its a german car

Not sure if you mean the 4th gear freewheel? If so, there is no engine braking in 4th. Some Trabants have been converted to both 3rd and 4th gear freewheel though all of ours are just 4th. One benefit is that it stops any jerking or kangarooing in lower gears when going downhill. Hope that helps.

@@classiccarholidays9813May I ask if there is any engine braking available at all?

Yes of course. Try The GDR auto Facebook page and see if they can help you. Regards, Classic Car Holidays.

From neutral, push forwards towards the dashboard and down towards the floor 👍

reverse gear - you press the gear lever all the way down and turn it down, typical movement in this car :)

Replace the entire rocker panel if it's too rusty.

Switch for hazard lights, I think.

@@eltfell Thanks!! I think so!!

It indeed is, and it blinks when you switch it on

@@elektrofumigator Thanks!

We had same car 20 years ago. That's the hazard warning button :)

You raise a fair point, however we get a great many clients who, because modern vehicles rarely cut out, have either forgotten, or are too young to have been taught how to remedy the issue.

Some idiots wouldn't have found anything to slander if they had studied the good ones instead of examining the bad ones and vilifying this car.

We are a tourism business based in Bulgaria :)

I know of 6 sold for 20000 Euros and more this year. There was even a series of news stories telling us to rush to buy them because they were appreciated.

@@irmakaymelek here they sell for really good money and are appreciated as classics. I'm in trabant klub as i luckily own one and saw people from club selling their rides in decent condition for an equivalent of around 1000 euro. Ofcourse, these prices don't apply to regular market outside the club where they are absurdally high, but that's the thing with all cars made in that era.

Glad to have been of assistance!

Happy to have helped!

Neil from Classic Car Holidays here - You are right, it does look very strange, but after 30-60 minutes, you get very used to it. It is in fact an H pattern, but twisted through 90 degrees. You should get one! ..Or come on a tour with us to try it out. They are great fun!

You have a yugo? How's it holding up after all these years?

@@neilpenn6135 If I am ever around those parts I will bring my Yugo with me :)

@@evancrosley2857 Holding up better than people think, mine is a 1989 Yugo 55, 3rd owner from new, first my godfather, then my father, and now me :) Has 272000 kms, all matching numbers, bodywork was done in 2002 and since than it is pampered and kept in garage. I have about 50000 kilometers of summer trips on it since I became the lucky owner in 2009, and had the engine rebuilt in 2013 by myself. Decent little hobby car if you can put in work and not expect more from it than it can give :)

@@NauWotShitFuck you would be most welcome😊

Yep, trabant only had a freewheel on the fourth gear so you needed to constantly hold gas on all other to avoid engine wear

Trabants are two stroke, the whine is coming from the transmission and generator. Two strokes have no cams, no timing chains or gears. The trabant engine has only 7 moving parts. A comparable 2 cylinder four stroke has close to 20 moving parts. My daily driven 1953 Chevrolet 210 four door has a 235ci or 3.9L six which uses timing gears but they make no whine, just a mechanical ticking noise from the solid lifters and a steady growl from the split six exhaust. First and second do make however, a loud and distinctive whine. First whines because it is a straigh cut non synchro, second whines because of the synchro and a almost straight cut gear. Third makes almost no whine at all because you are moving over 30mph. In conclusion, yes the Trabant has a marvelous sound and a beautiful engine setup, but the sound is from the generator and the tranny, not the engine itself.

@void ness Believe me, I love two stroles. My dad has a johnson 30 boat motor and that erratic idle sounds just like a Trabant! He has no idea how to properly mix the engine oil though, and it smokes like an alco because of it. Absolutly fantastic, those two strokes!

Is this a joke?

No, regular manual transmission

@@classiccarholidays9813 ok

BILLONY S yes it does indeed have a clutch

@@classiccarholidays9813 so do you get used to it? using trabant gears? or do you prefer the other way?

@@iwantabikenow3773 Yes you do get used to it after an hour or so of first sitting behind the wheel. Like anything, it is more a question of 'familiarity' rather than 'preference'.

@@classiccarholidays9813 NICE

Yes, we have had that problem on occasion Greg with a couple of our Trabies. I'm afraid our chosen solution was to remove the gearbox and rebuild it. ...But we are a business, with client safety very much front of mind. Hopefully you can find a less intrusive way around the problem.

@@classiccarholidays9813 Has it not got something to do with the free wheeling in 4 when not excelerating down a hill?

I'll check with our mechanics, but believe it to be unrelated Greg.

@@classiccarholidays9813 Thanks.......appreciate it. Did some research. ...could b oil related. Old or thin oil cld b the issue.....any other advice will b great.

That is a fair point. Thank you for the contribution.

Does the speedometer in a 601 light up at all? Ya know, like a normal car?

@@tonykirchner5418 yes, unless its broken, like in mine

almost correkt. A is for auf, or open in german. :)

@@Raketenheinz yes, i was a bit wrong with that, i've Changed the post ;)

Congratulations!

What did you pay for it? I want one but they are expensive here in the US

I'd have to double check, but this particular one is 1981/82 or thereabouts.

Does it matter? They were the same for an awfully long time.

@@classiccarholidays9813 Strange, my Trabant is from 1982 and has one of those rare older type dashboards

Yes Michael, it has a clutch :)

lol

This one does have a clutch, but a few Trabbis had the "Hycomat" transmission, which came with a centrifugal clutch I believe.

@@phantomcorsair8476 Indeed, that's right. They were made for diabled people.

@@henryseidel5469 What a interesting design the trabant is, tailfins of the fifties, engine like a snowmobile, front wheel drive like a Toronado. And best of all, OH SO CUTE;)

Without wishing to be controversial, we beg to differ. We have many clients who have never driven a car with manual choke before. We've also had a number, whose only driving experience has been with button start vehicles. To anyone who has driven a car of that vintage, the basics may seem ....pretty basic. We try to cater for those that haven't though.

@@classiccarholidays9813 it makes you wonder how any of them mow their lawn. Lots of these things are the same as on a typical riding mower.

@@AiOinc1 It even smells like a Lawnmower!

Sure! Why not!? It was never designed to be a cruiser, but we do around 1000km on our tours. Keep the speed and temperature sensible, and a decent Trabie will get you wherever you want to go.

The top speed is usually listed as 100kph so not really a car for the interstates but elsewhere it should be fine.

They are great fun Stevio! We can't sell you one, but you are welcome to join us on tour and experience the joy of Trabanting for yourself. Send us a message via our website or social media if you wish.

Classic Car Holidays I'll check it out. I'm on the lookout for one for sale near me or if one goes on sale. Hopefully I can snatch one up

@@StevioGaming1 I know of 6 sold for 20000 Euros and more this year. There was even a series of news stories telling us to rush to buy them because they were appreciated.