1990 Wartburg 1.3 Review - The East German Car You've Never Heard Of!

[@so_mit_o6742]

Haha, Im German (actually live in the former East German part, 40 km near the Wartburg ) so I am familiar with that car. Never expected someone to import it to the US and especially not to see it on your chanel. Video put a smile on my face, great one.👍

[@philipp9481]

Ging mir auch so :D Vor allem direkt auf der Karte ist Suhl (Heimatort) und Erfurt, aktueller Wohnort, aufgezeigt. Schon lustig das hier in der Kombination zu sehen. 🤣🤠

[@Parrotdise290]

You really really have to be passionate (or crazy) to pay that much money to import such a car !

[@so_mit_o6742]

@@Parrotdise290 I agree 😂

[@Mickhanic-garage]

I have a 1.3 in the UK, was a Hungarian car imported in 2018.. I have had 2 of them now.. LHD of course as never sold in the UK, gets a lot of interest at shows

[@so_mit_o6742]

@@Mickhanic-garageYou are enjoying them if you have 2 or have had. Definetly something you dont see every day, even in Germany.

[@simonbone]

The 1.3 was just a Wartburg 353 with a Volkswagen engine. The 353 went into production in 1966, and remained pretty much unchanged until 1988, when it switched to the VW engine.

[@Mickhanic-garage]

While it was very similar there were a lot of changes with the 1.3. There was quite a lot of difference under the front end especially. Rear arches were widened, updated interior. Wider track and redesigned chassis to fit the transverse engine. The 1.3 is a VW derived unit not the same as they had to pay the licence. By changing minor details made it different enough to be a Wartburg engine and no fees to pay.

[@kyle8952]

​@@Mickhanic-garage No, that's not true. They paid a license fee . It might not have been on a per unit basis but they paid VW for it.

[@MichailKnoller]

@@Mickhanic-garage Engine was called BM 860 ( Barkas - Motor 860 ), produced in Karl - Marx - Stadt. Apart from the doors and boot - lid, there was hardly anything interchangeable - but you could " update " your 353 with the 1,3 rear - valence and tail - lights.

[@Timico1000]

​@@MarkGelderlandWen meinst du?

[@Timico1000]

@@MarkGelderland Wer denn?

[@benila3992]

I am a Hungarian and I know what a Wartburg is. One of my vague memories of home before coming to the USA at the tender age of 4! I always thought the hood and trunk lid looked like toilet lids 😂

[@buffdelcampo]

Yep, just sort of a cover.

[@Рашка-у8й]

Yeah, looks like something the Vitya Organ regime would build, if they were into building cars.

[@OneRelax_]

Fun Fact for everyone who is interested, the wartburg models that came before the 1.3, had a 3 zylinder 2 stroke :)

[@mickeystanic4750]

Not a fun fact but that's what Wartburg was being famous for decades and a million made cars, not this 1.3 model.

[@ilijagagula4204]

True

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

Back in the days it was advertised as a cheap car (which it is in every possible way) because it doesn't need oil changes. :D

[@goclunker]

@@mickeystanic4750 to be honest, the vw powered 1.3 is lightyears ahead in refinement, though I do prefer the 2 stroke

[@mickeystanic4750]

@@goclunker No doubt, but that car is iconic AND exotic for its 2 stroke engine not the VW corporate generic 1.3.engine.

[@turulmagyar2768]

Greetings from Hungary! Great to see a video about my favourite Wartburg 1.3. Most of these cars were sold in Hungary after the fall of the wall. Nobody else wanted them in Europe. This is the reason many of them survived in my country. Even to this day, in Hungary, you can get most original Wartburg parts new and pretty cheap, but a lot of used parts are available too.

[@Mickhanic-garage]

Im in the UK and both my 1.3 cars came from Hungary, imported in 2018. One was very bad the other is one of the best in the UK. Videos here, I would love to find out more of it history in Hungary but dont know who to speak to. www.youtube.com/@mickrayner293/videos

[@MichailKnoller]

Jo reggelt, I drive through Hungary very often...but there is hardly anything left. In Hungary, people seem to be very rich and got late car models now...and I am not driving on motorways...

[@pangienjj]

Same in Poland. Not a hit but it was so cheap to buy new and actually not that bad. Ancient, simple but reliable.

[@kodkodkatedra4660]

My sister had one in Egypt 25 years ago she complain about hard steering wheel when parking It is a nice car for its price

[@arvigh]

Turo rudi wrapper in the ashtray (Hungarian cheesecake)

[@discozula4469]

You critically failed to mention the warburg 311 from the 1950s to 60s that began the Wartburg in the DDR. Then later the Wartburg 353 which is the car the 1.3 is based on. The 353 had a 1.1 litre 2 stroke 3 cylinder, not 4, like the 311 before that. The 2 stroke variants of the Wartburg are better than the Trabant but fall short of the Lada.

[@wanderschlosser1857]

You got a few things wrong here, the 311, 312 and the 353 all had 3 cyl 2 stroke engines, first 900cc later, from 312 onwards 1000cc with up to 50hp. The 1.3 as the name says has a 1.3l engine which was 4cyl 4 stroke with 58hp. It was a licence of the 1.3 VW with 55hp that you would have found in the Golf 2.

[@discozula4469]

@@wanderschlosser1857 I could have checked my sources but I didn't, you did. Good on you. I just said what I remembered off the top of my head.

