The Worst Car Ever: A Brief History of the Trabant

The Stream ^ | 7 November | Jon Miltimore

[oh8eleven]

In fact, a Saturn was a luxury car compared to the Worst Car Ever award-winner. That distinction goes to the Trabant, a dreadful vehicle produced from 1957 to 1990 by the former East German [i.e. Communist] car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the 1957 Trabant had no tachometer, no turn signal, no seat belts or fuel gauge, no trunk liner, and used an oil/gas mix. The fact that these basic amenities were still missing when Taylor Swift was born [1989] is a bit more surprising.

East Germans considered themselves lucky just to get a Trabant. The average waiting period was 10 years.

[SkyDancer]

Yugo??

[oh8eleven]

Wow, driving on mountain roads in a Wartburg. You win! 😜

[oh8eleven]

No, too easy.

[cartan]

The socialist of today will get the electric version, of course:

[Buckeye McFrog]

Skoda is still around. They are now owned by Volkswagen. Obviously the quality of their product has upgraded. They are sold throughout Europe.

[C19fan]

I was in Israel and took a cab. The cab was a Skoda and I asked the cabbie how was the car. He said it is a great car. I wish I could buy one in the states. I always of Skoda as an arms manufactured for the Hapsburg Empire and Czechoslovakia.

[dfwgator]

The Skoda Works were the reason Hitler wanted Czechoslovakia in the first place.

[VietVet876]

Hitch hiking into Frankfurt in the summer of 1965, we were picked up by a junior exec German driving a Taunus sedan. He spoke English and was eager to practice so I was asking him questions about their auto industry since I was a heavy motorhead. He said that a majority of the autoworkers were Turks imported to do the skilled labor jobs that all the able bodied men killed in the War used to do.

[NorseViking]

Probably Octavia or smaller Fabia. Yes, all great cars in their class. German ride quiality and Asian reliability in one.

[oh8eleven]

The socialist of today will get the electric version, of course:

And then they'll want someone to share the repair costs ...

"Toyota Prius battery replacement cost isn't cheap, and can cost you between $2,300 and $2,600 for a Toyota Prius battery pack. That's without labor or inspections costs."

[shotgun]

Paraphrasing what Bernie said, who needs 20 something different brands of deodorant?

[NorseViking]

I rented Octavia Scout SW in Europe. Beats Outback and Audi Allroad for a price too. Skoda Superb Wagon beats Mercedes E-class for a couple generations in tests and reviews.

[Zionist Conspirator]

[NonValueAdded]

And the 2CV?

[katana]

The Trabant was East Germany’s pathetic answer to the original “Peoples’ Car” (literally Porsche’s Nazi “Volks’ Wagen”). The little bug that was the flagship of the post-WWII West German economy. Skoda was a Czech product, Yugo was Yugoslav, and the Soviet “peoples’ car” was the Fiat (Fix It Again, Tony) based Lada. All represent the quality one can expect when government bureaucrats achieve their wet dream of central planning and control.

[Alas Babylon!]

I had a chance to buy one of those back in 1994 in Germany. The guy only wanted 100 DMs for it... And it ran.

I should have, but seriously, no way would I give up my US pickup truck to ship THAT back to the States, since I could only ship one vehicle.

[PUGACHEV]

The Pinto Firebox always comes to mind when thinking of bad cars, but there were plenty worse. Take any Renault for example. In the last few decades of the 20th century Renault had a consistent market strategy, which was basically "Lay low until it all blows over". Each car they came out with was worse than it predecessor, but they spaced them far enough apart so that no one remembered. There was the Dauphin, followed by the Caravell, followed by the Renault 10, followed by the Alliance, until they could go no further down with the Fuego. Then Renault went to work on the indestructible Jeep, introducing the Renix fuel control system, which, to their credit, did come close to ruining the brand.

I have, BTW, resisted the strong temptation to put any car with a Lucas (The Prince of Darkness) electrical system into one class, making all those the worst.

[TangoLimaSierra]

we were picked up by a junior exec German driving a Taunus sedan.

In '66 I had a Taunus in high school. Same model as this one.

(Thanks, dad)

[Fresh Wind]

I’ve had a few citations in my time. All were given to me by police officers.

[Fresh Wind]

I knew a guy in kollege who’s dad was both rich and Polish. Somehow, he managed to smuggle a couple of those Syrenas into the country. I have no idea why.