The Trabant 601: Was It That Bad? - Autobiography

Often when people discuss “the worst car ever made” - the Trabant 601 is a guaranteed name to be submitted in that category. KZbinr Doug DeMuro called the car a “horrible car built by communists”. Is this all deserved though? In this video we look into the history of the Trabant 601 and shed light on this often misunderstood car from the DDR.
Part of the BTA Autobiography series, where we look into historically significant cars and explain what makes them so unique.
Music used: • Relaxing Gran Turismo ...
We've tried to credit as much of the material as we can to the original creator/uploader.
©Beyond The Apex 2020

[@n.mmitkovich2629]

I have an 1978 one, which I keep as a hobby car. After all these years, it still runs fine, its reliable, easy to maintain and repair. Its deffinetly not "the worst car ever made", since there were a lot worst vehicles in production, in both East and West. It's a timeless classic now. 🙂

[@coffeecrashed]

Undderated comment. Tottaly agree with you!

[@paufernandezboj5517]

Good for you

[@paufernandezboj5517]

@John Johnson and GM in The 70's

[@brienfoaboutanything9037]

True information about Trabant: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoS8qHyCacuboqM

[@goclunker]

Doug demuro is on a spectrum. The Trabbi was simple transportation, and great at what it was designed to be. It wasn’t a Tatra

[@jonathanthorpe1653]

I own a 1984 deluxe model. I can honestly say it's the most reliable and easy to work on car I have ever owned. The 2 stroke engine is good around town and can keep up with traffic. Most parts can be posted from Germany to the UK for around £10. If you want a simple classic I highly recommend a Trabant.

[@krieger3511]

Try to install turbocharger in it🤣🤣🤣

[@paufernandezboj5517]

@John Johnson they put The two stroke Because there are easy ti mantenince not for contamination

[@paufernandezboj5517]

@John Johnson jajaja you don't understant The priorities of a socialist economy The most important is making a car that you can repair easy and Fast not a hippie car or a eléctrico shit box that The littium of The batterie pollutes more that The petroleoum

[@eozcompany9856]

@John Johnson There is not a single city in Europe that has banned two-stroke engines, not a single one! Why would you ruin a classic car by putting some idiotic four-stroke into it.

[@user-in5wp8yo2i]

😊🔆✅

[@motor-werner1989]

I have a Trabant 601 myself, and I'm very happy with it. It's robust, easy to repair, cheap in maintenance and fun to drive. For the time it was introduced (in 1964!) it was still modern. I'm glad you pointed that out 😁. The problem was that Sachsenring wasn't allowed to produce a successor of it, although they already made some fairly modern and good prototypes. Btw, I think people hate it because they have no relation to it, (and some of them are even too stupid to drive one) even though it compares to cars like the Fiat 500, vw bug or the Citroën 2CV... Good video. Thanks for the upload. Keep up the good work 👍

[@BHuang92]

There were plans to replace it but a combination of politics and economics meant that the model became stale.

[@tgene2223]

How reliable is it?

[@COIcultist]

Motor - Werner I'd half way agree with you but I'd say he starts the story halfway through. It's a car frozen in 1963? No it isn't, it's a car frozen in the early 1950s or some might argue the 1930s. I've ended up watching a lot of Trabant and Wartburg films today, though interested in East German vehicles I never realised that both Trabant and Wartburg are sons of DKW car production. This film starts with production of the 601 which isn't a good place to start. I'm just going to cut and paste my reply to a comment elsewhere to start you on your way of why this is only half the story. In the 1950s the Trabant gave nearly all that a VW Beetle did but for a lot less. Much like the Beetle it came from a pre WWII design but unlike the Beetle it was not the offspring of state intervention but a sort of bastard son of the DKW two stoke cars en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW with an elder brother of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWZ_P70_Zwickau All the Allies were going to deindustrialise Germany after WWII. Fortunately for VW cold hard facts met a need for vehicles for the British Army of occupation. Russia was much more aggressive in its deindustrialisation. That said if you look at late 50s early 60s Trabants people in Britain had cars that were not any better or only marginally better for much more input. Look at the early P50 Universal or even better the AWZ P70 Estate and would you be choosing one of these or Citroën 2CV? Hell BMW and other West German manufacturers were producing damned bubble cars at the time. They just never developed the Trabant e.g. If they had developed the DKW two-stroke V4 that SAAB used as a base for their own engine with the all four speed freewheeling gearbox they would have had a much better performing car, but they didn't. No competition and the Trabant might have become something that wasn't desired, but it did service a need.

