The Russians had a similar putt-putt called a Skoda. In Czech, skoda means “pity.” it was a pity if you owned one.
1961Not really. First of all Skoda was Czech and rather decent for a budget car even by West European standard. Now Skoda is a jewel of Volkswagen group. I’d take their Superb sedan over Passat, Camry and anything from GM. VW Atlas is a reworked Skoda Kodiaq by the way.
Trabant was rather unique in how crappy it was. The closest Soviet counterpart was ZAZ-968 - the worst Soviet car ever but ZAZ was a Cadillac in comparison. Trabant wasn’t street-legal in USSR ad probably in Czechoslovakia too.
Skoda is still around. They are now owned by Volkswagen. Obviously the quality of their product has upgraded. They are sold throughout Europe.
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.
Wasn’t Skoda a Czech company that made the Panzer 35?