Trabbing

[brownnova]

The Eastern European stuff has really grown on me of late but the Trabant has always been a desire... I’ll add myself to the list of those saying “I’d love a Trabant one day”

[barefoot]

My fave bit was the column change, which when properly greased re-defined the term 'finger light' a change of ratio as easily as signalling left. Which reminds me, the wiper stalk was not just flimsy, it possessed similar tactile qualities to the refill from a cheap biro. 

[St.Jude]

4 hours ago, brownnova said:

The Eastern European stuff has really grown on me of late but the Trabant has always been a desire... I’ll add myself to the list of those saying “I’d love a Trabant one day”

I'd like to put my name down on the "Trabant one day" list.

I will say though that if you go to Berlin there's a tour company that uses these. You pay (I think) 50 euros and you get to drive it around in a convoy. Don't know how long this will last though due to the Umweltzone thingy. So anything more noxious than a fart is banned from the centre of Berlin. 

[Datsuncog]

Indeed... Jalopy mag kinda gave me the horn for Trabants, back in the day, with articles like Destination Zwickau...

Although I no longer find it so amusing to drive cars that produce blue smoke everywhere, I really must try to engineer a visit back to MrsDC's uncle's place and see if he's changed his mind on slimming down the barn...

Yup, three Trabbis in among that little lot - two sedans and a wagon.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

3 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

....

Yup, three Trabbis in among that little lot - two sedans and a wagon.

What's the story behind that exercise bike?

[Inspector Morose]

See OOP-X?

That was mine once. What a fucking shed that one was. A six volt leaf sprung heap. (Note, I’ve had other leaf sprung ones and they were not half as bad as that one)

Still, it managed to get me to work one day when both my combi, 311 and 353 decided to not want to work one day. (Lesson one. When dealing with east german cars used as a daily, you really need a choice of a few to increase the chances of one of them actually working enough to get you somewhere. I never learned and promptly bought a Zappo which didn’t end well.)

[Fumbler]

18 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

See OOP-X?

That was mine once. What a fucking shed that one was. A six volt leaf sprung heap. (Note, I’ve had other leaf sprung ones and they were not half as bad as that one)

Still, it managed to get me to work one day when both my combi, 311 and 353 decided to not want to work one day. (Lesson one. When dealing with east german cars used as a daily, you really need a choice of a few to increase the chances of one of them actually working enough to get you somewhere. I never learned and promptly bought a Zappo which didn’t end well.)

There was an East German comment on Aging Wheels' restoration series of his Trabant (On That YouTube) that went like this:
"The natural state of a Trabant is that its always broken. You never fix a Trabant, and if you can see the car behind you then you haven't added enough oil!"

[Zelandeth]

This was what drove me round the bend with my second and third Skoda Estelles.  They were never working properly and it was a perpetual battle to get it ready to get to work the following day.  Had to borrow my parents or friends motors on more than one occasion.

Ladas in contrast I've never been let down by.  They *always* have a laundry list of stuff wrong with them, but it very seldom does it impact their ability to function as An Car.  Even when I was doing around 100 miles a day, half of which was in really heavy traffic, in all seasons in my Niva.  Only times I had a brief failure to proceed were A: When I forgot to tighten up the positive battery terminal...lead fell off.  Reattached and was on my way in approximately 30 seconds.  B: The rubber donut on the rear propshaft detonated at somewhere unspecified significantly north of 70mph.  Detached the rear propshaft, threw it in the boot, engaged the centre diff lock and continued home in front wheel drive only.  Stayed that way until I had time to fix it a week or two later.

It's funny that some cars you just never worry will let you down, that Niva was one of those for me.  Despite there always being stuff on the to do list (not least it's habit of eating track rod ends every quarter...never did figure out what was up with that, but they were about £3 apiece from Lada and I had changing them down to about 15 minutes so didn't dig that far!), I never for a second worried about whether it would work.

The experience with that Niva was largely responsible for the conversion of my Riva into the only 1.5i possibly in existence.

[Datsuncog]

11 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Yup, three Trabbis in among that little lot - two sedans and a wagon.

Oops, my mistake - FOUR Trabbis. Found the full set of pics (from August 2009).

Beige sedan, off-white wagon (plus an errant Robin)...

...plus a green sedan and a blue sedan.

No idea how these managed to get themselves to a very rual corner of Ireland, or what he was planning on doing with them, or if they're still around.

But I'll certainly be making enquiries...

 

[doubleyeller]

On 12/18/2019 at 6:28 AM, nigel bickle said:

 

Bub- the Marea had a container of hardbacks bounce off it when they fell off a lorry. Buggered off, though I saw him watch it in the mirror. Sorted now, and also mot’d this week.

I hope you're not going to "go legal" on this one, Squire, because it sounds like you've already had the book thrown at you! 

[TataBobu]

If I remember correctly, they were called "Limousine" by the manufacturer ?

Fastest thing of the lights, but always got overtaken before clearing the intersection. That's how I remember the one I drove years ago.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

11 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

.....No idea how these managed to get themselves to a very rural corner of Ireland, ...

There might still be one in the middle of a field on Achill.....

[High Jetter]

I'll be in Westport area round Easter...