[@irmakaymelek]

@@tgene2223 In the event of a truly reliable front damage, the steering column disengages from the shaft column and comes out of the windshield. Jamming of internal parts is prevented. It is durable, inside and outside is not damaged much. If I examine the Trabant 601 it is definitely much more reliable than the 2cv, Mini, Fiat 500, Vw Beetle.

[@Yakisur]

I love my 1986 Trabant 601. I have him since 2018 and had never problems. Every child and old man look at my car and smiles or speek with me over the "old times".

[@Buledde]

Different countries, different opinions. My parents are from the former GDR, and they hate it. They state it´s a horrible car, which breaks down permanently and is also a symbol of oppression.

[@zimmerartur]

I remember when Doug DeMuros channel was smaller, and he actually made informative content, now it's just making fun of things he doesn't understand. How hard can some research be?

[@irmakaymelek]

The Trabant and many other DDR and Soviet vehicles are judged unrelated and make it look like a bad car.Doug reviewed and commented on a lousy Trabant, but that doesn't mean that what's in the best condition is the same as what's in bad shape so far. I didn't see it, I built my own vehicle, everything has been carefully restored and a first-class job created like the original. I feel very comfortable when I sit on the seat, the ride is very comfortable, the suspension is very comfortable, it is really fast despite the engine size and horsepower. It is never smoky and noisy. Even the inside of the trunk is completely covered with felt. There are 3 layers of coating even on the floor. I never compromise on the quality of a Trabant, and when they deliberately study a good example, they will realize how beautiful the Trabant is. I think the Trabant is one of the best cars in the world.

[@goclunker]

He’s on a spectrum, dude can barely speak. Not sure why people give that clown the time of day

[@irmakaymelek]

The Trabant and many other DDR and Soviet vehicles are judged unrelated and make it look like a bad car.Doug reviewed and commented on a lousy Trabant, but that doesn't mean that what's in the best condition is the same as what's in bad shape so far. I didn't see it, I built my own vehicle, everything has been carefully restored and a first-class job created like the original. I feel very comfortable when I sit on the seat, the ride is very comfortable, the suspension is very comfortable, it is really fast despite the engine size and horsepower. It is never smoky and noisy. Even the inside of the trunk is completely covered with felt. There are 3 layers of coating even on the floor. I never compromise on the quality of a Trabant, and when they deliberately study a good example, they will realize how beautiful the Trabant is. I think the Trabant is one of the best cars in the world.

[@irmakaymelek]

Why should this car be meaninglessly bad, smoky, uncomfortable, loud and unsafe? It is said that it has been produced from poor quality cardboard for years without any changes. They are actually good quality, safe, not smoky, not noisy, easy to use and comfortable, and have a lot of things that have been renewed over the years. But people say it hasn't changed at all. Why is only Trabant seen in this regard? VW beetle didn't change much until 2003, fiat 500, Citroen 2cv, renault r4 and Minide didn't change much, just stop contaminating the Trabant. The Trabant is a really nice car, those who say bad are fooling themselves and idiots like them. Do your best to restore these cars that deserve the best craftsmanship and discover how beautiful they really are.

[@blotski]

Cool film. Can I just point out though that it's not correct to say that the GDR was part of the Soviet Union 01:23. The Warsaw Pact countries, or the Eastern Block countries were under the Soviet yoke but not actually part of the USSR.

[@diegomontoya3065]

And congress never declared war on Vietnam. So technically we never fought a war in Vietnam.