[@wanderschlosser1857]

@@discozula4469 No worries, mate! A 353 was my 2nd car back in 94, when these cars were cheap after the wall fell. First one was a Trabant which I unfortunately crashed. Went once in the 353 from Berlin to the Balaton in Hungary, was quite an adventure with failing brakes in the Erzgebirge mountains and an engine that has seen better days. Well, we made it and it was loads of fun at the end. 👍

[@gezabo9379]

"Eisenacheré" The start is the EMW 340, In Eisenach originali it was a BMW 340 and 309, then the factory changer to VEB and strart the 2 stoke Warburg on the russa occupyed zone late 50-es. BMW start to set up the new factory Düsseldorf in the british occupation zone and 1952 was separeted ftom EMW. But the engine is 3 cyl 2 stoke is from the DKW F8 also produced in Eisenach after the war, DKW has AutoUnion origins (AUDI later Audi, DKW, Horch, Wanderer). Audi DKW was Zwikaiu based before the war, then the P70 then the Trabant made there fromthe 50es. The 40es this DKW F serie become IFA F9 on the VEB on end of 50es the Wartburg 300-s is produced on that moror gearbox transmission base.

[@seandoole6504]

"But that was not it's purpose" is a key thing here, which I'm glad you pointed out. Many folks who 'review' a car anachronistic in it's own time often try to compare it to something modern or contemporary without recognizing that it was built to a different standard. You have to understand the situation and the world it was by and for, which to your credit you appear to do.

[@janpospisil4954]

I'm from the Czech Republic, I had a Wartburg 353 with a two-stroke and it drove great. It was really something of an SUV for its time, the Lada was lost against it in the winter and the rear drive was sliding, which was not the case with the W 353- In 1981, there were no highways, the maximum speed was around 100/h, the roads were bad and winding, so front-wheel drive had an advantage. In the end, I crashed my car into a tree and the mentioned structure with the frame saved my life, the body was deformed around the outline of the frame / oval / and I nothing happened But it's a copy-clone of the western DKW Junior- it's on the web-...

[@flitsertheo]

The Wartburg 353 was very popular in Belgium as a cheap alternative for people who wanted a new car but couldn't afford the price of a "western" car. Especially as the even cheaper Trabant 601was never sold new in Belgium because of homologation issues.

[@schagon]

He did compare the Wartburg to a contemporary car (a VW Corrado) and it showed the yelling differences between the mind set behind car making in west and east Germany. One let run free after the end of WW2 split and the other kept captive and isolated by the Soviet communists. Go figure.

[@janpospisil4954]

I know this very well. But technically the two-stroke had the advantage at the time, the same concept as the W353 is the Saab 93- the saab had a simpler chassis. Carlson won the British rally with it.@@schagon

[@benpinter1988]

It's also interesting that these cars are body-on-frame construction. They also have decent ground clearance for a normal passenger car, and are quite capable off-road for a front wheel drive vehicle.

[@turulmagyar2768]

True!

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

pretty much the standart back then. Not when this car was made, but when it was designed.

[@alexclement7221]

Well, the frame was designed about 1939, so.....hardly surprising.

[@karlbark]

Well, regarding ground clearance... (I'm from Iceland 🇮🇸) ...a friend of mine had a Lada Samara -wich we abused! (Really & truly abused) 😅 ...it had such good ground clearance - that it became a "thing" with us, to see, where we could make it go ! (Even if it seemed impossible at first) ! (I mean *really* impossible) ! 😂

[@TheOracle65]

The headmaster at my secondary school in the UK had a Wartburg Knight with the 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine in the late 70’s (damn I feel old!). It was a very strange choice and caused a lot of laughs, but I kind of admired his perseverance.

[@dave11686]

Today I learned what a Wartburg is.

[@90sbuickguy84]

I too have learned what a Wartburg is today It’s a pretty neat an interesting little car

[@alexclement7221]

Not really; he got a LOT of the facts about this car completely wrong.

[@dave11686]

@@alexclement7221 yeah except I’ve never heard of it before so chill

[@EnthusiastCarHangar]

The engine was commonly used in the VW Polo back then and was I believe an entry engine in the Golf.

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

I learned to drive in a polo with that engine.

[@HouseFreak200]

Its the Mk2 Golfs base engine, engine code should be NZ. Was also used in the 86c Polos, and later as a Single point injected Version in the Polo facelift as the AAV. The Trabant 1.1 actually uses the Polo facelift's base engine, the AAU. All three engines are identical mechanically apart from the 1,1's crankshaft, just different levels of engine management; the Also were 1,4 and 1,6 Versions in the base Model Mk3 Golf, Polo 6N and many seat/skoda models

[@mihaisirbu1]

​​​@@HouseFreak200correct, also it is related to the Golf MK1 1.1-1.3 engine, only difference is that it is carburated and the rocker cover has a different design. The engine from the Wartburg looks like a carbed one but it's not the Pierburg 2E. The same 1.3 was present in the MK2 Golf with a two barrel carburettor, code MH if I remember. It was a chokeless vacuum operated idle carburettor that if tuned after factory specs was almost as efficient as the injection. Probably the worst instance of the 1.1/1.3/1.4 comes in the form of the MK3 engine, the 1.4 ABD with Bosch SPI. Extremely fragile electronic wise, injection parts are very expensive or discontinued so you have to use second hand parts with questionable reliability. I have this engine, mechanically wise it doesn't burn oil at 300k km, it factory compression but it keeps throwing me codes for the idle motor of the injection. I changed every part with new ones, didn't fix it yet. Still to summarise this was Volkswagens first water cooled economy engine family and they nailed it. All of them from 1976 (I believe it was first year of the 1.1/1.3) until 1998 (last year of MK3 1.4 AEX with MPI) are indestructibile mechanically wise but for the love of god and your sanity stay away from the SPI!!! Either get a carb and rebuild it with old documentation or get a NZ/AEX.

