Trabant

Trabant
Overview
Manufacturer	VEB Sachsenring
Production	1957~1990 (East Germany) 1990~1991 (Germany) 3.7 million produced
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door sedan (Limousine, Saloon) 2-door station wagon (Universal) doorless jeep (Kübelwagen)
Layout	FF layout
Powertrain
Engine	500cc two-cylinder two-stroke (1957~62) 600cc two-cylinder two-stroke (1963~1989) 1.0L VW Polo I4 four-stroke (1989~1991)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,020 mm (79.5 in)
Length	3,360 mm (132.3 in)
Width	1,500 mm (59.06 in)

The Trabant (/trəˈbɑːnt/; German pronunciation: [tʀaˈbant]) is an automobile that was produced from 1957 to 1990 by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Saxony.

It is often regarded as a symbol of the defunct East Germany and of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in general. The car was known for being uncomfortable, slow, noisy, and dirty. Nevertheless, it was very sought after in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It had a hard plastic body mounted to a single-piece steel chassis (a so-called unibody or monocoque), front-wheel drive, a transversely-mounted engine, and independent suspension, features that were unusual for the era in which it was manufactured.

Dubbed a "spark plug with a roof", the Trabant was produced for nearly 30 years with almost no significant changes to its design. 3,096,099 vehicles were produced in total. Older models of the car later became popular among collectors in the United States due to their low cost and fewer restrictions on importing antique cars. The Trabant also gained a following among car tuning enthusiasts and for use in rally racing and other motorsports.

...
Wikipedia