Things you learn

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 06/07/2018 at 17:51 • Filed to: Trabant, Wankel, August Horch Museum, Zwickau

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Courtesy of the August Horch Museum in Zwickau where I was a couple of weeks ago..

The Trabant 601 was in production unchanged from 1964 to 1990 ( a four stroke model was added in 1989) and all efforts by its designers to have something more modern given the go ahead were rejected, because no money and a waiting list of up to 13 or 14 years.

The makers did try though. Here are two of their prototypes. A Wankel engine (L) and a three cylinder diesel (R). No, I didn’t know either.

Berang > Cé hé sin 06/07/2018 at 19:27

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I believe they also mocked up a hatchback body at one point, but that too was rejected.

The 601 was updated though, mechanically and otherwise though, despite the no changes myth. Just very infrequently.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Cé hé sin 06/08/2018 at 07:08

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TIL

Cé hé sin > Berang 06/08/2018 at 16:06

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Funny you should say that because I also saw.....

According to the museum, the big change in the 601 was in the production process. The number of hours needed to build one was drastically reduced courtesy of in-house automated tooling. Had to be in house, they had no money for anything else.

Berang > Cé hé sin 06/08/2018 at 18:03

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I would buy a wartburg hatchback

Cé hé sin > Berang 06/08/2018 at 18:11

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Those are Trabi prototypes though. The green one is the P610 from 1973 and the two tone one is a later variation from 1982.

Here’s the Wartburg 355 prototype which had about as much joy as the Trabis.

AuthiCooper1300 > Cé hé sin 06/08/2018 at 18:15

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The Wankel angle is interesting. VAZ (and in general, the Russians) did some very thorough research on rotaries (they started by copying an early Mazda unit, if I remember correctly) and even produced some Wankel-powered Zhigulis (most of which went to the police) and even some modern FWD cars.

The reason, allegedly, was that Wankel engines are very tolerant of bad quality fuels, and therefore an attractive proposition for military use.

Cé hé sin > AuthiCooper1300 06/08/2018 at 18:29

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Even more exotically, there was a turbine engined Wartburg. Sadly my picture of the whole car (it’s in the Museum für Sächsische Fahrzeuge in Chemnitz) deleted itself so all I have is the description.

Berang > Cé hé sin 06/08/2018 at 18:29

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ahh I see.

BTW, here’s some Trabant changes for you:

The interior changed more than the exterior. The engine compartment also changed several times.

Cé hé sin > Berang 06/08/2018 at 18:35

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Well, yes....but the last pic is the four stroke which was pretty much a new car. Apart from the engine, there’s a new interior with floor mounted gearlever, rear mounted tank, water cooling and so on. Still Duroplast, mind. I’m not sure if the four stroke is collectible or not - I saw a few Trabis during my trip to Germany and they were all two strokes.

AuthiCooper1300 > Cé hé sin 06/08/2018 at 19:23

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Fascinating indeed. So, according to the sign, they broke up the “fuel” (hydrogen peroxyde) with a catalyst and the pressure resulting from the freed hydrogen gas propelled the turbine - the exhaust emissions being just steam and oxygen... Heath Robinson comes to mind.