[@zanycam]

Even as the Wartburg is not an unibody design (yes, it has a frame underneat!), I can tell you from own experience, that the rollover protection is actually quite good - in the 80s our family (I was at the time around 12 years old) had on a trip from Bulgaria back to East Germany in Romania the unfortunate encounter with black ice, so we slided of the road down an embankment and rolled two times over. The car (it was the Wartburg 353W, the predecessor of the 1.3 with the same carbody) did a surprisingly good job to protect us, we all leaved the car unhurt (my parents and my brother, we were all buckled up). The roof was mangled, but not smashed, all doors could easily be opened (and didn‘t open on there own during the rollover).

[@EnthusiastCarHangar]

The original engine was a 1 L two stroke engine. The four stroke came much later at the end after the fall of the wall. Hoping they would sell some more Wartburgs. Same with the Trabant it got a VW engine at the end.

[@alexclement7221]

Actually, it was a 900cc motor.

[@MichailKnoller]

When they were launched, in 1988, nobody - nobody !! - knew what would be happening soon. A completely new factory was constructed - Eisenach - West - and GM - Opel put their machinery in, pretending they " invested " there. Nonsense. The original plan was to make more cars for GDR - citizens. Nothing else. Of course, they could be exported easier than the 353 ( which sold pretty well in countries, who had no silly and childish prejudices against GDR - cars and no poilical indoctrination ) which was a very good car, indeed. The 1000 engine came already in the 1960s ( Wartburg 1000 ) - 900 cc was at the very beginning, it was fitted in the old F 9 and Wartburg 311. Eingine block and everything Wartburg 1,3 and Trabant 1,1 are identical - the difference is the crankshaft with a different stroke, that's all.

[@simonbone]

7:00 It looks like the previous Hungarian owner might have been a helicopter pilot (or possibly paramedic). HA-BCH is a rescue chopper.

[@einpercy825]

Sometimes you really forget the differences in car culture. To me as a German it´s a totally normal car when I myself would freak out about for example a Ford Flex or something like that.

[@johnstuartsmith]

I'm admiring the exquisite fit and finish on the body panels. Especially the trunk lid.

[@antti_kukkonen]

Yes, the fitment of panels is awful in Wartburg 353/353W/1.3 but it shouldn't be that bad. Impossible to adjust to be even close to good

[@TNX255]

I remember reading from a 1970's car magazine about this new 353 Wartburg coming out and how it retained the similar idea with the previous model, that was the easy to replace body panels in case of crashes and dents etc. and if I recall correctly the large panel gaps (even by the standards of the day) were a part of this "philosophy". But indeed the fit and finish of the specific vehicle in the video is lacking somewhat, I'm sure that is not up to factory spec.

[@nlpnt]

The first Wartburg, the 311, had been developed as a 2-door sedan because all DKW/IFA sedans previously had been. It was given 4 doors just before the start of production because East Germany's fleet of prewar taxis were wearing out and they needed a domestic car suitable for taxi use.

[@alsosprachzarathustra5505]

Indeed, as you say this I do remember of the many eggshell-colored Wartburg taxis in Dresden or Berlin during the late 80s. Only some Volgas also served in that role while the Ladas where mostly reserved for command cars of police and fire fighters, and the infamous Stasi agents of course.

[@Justice4NounTTP]

My parents owned 2 353's which were 2 stroke 3 cylinders. We loved it, because in those times Wartburg was the most reliable vehicle on the market. I love those cars.❤

[@TalmidAndy]

These are actually far better known than the presenter is aware. These were fairly common in the UK in the '80s and '90s. My father had the estate version.

[@drewzero1]

Not so much in the US though. It's incredibly rare to see one of these out here in the Midwest.

[@TomBartram-b1c]

The last surviving relic of Cold War motoring that, unbelievably, you can still buy new in the UK (2023) for just under 5k is the Jawa 4 speed, 2 stroke 350 twin. It's capable of 70mph and returns 60 UK mpg. It has modernities like a huge front disc and electronic ignition but still runs on 40/1 premix. Theyre extremely comfy, reliable with really good handling. I own two!

[@tomfu6210]

They are still sold in UK?!

[@TomBartram-b1c]

@@tomfu6210 yes. F2 motors jawa.

[@ButterfatFarms]

I'll take a 5k used car over that any day all year long. 😂

[@TomBartram-b1c]

@@ButterfatFarms yeah but if you've already got a perfectly good car and five grand to spare your perspective isn't the same. I never go anywhere in the car just to drive around. Whassa point of that? But I do go on long Jawa rides.

[@marekhlavackovi3677]

Iam pretty sure They are now made in India, and not here in Czech Republic.

[@leventelenoir]

