This Trabant came here just after the fall of the Wall – In the Wild

To be precise, in 1992, when this Trabant 600 spotted by colleague Joost Boers was already almost thirty years old, it crossed over to our country. He may have recently brought an East German family to the west. His loyal service in the former GDR was over and now it was time for a new chapter in a quite different world.

In the autumn of that year, almost 32 years ago now, he received his Dutch records. The Trabbi immediately found a loyal owner in its first Dutch owner, because their paths only separated in 2005. Then the current owner received the keys, so he has been using it for even longer. The now more than sixty year old Trabant also shows that car love is involved, because it looks neat. Of course it helps that the carriage is made of thermoplastic and therefore cannot rust, but a Trabant can also deteriorate enormously.

Chances are that you don’t immediately think of this model when you think of a Trabant. The 600 (also called the P60), built for only three years, was between the original Trabbi and the most famous and longest-built version (the 601). It most closely resembles its predecessor, the 500/P50, with which it all started in 1954. It is also about the same size as the 500 and therefore slightly smaller than the 601. This, in combination with its friendly round shapes, ensures that it is quite cuddly, although the Trabbi mainly symbolized the meager living conditions for many behind the Iron Curtain.

Unlike its predecessor, the 600 did have a real recess for a radio in its dashboard. So if you could save some money, you could put a radio in it. No unnecessary luxury to drown out the crackling sound of the two-stroke engine. When it came to the Netherlands, as you can imagine, this was already a very outdated and spartan thing, so it’s all the more nice that someone put an effort into making it look good. Oh and it even got a tow bar, although we wouldn’t mount much more than a bicycle carrier on it.