I bought a 1982 Trabant 601 in February 2019. It's a good driver so I can't call this a build thread. However, after spending time on the internet looking at the "information" on various web, YouTube, and other social media resources, I saw a lot more people exaggerating, embellishing, and just plain making fun of these cars. There is plenty to make fun of with these cars, but I thought perhaps I could give some real world descriptions of what it's like to own and maintain one of these. So here is my start...
Like many of you, I've got an embarrassing number of cars, but am always on the hunt. One of my bucket-list cars was an Eastern Bloc car, so I've been watching for Trabants, Skodas, Ladas, etc. for some time. I rarely am on Facebook, but one day I noticed a Trabant on the Michigan European Auto Classified group that I was somehow signed up for. It was near Detroit, about three hours from me, and since it was February, the owner wasn't getting much traction. There was a nice break in the weather, so I hooked up the trailer (in case we made a deal), got some cash (in case we made a deal), and headed over (I was skeptical that we'd make a deal, but didn't want to take a 2nd trip). Needless to say, we made a deal and I brought it home.
The owner had moved to the US from Romania when he was 8 years old. His dad had bought a Trabant 601 brand new after being on a waiting list for about 3 years. The normal waiting list was longer, but his dad got preference because he was caring for disabled elderly relatives. Anyway, the guy I bought the car from is nostalgic about Trabants, very knowledgeable, and was rotating this car out of his possession as he'd found one of the late model, four stroke cars that he wanted to own instead. He'd done a pretty good job with the mechanicals on the car--there's a little sorting left for me--but I liked that it wasn't going to be a huge project. I wanted a car that was unrestored, unmolelested, and fairly original. I think I found it. It's had a little rust repair to the front shock mounts and an incorrect steering wheel, but otherwise seems like the real deal.
I'll admit I haven't driven it much yet, maybe 2-3 times a month. When I get a new car, I usually take a bunch of short trips with it before I go for the full inspection of the mechanicals. I find those short trips help expose the issues, so I can take a sharper look when I get into it. I'm just starting the sorting, so I'll be posting those updates as they happen.
Here's my description of the driving experience: It's a really comfortable, easy-to-drive sedan. Everyone who rides with me is surprised at how nice it rides given its worst-car-ever-built reputation. It's got a four-on-the-tree gearbox that takes a little getting used to (basically an H-pattern that's reversed from a typical three-on-the-tree H-pattern). The comical part is the engine noise, which is much closer to a weed whacker than a dirt bike. It's more powerful than I thought it would be. I've also got a Fiat 500, which is 4 stroke, and the Trabant is faster. Maybe "not as slow" is a better than "faster." I'd compare the brakes to most 1950s or 1960s cars. Not great, but not bad. Currently, the right front grabs hard and pulls the car to the right, but then the left grabs a few moments later and pulls it back left. That's high on the sorting list. Bottom line is it's a nicer driver than I thought it would be given the internet descriptions and I think it will be a fun car for errands and little trips.