I loved this vid, and you shared some great knowledge with the folks. I love to see a Wartburg with a US plate, especially a 4 stroke one. Never believed I would see one, but here we are and I'm proud, especially that the car was a Hungarian one. Let me clarify some points as I feel you got some things wrong. The 4 stroke version was produced between '89 and '91, due to tightnening emissions regulations. You got it right that the engine was licensed from VW, but before that, the car was produced with a 990 cc 3-cyl 2-stroke unit. That actually was brought over from the predecessor, called 311, later 312. Actually, since the 311 was rolled out in the '50s, the basic structure of the car did not change. It was manufactured with a semi-oval frame with a body built on top. You are right that the Warti was the more luxurious East-German passanger car, but that was only true I think when the 353 (the 2-stroke) was first introduced, Later during times, it got more and more "popular" in the sense that it became cheaper and cheaper. I highly have to disagree on the body design being made ugly because there was no competition. At least it was not the manufacturer's decision. Take a look at the Wartburg 312 in its era, and the 353 in its own. They are both very modern, even considering western standards. This 1.3 is actually a facelifted version of the 353. The manufacturer did make attempts at making prototypes, which looked the part in their times, unfortunately, the state did not allow to produce them, but it was not necessarily due to malice, but rather to save on costs of introducing new models. I think not much is known about Eastern Bloc economics, basically they were under the hammer and sickle of Moscow, very centralized, plus the West did not really want to trade with them. This is how it could occur that the 312 pickup could have been made with canvas roof, to save on steel, plus how the Trabant got its body made out of a polymer, which by the way was very advanced for its time and geopolitical context. Now to get to the time of this model, the Wartburg 353 got upgraded, some minor facelifts, and came 1989, when the iron curtain fell. So they had to come out with a new model, but they of course, did not manage to make it, so they had to modernize the 1.3 somewhat. There was actually quite a big facelift on it, integrated headlights, bigger and (if you ask me) well-shaped taillight block, plus the engine. Unfortunately, due to missed modernisation during the iron curtain's duration, the model did not have a chance to survive, so in '91, they had to close the gates. Opel brought the brand, tried to revive it to make an economy marque of it, but ultimately failed. To be frank, I think it was a very half-assed attempt at it. Let me go back to the past a bit, to have the name Wartburg came to be. Before and a bit after WW2, in Eisenach was a BMW plant. When the Iron Curtian fell, BMW did not want to have any of its brand to be in the East, so they did not want their cars to be produced there. So the plant started a new brand called EMW, Eisenacher Motorenwerke, with the logo same as the BMW, but red instead of blue. Later, when the 311 came out, the brand got renamed to Wartburg, which is the castle above the town of Eisenach and the silhouette of which is visible on the steering whee, and the marque's emblem. Thank you for this vid, enjoy the vehicle. It will serve you well if properly maintained. Had I not have gotten my hand on a Skoda Felicia, I would have bought one. Maybe I will buy one next to it for some relaxed countryside trips, possibly a Tourist.

[@RedBird7]

Positive thing about East Grammy good public transportation good music the food is simlier to west Germany and much more and the trabant 601 is cute

[@so_mit_o6742]

Nice Name

[@johnbu11]

I bet you have never been there. Worst food ever 1988 in Leipzig and forget about things like slow and shabby DR trains with their steam locos - again in the 1980s steam locomotives… And people were paranoid and aggressive.

[@EnthusiastCarHangar]

The food was not bad but not similar. Also the average person could not buy coffee, bananas and more common products.

[@OneRelax_]

I still remember the live stream were I asked you if you knew what a Wartburg is and you didn't :) Great to see it on your channel now! If you ever come to germany I'll make everything in my way possible for you to drive the older Wartburg 311! Great Video as always!

[@runoflife87]

Well, this car was pretty advanced for mid-60's. Probably even better than Opel/VW.

[@_monti142]

its a 1990 lol

[@runoflife87]

@@_monti142 the base model - 353 - started its life in 1965 or 1966. By that time West Germany and other EU countries still had a lot of rear-engined and RWD cars.

[@simonbone]

Nope, even in 1966, it was behind Western European cars in terms of engine (noisy, smoky two-stroke), equipment, and safety features. The 353 is basically a boxier update of the beautiful 311 from the mid-1950s, with a couple of mechanical upgrades, namely better suspension and a chassis that did not require lube.

[@runoflife87]

@@simonbone what kind of safety features did Ford, Opel and VW have by mid-60's?

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

No, not really and this is a 1990 model with a VW engine. By 1960 2 stroke engines were already outdated.

[@jeaves8131]

Oh man those oh man those buttons around the gauge cluster are definitely “cousins” with the VW ones lol

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

I think they were taken straight from the polo.

[@MichailKnoller]

@@MaximilianvonPinneberg No. They do not fit. They were made by VEB Fahrzeugelektik - AKA Elektrik, in GDR. There was a plant in Niederdorf - Karl - Marx - Stadt.

[@daweshorizon]

I remember seeing Wartburgs on British roads back in the 70's. Two-stroke engines, plenty of smoke but cheap and cheerful transport, and for the time, the squared-off shape was pretty much on trend. Glad to see this one still being used! Love and peace.

[@lszlpesti]

We had a Wartburg 353 Tourist (literally a kombi or wagon), it has even bigger cargo space and the backseat can be folded down to give more space to cargo. It had the same 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine (993 ccm) as the Sedan.

[@jsz2619]

I grew up in a 1988 3 cyl. 2 stroke Wartburg. 50 hp and about 1000 kg. It had a floor mounted 4 speed manual plus sunroof. My dad bought it new and went to Csepel sziget with my grandpa to pick it up.

[@mattwolf7698]

7:03 Looks like the up arrow is for the defrost and the down one is for the floor vents, interesting way of doing that.

[@karacslevente6606]

Hi! I think its worth mentioning that the Wartburg got its 4 stroke engine in 1988 and became the Wartburg 1.3 but also the Trabant got this same upgrage in 1990 and became the Trabant 1.1 which was also 4 stroke.

[@icenijohn2]

It looks like good ol' swing axles in the rear, another indication of the car's teutonic heritage. I knew someone in England in the 1970s who had a two-stroke Wartburg estate car (station wagon to the colonials) that were sold as the least expensive way to have a four-wheeled new car in England then. Skodas were also available for the impecunious, but they were actually quite decent cars: the Czechs made some very interesting cars and trucks (Tatra, anyone?). PS - Wartburg is pronounced Vaart-boorg. Pronouncing it like some sort of veruca or skin ailment is so american!