[@vasilepopescu6007]

Neither was it a communist but a socialist country, there is a a slight difference. The GDR enjoyed a modest prosperity, it wasn't poverty stricken country, in fact they had a better standard of life than some areas in the UK at the time

[@TheLemminkainen]

nicknames in Finnland : Rin Tin Tin ( idle sound), Jungle drum (idle sound) :)

[@Phineas_Freak]

I must say as a Trabant enthusiast that one of its biggest advantage is the easy maintenance. All the technology is so simple and easy to work on that you can even change engine by hand. It is quite demanding though. Old cars like that tend to break down a lot. But I kind of love that about it :)

[@KubikCv]

4:31 - picture of my friends Trabant 1.1 universal :)

[@bread-gz3rl]

It may be crap but I WANT ONE

[@thetrabantguy3934]

Get one im 14 and i did

[@irmakaymelek]

Why would it be ridiculous, there is so much wrong information about this car. If they examine a good example, they will not be able to denigrate it in any way.By the way, you can find the right information about Trabant here; www.adrianflux.co.uk/cult-classics/sixty-years-trabant/

[@coffeecrashed]

I watched this video then played jalopy for 2 months.

[@VramanNoodles]

I only get this joke because of Life Of Boris

[@coffeecrashed]

@@VramanNoodles which means you're cultured, my friend.

[@therealgaragegirls]

I want one.

[@timothyhays1817]

Me too. I want to drive it in circles around the California state capital as many times possible. Then bronze it.

[@coffeecrashed]

Me too, luckily 2-strokes are easily passable in British Mots so if I ever find one, I'll have some good luck.

[@BHuang92]

One of those cars that became bad because it stayed too long.

[@keeferstheakston4439]

Because YES ; you just gotta put into perspective that time of constructive creation . . . The economy . . The demands of the people . . The simple fact of where and when it’s from . . Duraplast . . RECYCLED materials . . In a way ; rather intelligent especially with materials being so vastly found .

[@UNUSUALUSERNAME220]

That 104 KPH is only possible when James Bond is chasing you.

[@GregorPQ]

Very balanced review, very cool pictures, please make more of this sort!

[@stanojevicnatasa2514]

It is like a two stroke Mini - small People's car with great use of space and charming looks. Simple, reliable, easy to fix. Great steering and road holding. I learned to drive in the Trabant owned by my grandfather, growing up in Yugoslavia. It was even cheaper to buy than Yugoslav People's car, Zastava 750 and my grandfather was like "East Germans are still Germans, and the only reason I don't put my trust into God is that God is not German made!" Our car lasted for 34 years until my father crashed it into a bus in 2014.

[@Jackrodder]

Tbh to this day anytime I see one I just smile. We had a Wartburg when I was a kid, but I liked the Trabant more, don't know why. It was just cooler to me

[@irmakaymelek]

The Trabant may be another symbol of injustice, for example. It is a really very important car that suffers from a great injustice, meaningless insults. In fact, it is really high quality, conscious people will understand this, but it is a mistake to tell something by examining the cars in bad condition. You will never say anything bad. I will immigrate to Germany and I will do a very good job on eastern bloc vehicles. These cars should not be denigrated just because they belong to komusits, for example, chaika with 300sl has almost the same production number but why is it worth more than 300sl chaika because it is unfair to you because chaika is a communist. These cars must be worth a lot more because only then will respect increase, unfortunately people respect expensive things.

[@neilfoster814]

Generally speaking, if a Trabi smokes, the fuel has been mixed wrongly. My 1988 P601s runs at 50:1 and only smokes a little bit on first start from cold. Once warmed up there is no smoke at all. As my dad used to say "second class transport is better than first class walking!"

[@Marcel38281]

Finally someone said it thank you very much

[@Pinseth]

Amazing video keep up the work

[@Jason-fp7vi]

I found your video from the Vintage Road Racing group on Facebook!

[@PAPAIJA-bv2ne]

i wishd id had some day 3 trabants 2 green ones and 1 red and one yellow kombi...

[@w.loczykij5354]

Everything should be judged through the appropriate context. And you made the excellent job of it. Respect!

[@tarikaymelek]

Man, many impartial motoring writers claim that the Trabant is among the best German cars. In fact, as an engineer, I can defend that it was produced with very clever solutions at the beginning of production. I would love to have a well-restored Trabant in my garage and go on long journeys with it. If you really want to have a car experience, you should use Trabant.

