DVD REVIEW FOR ALL TRABANT FANS

TRABANT Ein Auto fur eine Mark! ( A CAR FOR A DOLLAR) DVD.:

 THIS EXCELLENT DVD IS A MUST FOR ALL TRABI FANS. ALMOST ONE HOUR LONG IT TELLS THE WHOLE STORY OF THE TRABANT FROM IT'S INCEPTION, THROUGH TO ITS DEMISE. IT ALSO TELLS HOW THE CAR WAS BUILT WITH MUCH HUMAN LABOUR, AFTER THE RUSSIANS PILLAGED THE FACTORY AFTER WORLD WAR II AND SENT MOST OF THE MACHINERY AND TOOLING TO RUSSIA. AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW THE TRABANT WAS MADE FROM 'DUROPLAST', WHICH WAS A MIXTURE OF PLASTIC RESIN, STRENGTHENED WITH A BY PRODUCT OF COTTON WASTE. MANUFACTURER 'SACHSENRING' INVENTED THIS NEW MATERIAL OUT OF NECESSITY AS STEEL WAS VERY HARD TO COME BY AND PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE. THE WEST WOULDN'T SELL THEM ANY AND THE RUSSIANS DIDN'T HAVE ANY TO SPARE. AS THE DVD SHOWS, DESPITE THE DERISION IN MANY CIRCLES OF THE 'PLASTIC' BODY OF THE TRABI, IT ACTUALLY FARED BETTER IN CRASH TESTS THAN MANY WESTERN VEHICLES. THE DVD TAKES YOU INTO THE FACTORY FLOOR, WHICH SHOWS THE TRABANTS WERE BUILT WITH MUCH HAND LABOUR. INTERESTINGLY, SACHSENRING PRODUCED MANY REPLACEMENTS FOR THE TRABANT AND BUILT MANY PROTOTYPES, BUT WERE REPEATEDLY REFUSED PERMISSION FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO PRODUCE THEM. THE TRABANT TRULY WAS A PEOPLES CAR AND COST ON AVERAGE A YEARS SALARY. MANY PEOPLE HAD TO WAIT UP TO 16 YEARS TO RECEIVE ONE, WHICH USUALLY MEANT THAT ONCE THEY GOT ONE, THEY LOOKED AFTER IT AND BECAME SKILLED AT MAINTAINING THE CARS. THE TRABANT WAS SIMPLY BUILT TO ALLOW NON-PROFESSIONALS TO WORK ON THEM. ALTHOUGH THE TRABANT RECEIVED MUCH BAD PUBLICITY AND WAS THE BUTT OF MANY JOKES IN THE WESTERN WORLD, WHEN IT WAS LAUNCHED IN 1958, IT WAS QUITE ADVANCED WITH FRONT WHEEL DRIVE, UNITARY CONSTRUCTION AND WAS THE FIRST CAR EVER MADE FROM RECYCLABLE MATERIALS. THE MAJORITY OF WESTERN MANUFACTURERS HAD SWITCHED TO CLEANER BURNING FOUR STROKE ENGINES, SO TWO STROKE ENGINES, LIKE THE TRABANT WERE SEEN AS OUTDATED AND UNFASHIONABLE. THE TRABANT THOUGH WAS VERY ECONOMICAL AND GAVE REASONABLE PERFORMANCE, RELATIVE TO THE TIME IT WAS BUILT AND THE 600 CC ENGINE WOULD HAVE BEEN ON PAR WITH MOST WESTERN FOUR STROKERS, UP TO 1000CC. THIS IS PROVED BY THE REMARKABLE SUCCESSES THE CAR HAD ON THE RALLY CIRCUIT, WHERE THEY REGULARLY BEAT BMW AMONGST OTHERS. INTERESTINGLY ONE OF THE PROTOTYPES THE 603, LOOKS REMARKABLY LIKE THE VOLKSWAGEN GOLF WHICH APPEARED ABOUT 3 YEARS AFTER THE COMPANY WERE REFUSED PERMISSION TO BUILD THE CAR. THE AUTHORITIES NOT ONLY REFUSED THEM, BUT CONFISCATED ALL PAPERWORK AND FILES. STAFF AT SACHSENRING BELIEVE THAT THE GOVERNMENT SOLD THEIR PLANS TO VOLKSWAGEN, WHO IN TURN PRODUCED THE GOLF. THIS 603 PROTOTYPE IF PRODUCED WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST HATCHBACK CAR EVER AND WOULD HAVE APPEARED 3 YEARS BEFORE THE RENAULT 5 (WHICH WAS THE 1ST). IT'S A GREAT DVD AND TELLS THE COMPLETE STORY. IT ALSO SHOWS THE TREMENDOUS POPULARITY 'TRABIS' NOW ENJOY ALL OVER THE WORLD AND THE CLUBS, ASSOCIATIONS AND EVENTS DEVOTED TO THEM. HARD TO BELIEVE THAT WHEN THE WALL CAME DOWN IN 1989, TRABANTS COULD BE BOUGHT FOR AS LITTLE AS A DOLLAR. THEIR OWNERS SO HAPPY TO ESCAPE TO THE WEST, SAW THE TRABANT AS A REMINDER OF THEIR OPPRESSIVE PAST. ALSO THEY WANTED WESTERN CARS AS THEY WERE LARGELY DENIED THEM ALL THEIR LIVES IN EAST GERMANY. VOLKSWAGEN TOOK OVER THE SACHSENRING FACTORY IN 1990 AND THE LAST TRABANT WAS MADE UNTIL 1991, WHEN PRODUCTION STOPPED. SACHSENRING HAD BEEN MANUFACTURING ENGINES FOR VOLKSWAGEN, NAMELY THE 1.1 POLO ENGINE AND THIS WAS USED FOR THE LAST YEAR OF PRODUCTION IN THIS LATEST TRABANT 1.1. THE DVD IS IN GERMAN, BUT THERE IS SOME ENGLISH AUDIO AND SUBTITLES. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.


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