[@ButterfatFarms]

Canadians and Australians will be surprised to learn they're Colonials.

[@JMLE1949]

i had one in 1970's it had a 3 cylinder 1000cc 2 stroke 4 speed box; because it was a 2 stroke had a freewheel device in the clutch. quit nippy for a 1000 cc and quite reliable!

[@vintageshed965]

The door locks are most definitely a cost cutting measure, similar to Trabant, which had drivers door locked only from outside, and passenger only from inside, cutting the need for second lock,and one inside tab at the same time.

[@Brusselpicker]

Loads in the UK, imported in the '80s, along with Skoda, FSO, Lada etc. Our wonderful Conservative government were massively anti soviet, but, closed our car indusrty and coal and imported cheap coal and vehicles so the poor unemployed could afford a vehicle. We had loads of motorcycles too.

[@2DogsVlogs]

My brother has a 1971 GAZ-24 Volga parked in his garage. Built June with a 2.3 gas powered engine and 3 speed auto. Only the v8 had an auto, also it's right hand drive making it a 1 of 1 build. He tried to get documentation for the build but was told the car doesn't exist. It now has a 2.6 and 4 speed auto. It is fully optioned with heater and radio. There's no record of the first owner but the second bought it in 1977 in South Australia. My brother bought it in 1993 for bush bashing and restored it around 1995. He said he spent $15k on it, mostly mechanical. It doesn't use much oil but blows clouds of blue smoke. It's very interesting to drive I can tell you. No power at all and thankfully he put in power breaks otherwise the thing would never stop.

[@JakubSemoda]

Hi, greeting from Slovakia, these cars were popular here in the middle of the Europe, and I've always loved them. Problem with this Wartburg 1.3 is, you still have that quirky car, but you can not try out, what was the best part of these cars. That wonderful 2 stroke, 2 piston engines. Which means this Wartburg 1.3 can give you only a half of fun, when you're American, and almost no fun, of you're European, like me, because you lost the most important thing of that car, and rest of it is just an old car built out of some funny material. J

[@hartoz]

The really interesting Wartburg was the Knight Mk3, which was the same car as the 1.3, but it had a 650cc engine with 3 Cylinders, and each cylinder had its own independent ignition circuit, to make it even weirder, was 2-stroke with an idler wheel. The Knight Mk3 was also strange in that it had bench seats front and rear, and the seats were steel spring and horsehair (just like old Mercedes) and were fantastically comfortable (which was just as well as you spent a lot of time sitting in them waiting for roadside assistance to arrive when your car broke down). I have many fond memories of my Fathers Mk3, and its frequent hiccups. One favourite was that the ignition circuit for any one of the cylinders would fail for no reason making the car a 2-cylinder. These cars were under-powered (even in those days) tanks. Imagine a Soviet era Lada with a over-complicated Trabant engine, and you'll get the picture.

[@kyle8952]

From "wartburg knight" you are British? Unique name for that country, was normally called 353. Can't say the engine was over-complicated, the ignition was basically that of a motorbike, and very few moving parts.

[@zanycam]

The displacement was not 650cc, it was 992cc.

[@prdubi]

I live in Kőbánya, Budapest, Hungary, and you can still see these being driven by older people. There is a guy who has 3 of them in my block and he has two parts cars as backups. Baffled by it but whatever. Good video.

[@Tirana44]

I owned a bright red 2 stroke, right hand drive 353 from 1977 to 1987. I bought it new as my first car. I liked it very much. I only sold it because I could no longer get spares in my country.

[@plumb-bob8597]

That panel gap at 6.28 😂😂 you could get a socket in there and remove the door hinge without opening the door

[@drewzero1]

I saw this car this morning! One of the most exciting things about this channel for me is getting to see so many of the featured cars out and about locally.

[@novislavdajic983]

My parents neighbor used to drive two-stroke Wartburg 353 in the 80's and early 90's, the older one with narrow tail lights. It had super soft spring suspension, so to make it a bit stiffer and make it handle a bit better in the corners, he always carried two bags full of sand (bags were the size that could hold 50 kg's of wheat) in his trunk. I'll never forget the sound of closing doors, resembling violently closing a steel trash can cover.

[@pipoms]

this car looks amazing

[@alsosprachzarathustra5505]

6:15 The previous model 353 had door locks within the sides of the doors. When you opened the door there was an oily metal lever you could push down locking the door when you close it again. However, you couldn't open it again from inside.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

The proper DDR built Wartburgs had a 3 cylinder 2 stroke engine, it was after the wall fell that the 1.3 VW engine came into play. The dash in this car also vaguely reminds me of the VW Golf mk2 dash, just in cheaper plastic. I remember the 2 stroke Wartburg from the '70s and '80s as they were sold in the West as well, but not many were sold here, it was a strange looking and sounding car to us, but apparently very cheap as well. The people in the East had to sign up for a car, which had to be granted by the authorities, after the acquisition had been authorised people often had to wait for another 10 years before they got their car finally. So it didn't really matter what the car looked like and how it performed, they were happy to get a car at all.

[@MichailKnoller]

Totally wrong. Production of the four - stroker started in 1988. N o b o d y knew what would be happening soon...

[@ColonelPenguin]

Oh man, a neighbor of mine in Romania had one of these! And another one had a Moskvitch 412!

[@revsnowfox5798]

I'm not exactly a car guy, so I can't comment much on the Wartburg, but as someone born in the former Eastern Bloc, I have to applaud you about not going with the usual "haha trash Communist cars" jokes which are tiresome. So many people (especially Americans) can't talk about stuff - cars, computers, houses, whatever - made in Communist countries without going overboard in sarcasm.

