The Cars of East Germany - Trabant & Wartburg

The first part is a 70s commercial for the Wartburg 1000, which was produced in Eisenach, East Germany.

It was the "better' and more expensive car for East Germans compared to the much simpler and cheaper Trabant (Trabbi or "Rennpappe" which translates to "Cardboard Racer", a race (car) made out of cardboard paper, because the chassi of the Trabant was not made of Metall, like any other car at that time, but 'composite materials' and I am not talking about the kind of 'composite materials' that were used for cars like the "Vector" and other high end and custom build sports cars).

There were not much other choices anyway. You might have been able to get a Russian "Lada", a Czech "Skoda", an even worse Russian Moskwitsch (pronounced like Mosqwitsch, alternative spellings: Scaldia, Moskvitch, Moskwitsch, Moskvich, Moszkvics) and if you were really lucky, one of the few French Citroën GSA Pallas and Renaults (I think the 209) or Japanese Mazdas 323 FF (1980-1988) that were imported into East Germany.

The second part shows the East German "Trabant" factory of Sachenring Zwickau and answers the question (in pictures), why the people in East Germany had to pre-order their car 10-15 years before the order was actually fulfilled by the manufacturer. One of the worst examples of high demand and horrible supply.

Here is an interesting link to a Wartburg webpage with pictures and details to all Wartburg models, prototypes and customizations, such as the rare Wartburg Melkus, the equivalent of a Ferrari Enzo (yes, THAT one) for East Germans. It was at least as hard to get one of those Melkus as it is to get an Enzo today.

http://digilander.libero.it/cuoccimix...

Caption for the Wartburg Commercial

Here he is ...
125 km/h (ca. 78 mph)
excellent road holding
The new Wartburg 1000
a real 5-seater

trunk space for 57 footballs
modern coachwork design
the new Wartburg 1000
from the "Wartburg City" Eisenach

Audio Credits for the second segment (Trabant Factory)

Mono für Alle - Honecker komm zurück!
Full Lyrics: http://letras.terra.com.br/mono-fur-a...
Full Song, video on YouTube:    • Mono für Alle - Honecker  

and after that an old East German kids song titled "Wer will fleissige Handwerker sehn?" (Who wants to see busy craftsman?)