[@nicolaemaciuca1385]

Can will be a city car Trabant? Traby-E.... an electric vintage car!😎

[@tarik6990]

Hladilnik is your nickname? Are you Czech or something? Great video :)

[@stephenvictorbailey4055]

I definitely want one

[@irmakaymelek]

The Trabant was a reliable car that was created with limited means and was simply designed for people with real engineering on it. But there is a lot of prejudice and misinformation about this car, I think the reason is the lies told by those who are against the government of the country where it was produced to discredit that management system. Actually. For more accurate and unbiased information about Trabant you should check out this page because Trabant was a real success; www.adrianflux.co.uk/cult-classics/sixty-years-trabant/ In addition to selling beautifully restored Trabants that will dispel prejudices about this beautiful car to those who want to renovate and add to their collection, I will work to buy as many Trabants as possible in the near future.

[@_Cheko_]

Nice video, i really enjoyed it.

[@elektrofumigator]

hi cheko can you buy me some hubcaps

[@_Cheko_]

@@elektrofumigator I will not

[@elektrofumigator]

@@_Cheko_ do it now or i will eat your whole wokkel supply while you are in budapest

[@_Cheko_]

@@elektrofumigator Jokes on you I took all my wokkels with me

[@elektrofumigator]

@@_Cheko_ terrible news

[@carllinden533]

I love my Trabant! Must be said it made me feel stupid multiple times due to a faulty ground wire and rusted brakes. This all aside it's fantastic!

[@sullybiker6520]

It was a product of its time, and the best car they could make with what they had. It was a very pragmatic design; light, simple, and durable. They still hold up well today. The story of the p603 and p610 was a great example of communist thinking: _Better is the enemy of good_ and the 601 was certainly good enough to get the DDR citizens moving.

[@vibe3063]

Me who played Jalopy: Well yes, but actually no.

[@BritishRail60062]

It kind of reminds me of a compact version of the Ford Anglia.

[@BlackOWLfly]

Considering that its body was made out of wood and textile mixed with some sort of resin and pressed at high pressure, obtaining a material that was extra resistent, did not suffer from corrosion and was quite light, we could consider this car partly eco-friendly and futuristic. It had good dynamic capabilities, but the poor engine was what let it behind others. Should the same frame be fitted nowadays with an electric engine and all the safety systems, I bet many would buy the car.

[@mikaelgideryd]

I cant be as bad as we heard in sweden for example. Today i live in Hungary for last 3,5 years and you still see Trabis on the road almost every week . Most people i talked to say it is a good and easy car to keep working. But it feels a little strange to see new Audi, Volvo and an Trabi together in traffic

[@vijayakrishnannair]

👍

[@larrypary1831]

Nice.

[@daanmollema6366]

Yes.

[@huudamu1884]

I LIKED IT I WOULD LOVE TO PAINT IT CHANGE OIL AND ELECTRICS TO IT AND TYRES AND SIT ON IT AND LATER DRIVE IT P50 AND 601

[@xmanhoe]

6,8lt / 100km 😉 not per km 😎

[@donwoodward2615]

No way on power on the Beatles

[@youknowmyfirstlastname3206]

It was good in its time

[@ungurdani8346]

SALUT MEN , SUPER CAR SUPER VIDEO , SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE .....

[@mikee5507]

Its not "the worst car ever made? CAN ANYONE NAME A CAR THAT IS EVEN MORE WORST?

[@mihaiilie8808]

Its deliberatly made like that,like a car made by bikers and the car history its linked with aerospace exploration and fighter pilots made the comercial for Trabant.( the aces)

[@mikee5507]

@Talking Turkey THEN MAKE YOUR OWN CAR AND STOP COMPLAINING!

[@nickvitobovino3486]

The Yugo The new mini, the new vw bug the new fiat 500 the the 3.8 jeeps the 4.1 Cadillac the year 2000 Mercedes/ Chrysler , bmw Audi, Volvo with the stupid valve cover design that if you get a leak you need to take half engine apart and mess with the timing because the cover is what’s holding the camshafts in place, the fords with stupid relays molded in the fuse box and for a 5 dollars relay you have to purchase all new fuse box for $800 plus labor and the 5.4 liter Ford spark plugs that breaks inside the engine, and the 4.0 Ford with the timing chain between engine and transmission they are junk and are all falling apart

[@mikee5507]

@@nickvitobovino3486 DUDE, YOU THE MAN !