[@MichailKnoller]

Well, that works both ways...it is probably ignorance and political indoctrination.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

The whole "no indoor locks" thing happened here in the west. It was a cost thing, simple as that.

[@ВикторШишков]

My grandfather in Bulgaria owned one since the 70s, then my father bought one in the 80s, both new. They both deteriorated and rotted. Then my father bough one in the 90s used and my grandfather another used one shortly thereafter. I drove my grandfather's Wartburg well into the 10s, until it rotted, then I repaired it but it burned due to some other car catching on fire. I had it outfitted with 50W HID LEDs, wider Toyo tires, sound deadening all-around and a modest but professionally mounted Kenwood stereo with 4 channel sound, etc. Being two-stroke meant quick starts and fast overall acceleration, compared to other 1000cc cars (it weighs less than 1000kg, inc fuel, etc.) You can see it in a few of my old profile videos.

[@josharvey4648]

To the best of my knowledge, Wartburgs were all front wheel drive. Rather than attribute this feature to VW, rather give DKW the honours which (I Think) was the ancestor to both the Wartburg and the Trabant,

[@evanmcmillin5825]

Nice the Wartburg 353 is on my bucket list of cars I want to own. I want to race it in 24 hours of lemons.

[@flitsertheo]

Racing Wartburgs aren't exactly "lemons". kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHi8fqKqq5tkpck

[@josephbingham1255]

Interesting and rare post wall E. German automobile. 13:45 Volkswagen-ish interior. Exterior angles sometimes seems a bit Volvo, BMW 1600, Saab 99 like. 4:38 The best warning device in my old bug eye sprite was my nose. A sudden strange smell invoked "Oil? water? brake fluid? clutch? electrical? :) Thank you for the learning experience

[@VK-sc6mf]

This is the first car my dad bought from showroom back in 1990 from Belgrade and drove it back to Sarajevo. It survived war from 1992 to 1995, and it was my first learner car when I got my driving licence back in 2003. It was really sturdy and comfortable car with reliable petrol 1.3 engine from golf 2. It was later on passed to our family friends and years later it had unfortunate destiny of catching fire while driving because of some poor electrical wiring insulation or something (electrician repair guy fault).

[@suomenpresidentti]

Yes, body on frame. Easy to converting to a convertible. Many were converted here in Finland.

[@didVolodya]

I still see these on streets. They are neglected, but still driveable

[@CZ350tuner]

Wartburg cars were also imported & sold in the UK, during the 1960's & 1970's. These were all 2 strokes. The engines were popular for use in grass track sidecar racing, usually coupled to a Burman motorcycle gearbox, due to their hole shot acceleration from the start line.

[@gertstolk]

Having visited East Germany in the late 70s twice, this review was a real treat and the information was spot on. Keep up the good work 😉👌

[@AdamBBQ]

Only Americans never heard about this car 😂😂😂

[@markhealey9409]

Wartburg had a car called a Wartburg Knight in the 70s,even more basic,I think! I saw one at a classic car show here in England many years ago. Have seen a Trabant & a luxurious Russian Volga at car shows in England,too. I've been to Bulgaria & România in the last few years & saw a few Trabants & a few Volgas still on the roads there,but many more Russian Ladas,though. Ladas were Fiat designs originally,and actually sold in Western Europe in the 70s,80s & early 90s & i think in Canada in the 70s or 80s! The Fiat 128 design was also made under license in Poland by FSO,aka Polski Fiat,as well as By Zastava in Serbia(it was part of Yugoslavia at the time)Zastava made what were called Yugos in The West,and also Seat of España used all Fiat designs for decades until Seat was purchased by the VW Audi group in the late 80s or early 90s,as was the Czech Republic's car company Skoda,around the same time. A Turkish car company,Tofas(pronounced Tofash) also made Fiat designed cars under license. Thanks for the cool vids!! I noticed the coat hooks in the Waltburg are right above the seatbealts! How ridiculous & impractical! But perhaps the East Germans didn't wear their seatbelts anyway! 🤣🤣

[@MrBonnuus]

Drove a Wartburg 2 stroke a few times and loved it. Also owned a Trabant which was great fun. Both brands had hope to survive by fitting 4 stroke engines but development was a big investment and nobody wanted them. Thanks for posting this.

[@hrvojeprebisalic9302]

One brand(Ifa),two models.

[@xhonkeri4066]

You got the history regarding the wall wrong. The wall didn’t divide the country, it divided the city of Berlin (which is in the middle of east Germany), hence the name - Berlin Wall. The city itself was divided in two, the west portion controlled by the allied forces and the east portion controlled by the soviets. In the beginning the western part of Berlin was supplied only through planes. Later there was an autobahn that connected west Germany to West Berlin through east germany, with multiple checkpoints along the way.

[@turulmagyar2768]

There was also a wall between Western and Eastern Germany. Not only inside Berlin. It didn't even stop there. It was extended till it reached Yugoslavia. Hungary was the first country to open it in 1989.

[@xhonkeri4066]

@@turulmagyar2768 can’t find anything about that, and Germany doesn’t have a border with the former Yugoslavia. Do you have a source, or are talking about the iron curtain?

[@christophresmerowski1824]

The 3 Autobahns connecting Berlin with what used to be West Germany (one going North, one West, one South) had been built before WWII. You are right, Berlin was the Pepperoni on the Pizza slice Russia received after the Allieds devided Germany into 4 zones. The Airlift (1948-1949) happened because the Russians blocked all land supply lines because did not like the idea of having Berlin sliced up like a pizza as well. That actually triggered the Cold War.

