"tapzz" (tapzz)
01/08/2015 at 11:17 • Filed to: p70, trabant
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"tapzz" (tapzz)
01/08/2015 at 11:17 • Filed to: p70, trabant | 1
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And the godmother of the Nissan Figaro. At least in coupé form, because the sedan version prefigures the unfortunate aesthetics of its progeny, along with its duroplast bodywork.
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VEB AWZ ( Volkseigenes Betrieb Automobilwerke Zwickau - Zwickau Automobile Works Company Owned by the People) was what used to be the pre-war Audi works once it ended up in the Russian occupied GDR. They'd managed to make a version of the pre war front wheel drive 2 stroke DKW F8 under the IFA brand in the early '50s, and then came up with the P70. It was also sold as a Sachsenring, just like the Trabant that succeeded it.
It was made very much like the old DKW, but with that peculiar resin and rags mixture called Duroplast. As such, it was the second plastic bodied series produced car after the Corvette. Unlike the later Trabant –and the Corvette–, however, the P70's bodywork is supported by a wooden frame, much like a Morgan's. The idea was to keep weight down and be able to build any cars at all because they couldn't get any steel.
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At least, that's how the sedan and the wagon were made, the coupé was made in steel. The result was exceedingly pretty, but the 700 cc two stroke was no thunderbolt in the cooking versions, and was no more powerful in the coupé. This thing was slooow, even by the standards of Europe in the '50s. It doesn't crack 60 mph.
No matter, I still want one, and buy it a nice basket and some treats.
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Jonee
> tapzz
01/08/2015 at 19:43 |
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It is really pretty. Too bad they couldn't get their hands on some real fiberglass.
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tapzz
> Jonee
01/08/2015 at 20:01 |
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It seems that the main problem they had was the extremely low spec: you couldn't open any windows, and there was no boot lid at first. It was too expensive to make as well, and not really mature for mass production.
Other than the fact that duroplast just will not ever go away – though the steel supports for it most definitely will – they did actually manage to make it work in the Trabbi.