Monday, March 8, 2010

Concept car : Trabant P50

 
  
  
 




The Trabant P50 was the first type in the Trabant series which was manufactured by Sachsenring

P50 stands for passenger car with a cubic capacity of 500 m³. 131,440 examples were produced. The second Trabant edition was named “Trabant 600”. The significant distinguishing feature is the improved performance of the twin-cylinder two-stroke engine to 599 m³ with 23 HP. 106,626 examples were manufactured of that type. The most produced vehicle of Sachsenring’s vehicle series was the Trabant 601 with 2,818,547 examples. It entered mass production with 26 HP.

The successor model, the Trabant 1.1 received a VW engine. Next to the classic models Limousine (sedan) and Universal (formerly station wagon), the 1.1 was also available as Tramp, an open variant with folding top and loading platform. 39,474 examples were manufactured. On April 30, 1991, after more than 33 years, the Trabant production and with it Sachsenring’s vehicle manufacturing, ended.

Previous history of the “Trabant nT” – “newTrabi”

A lot of time had to pass in the unified country first before the Trabant turned out to be a distinctive contemporary witness and an object of affection. All quiet at first, covered by the GDR’s supposed collective end, the “Trabi” ripened and became a worldwide cult car with the history of the two Germans states entwining around it and leaving its mark in countless interesting life stories. Due to the long professional experience with the popularity of automobiles and its fans, it was no surprise that it was the miniature manufacturer Herpa who began to sense the special character of the Trabant brand. Herpa developed a perspective for the cult car for the “50th Trabant anniversary” on November 7, 2007, and presented it as “Initiative newTrabi” at the IAA 2007. The overwhelming response of many thousands of interviewees around the IAA 2007 suggested the initiative’s continuation so the “newTrabi” idea became a project with capable partners from the Autoland