[@christophresmerowski1824]

There were actually 2 walls. The more commonly known Berlin wall encircling West Berlin and a second "wall" fortifications between East and West Germany. I drove on these 3 Autobahn corridors (full of potholes) back in the 70's many, many times. When I would leave Berlin and drive into East Germany I would pass all kinds of machine gun towers. They would hand me a ticket with a time stamp telling me when I had to be out of their country. Same procedure on arrivel at the East German/West German Checkpoint before entering West Germany ...Machine gun towers

[@kyle8952]

​@@turulmagyar2768 Be fair, that was fences.

[@SpecialReserve]

My Uncle had the Wartburg Knight Estate in the early 70's :)

[@Blurredman]

The wall everyone knows was in Berlin- not straight down the middle of Germany.

[@DODO-vy6sf]

You are wrong in more than one way: 1. This thing was not your typical Wartburg. Most of them had two-stroke engines with the sound, smell, and smoke of a Trabant or a Barcas /DDR two-stroke van. 2. They were not high-end cars for your imaginary doctors /on equal pay to any other worker. Everyone wanted a LADA

[@Ej6daniel]

I completely forgot that that happened and that was the reason for the berlin wall until I watched this video. Thank you Zack for the history lesson I apparently needed ! 😂

[@Andy-te6jj]

the Wall was built from the east German Government, not f.... Russian, but with their permission to stop leaving high educated workers etc. because they aren't happy with the current situation during this time

[@MTSVW]

Interesting that they put 4 stroke VW engines in Wartburgs after the wall fell. They did that with Trabants too. During most of their lives both had 2 stroke air-cooled engines. Its nickname was “Farting Hans” because 2 strokes are smoky

[@chriszbinden1740]

IFA had been trying to develop a four stroke for years, but could never get budget approval to produce one. They started using the VW engine in 1988, just about a year before the wall fell and reunification. The intent was to give the design a little more life, as many Eastern European countries were starting to pass laws prohibiting two strokes, including Poland and Czechoslovakia, several of DDRs largest trading partners.

[@petere8175]

When the state allows you a car, you got this!

[@sunrae3971]

Audi was also East German but was shifted to West Germany due do soviet occupation. Today even many Germans believe Audi is from Bavarian. Funny to see a Wartburg US review. 👍

[@MichailKnoller]

Sorry..." Audi ", which was part of the Auto - Union, stopped production in 1940. They produced less than 1 % of the total Auto - Union - production; mostly D.K.W. Factory was in Chemnitz - later Karl - Marx - Stadt, and that Volkswagen - badge " Audi " has got no history at all. Only the badge.

[@sunrae3971]

@@MichailKnoller Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Carl Zeiss, Edeka, etc. many Eastern founded Companies were shifted to the West post-WWII. Without soviet occupation things would have look different. You believe Audi would not have been a success in the East? Many German Politicians and Media like to blame the GDR for todays eastern deindustrialization, sounds simple and they do not want to wake up eastern desires, yet the real reason was the post-WWII redistribution. And of course it was the right move to protected industry it from the soviets, however its a bit more complicated like it is always portrait.

[@theKeshaWarrior]

ugh... the anti communist stuff at the beginning which doesn't accurately describe what happened in East Germany at all really puts a damper on wanting to just see someone drive a rare car.

[@matejzatko787]

Haha, Iam Slovakian, so I heard about them all the time, saw them all the time with Trabant also😂😂Good video!

[@joanatadeusz5352]

In 1989 there were 2 prototypes at the importer in Belgium: a sedan and an estate car. But unfortunately, the four-stroke models were never sold in Belgium. The importer stopped Wartburg shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

[@cpufreak101]

I just read the wikipedia article for this model, and it's really funny to think it was introduced the same year as my truck was, since this was supposed to be a higher class car yet in almost every way was worse than a literal utility vehicle of the same era lol

[@Splayn]

Seeing one of those in the U.S. is just a trip! Greetings from germany! My mother grew up in the GDR and even I still saw them around when I was young. Love the vid!

[@LostieTrekieTechie]

It's beautiful. Functional and understated

[@robertsanders7060]

The ride is harsh because dirt poor East Germany in 1985 had better roads than the US in 2023....

[@adstewart5427]

A farmer friend had the estate version of the Wartburg Knight (I think it was the Knight) in the mid-70s. It took him everywhere, even off-road, and never seemed to let him down. I think they were mostly made for export, essentially sold at a loss to bring hard Western currency into the DDR's coffers.

[@voiculescuionut2979]

My family upgraded from Trabant to Wartburg back in ghe early 90s. Was muc bettef because of extra space. I remember my father removing ghe trunk lid and transporting barrels full of honey. Once the trunk was full of fish and we had to bribe a policeman with a 10 kilo carp because the nose of thr car was pointing to the sky. I remember replacing the clutch very easily in one saturday morning and after just went to our weekend drive to the countryside like nothing happened. Not to mention the offroad capabilities :)))) In '95 my parents bought a Dacia 1310. The same story :)))

[@gwynbennett-williams]

I fortunate enough to have visited the old Wartburg factory as its work was being transferred to the "new" Opel factory the other side of town. It was awesome.

[@polska207]

Ow the Wartburg I remember my dad had a 351 and being driven around in the 90s in Poland when I was little. Such fond memories

[@chriszbinden1740]

The final communist leader of the DDR who succeeded Erich Honneker was a fellow named Egon Krenz, spurring the nickname for this car as the “Mercedes-Krenz”

[@variovent]

"For those who are unfamiliar with Berlin wall"... or with Germany... or with Europe.

[@napraznicul]

Suspension is kind of.. older corvette, which you never complain about, acceleration is abou 16sec 0-62mph.. which is the same as MANY cars builded in US in '80 and '90 (the only difference is that Wartburg can manage 60mpg, as those acceleration counterpart made in usa could get some 20mpg) By the way, the first letter is reading V (:vi).

