spartan! The column gear change lever can be clearly seen on the
right of the steering wheel. So far I haven't worked out what all the buttons are for, but what I do know is that
when you use the horn a light is illuminated to tell you so. Funny, perhaps the engine is too noisy to allow you
to hear the horn itself! Don't expect too much in the way of dials either, there is only one, and that shows kilometres
to give you the sense that you are travelling extremely quickly. Incidentally, the piece of paper on the parcel shelf(?) below the dashboard indicates to me which position the lever for turning the fuel on, off and onto reserve, should be in. As for the seats, not for the weak backed and I doubt that
they recline, update - yes they do but whether outdoor pursuits are possible in
them, who knows.
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Although my comments may seem a tad cynical, the short amount of time I have had my
Trabbie has enabled me to really enjoy these
little cars (especially when the drivers side front wheel fell off).
They certainly turn heads and that's not just to avoid the fumes!
If you want to include anything
on this page i.e., experiences, photos, ideas etc. then drop an e-mail to
trabant@hawkinge.com and I will see what I can do.
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