[@-M-511]

American v8 cars ?! Worse fuel efficiency. Worse pollution . Worse weight and size for a car just made for fat Americans driving thru McDrive ..Worse overpower'd engien with just 0 use on your flat country. Simply just a stupid construction for stupid people .

[@binnydinney9739]

Well, it wasn’t a good car. But it wasn’t bad, it did what it needed to. It went from a to b, albeit while making a lot of noise and smoke. I own a ural, a Russian motorcycle. Here in the states I’m often asked what the hell is that? To which I reply this little excrement is an awful copy of a BMW. It may be medieval in design, but I love the little pos. Even if it does strand me every month or so.

[@dopaminskyimhirnsson3311]

it was not bad if you knew how to repair...every 2 weeks.

[@irmakaymelek]

If you're fixing it every two weeks, it means you don't realize there's something wrong with what you're doing. I have friends who have traveled thousands of kilometers or even months and never had a problem.

[@beardsntools]

No dude, this car is terrible and one of the worst cars ever made. Maybe not in the 60s but in 70s and 80s it was the worst ever. Even in 60s this was only mediocre. Nobody was talking about the conditions of the communist country(poverty is the second word for communism anyway) that's completely irrelevant here. We are looking at the car itself, how it's built and it's bad.

[@irmakaymelek]

You should review the impartial and accurate information about Trabant here Because what you say is not true. ; www.adrianflux.co.uk/cult-classics/sixty-years-trabant/

[@goclunker]

At least a Trabant doesn’t have a constant check engine light on like your rustbucket golf🤷🏻‍♂️

[@radcheckinski6300]

Poorly researched. The Trabant had a terrible driving position, poor interior room, poor materials, was unreliable, and thirsty to mention some of its downfalls. It was the worst car ever made in Germany, hands down. Now, with that being said, it was SIMPLE, relatively easy to repair, parts were affordable and most importantly it was LIGHT, making it handle quite ok. Was it the worst car of communism/socialisim? NO. That honor goes to the Zaz 968M, of Ukraine/Russia.

[@ilijazivanovic3698]

Have you ever owned one? People who have never even drove one can't say such things, so for example cars like wartburg or maybe all the 2 stroke bikes for example tomos wich last for a long time in my country, and i know several people wuth trabant as their daily driver for years and they didnt have any major isuses

[@radcheckinski6300]

@@ilijazivanovic3698 Other than the engine rebuilds, an inherent problem of the 2 stroke 2 cylinder and even the water-cooled 3 cylinder 2 stroke. It wasn't a "maintenance free" car like you are advocating. Don't lie. There was a reason why there was a 4 stroke 3 cylinder replacement motor being worked on by AWE, until the Polo engine made it into the Trabant and Wartburg. Look, I love 2 stroke cars, but lets not act like they are problem free and reliable.

[@ilijazivanovic3698]

@@radcheckinski6300 Every engine needs mainetance, they were probably thinking about oil changes witch frankly ist that hard nor long.

[@slome815]

I have a trabant, and it's not nearly as bad as you say. From the 70s onwards they have a galvanised frame, the duroplast body panels are very strong and always seem to look like they came right out of the factory, the paint is also very good compared to many other cars of the time. The driving position was comparable with other early 60's cars. A porsche from the 50's or early 60's has it's pedals even more annoyingly in towards the center of the car then a trabant. The front seats are alright, but the rear bench is super comfortable with it's coil springs, though a bit short on leg room. The dashboard is terribly cheaply made though, and wobbles a bit with bumps, but it's functional and doesn't seem to crack or fail. The car is "fine" for a simple people's car, simple to work on, ok reliable, I would put it in the same category of cheap peoples cars of the time, like a 2CV, Dyane, or beetle. But in contrast to those cars, the Trabant is still fairly cheap, while those other cars have become way too expensive for a simple cheap peoples car. (also owning a citroen Visa as my daiy driver, the successor of 2CV, I would say the trabant is a bit better in many ways)

[@irmakaymelek]

Trabant can never be as insecure as a 2cv. Actually you didn't research it well and I think Trabant is among the most reliable cars. Also Trabant is not among the worst cars but among the best German cars because it was a legend that was revealed in the absence. It has served people for years. I think more about the Trabant Visit this page for more accurate and unbiased information; www.adrianflux.co.uk/cult-classics/sixty-years-trabant/