[@MyHumanWreckage]

I have to confess, I have a love for former Communist cars- I find them fascinating. I know there are a handful of Volgas in the US and I’d love if you got your hands on one.

[@simonbone]

You might like the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, it has quite a few of them.

[@MyHumanWreckage]

@@simonbone I spend a lot of time in the Knoxville area. Next time I’ll take a drive over. Thanks.

[@brwchm2023]

In Greece in the 80’s there were some of these cars like Wartburg, Skoda 100, even seen a Trabant station wagon still in the early 2010. But definitely as a minority compared in number to other brands. Though, I had the impression that Wartburg was a 2 stroke not a 4 stroke.

[@suomenpresidentti]

Wartburg was for export. Trabant was for domestic use.

[@murraymitchell22]

Ahem, the Wartburg was originally a 3 cylinder two stroke. They were also improted into other EU countries, including the UK.

[@CarolinaCycloneJames]

Soviet history after WW2 is interesting in of itself. The USSR had some strength and a lot of weaknesses that really played into the downfall. You can actually tell when the weaknesses come out how it falls basically right after. It wasn’t until the mid 80s that it started showing. But little things like Chernobyl, the Berlin Wall and many other places and incidents showed the Russian people how much corruption and false information that was being shared. Cause you could actually see the affects from those incidents

[@xaviert.123]

AFAIK the economy was on a constant uphill until the 60s when some reforms were made, then things were steady until mid 70s before things took a shit

[@tonyl7286]

Not being able to produce adequate consumer goods was a major downfall. USSR never got close to the US for production of civilian goods, and in the 70s that constant deficit added fuel to the already-getting-out-of-hand fire of corrpution and bribery - from average civilians to the Kremlin. By the 80s the USSR operated 2 economies for all intents and purposes: one run by the state and the other run by people who smuggled and did back-door deals with others who had means of access to foreign markets.

[@skellyskelly1958]

The original WARTBURG KNIGHT< (as it was dubbed in the UK), was a rear engined two stroke car from the 1970's & belched out blue smoke. In Hazeldene Road in Northampton the neighbour across from house number 222 had one.

[@AndreyThreethousand]

The Wartburg was not really a car for high-up people. Anybody could get it saving some money and wait for his turn in the waiting list, because delivery times were 10 years and more. Actually in the GDR Ladas were considered more luxurious. The Wartburgs from before 1988 were basically the same car, but with 2-stroke engine, by the way.

[@Kruk98Stanislaw]

If i remember correctly, Wartburgs frame was ending before trunk so nothing was supporting it, basically if you had heavier load on the back it could basically break it

[@shepshepherd]

A Wartburg identical to this one randomly appeared in the village in England where I lived in the early 1990s. I've had a huge enthusiasm for cars from the former East Germany ever since :)

[@manuheber9011]

A Wartburg 353 "Knight" - ready for left side driving on the british roads.

[@tynewlin]

I'm excited for the video on that 90's VW you showed towards the end (13:05) We never saw that model here in the States. Kind of looks like a facelift version of a VW Fox, but it's probably called something else. I'm a diehard fanboy for old VWs, from air-cooled on up to the early watercooled cars. I personally feel the brand really lost its way in the mid 90's when Ferdinand Piëch took over as CEO. They used to make basic, reliable, affordable cars. Not like the horrendous crap they make now.

[@danmccarthy4700]

God, I love KZbin and channels like yours for allowing me to learn more about automotive oddities such as this.

[@DJ_Noizy]

In Hungary it was common back then.

[@MrAvant123]

Back in the early 70's there were loads of these around my home towns of Pembroke and Pembroke Dock. They had 2 stroke motors and were called Wartburg Knight -- my old O level chemistry teacher had one. Lots of blue smoke !

[@AnnatarTheMaia]

I know EXACTLY what that car is - my dad bought one, White like that, brand new, back in 1988. I remember us working in the garage, cleaning up ignition points on the distributor. The East German Mercedes. The original engine was a three cylinder, two stroke engine. That's the one we had. It would get up to 80 MPH and if one didn't really want to, one could shift without depressing the clutch pedal... boy did it guzzle gas, mixed with oil of course... just imagine, one never had to change the oil on a two stroke engine, as it was mixed directly into the fuel.

[@grolfe3210]

I remember an old guy up the road had one in the 70s here in the UK, it was called a Wartburg Knight over here. Never seen one since. It was two stroke. If you got stuck behind him it stank with a cloud of smoke coming out the back. According to records there are 48 Wartburgs still on the road in the UK and another 49 off the road.

[@Barbarapape]

I am from the UK and can well remember these cars along with Lada, Polski-Fiat, Skoda and a few more east german made cars. They were sold as cheap basic transport giving new owners a chance to own a brand new car for a low monthly payment. And that is where the issues started, most buyers could just about afford the monthly payments neglecting servicing until they broke down, then they got a friend to bodge them and traded them in if they had finished paying for them! They were crude with panel gaps visible from space, the trim was cheap brittle plastic and cardboard. A few well cared for examples can still be found at classic car shows.

[@Rom3_29]

While living in Finland. Our aunt’s boy friend proudly boasted about his new “car”. We went look at it and first thing we did burst out laughing out loud. This was back in 1974 and had a 3 cylinder stinky 2 cycle. No one considered Wartburg a real car but a cheapest appliance on four wheels.

[@josvandencamp8441]

Former GDR car equipped with a three cylinder two stroke engine. Very popular in Belgium, not in the Netherlands where I'm living.