VW and Audi link to the Trabant
Posted in Aircooled Volkswagen, Audi, Follett, Volkswagen on 02/21/2007 10:50 am by FollettmotorsVWAudiBlog
“Ostalgie” : The 2003 German bittersweet comedy “Goodbye Lenin”, set in the few weeks before and after German Reunification.
The “Communist Answer” to the VW Beetle celebrates its 50th birthday
An article in The Times today highlights the preparations being made to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Trabant which started production in 1957 and was billed as “the Communists’ answer to the Volkswagen Beetle”
Originally planned as a three wheeled motorcycle with an envisaged production extending only as far as 1967 at the latest, the production line, in fact, ended only in 1991.
An interesting, but often overlooked aspect of the Trabant’s history are its links with Volkwagen and Audi.
After WW2, the factory became part of IFA which was the state owned group which operated all of the East German motor industry.
Of course, much has been written about the Trabant in popular culture. My own personal favourite is the award winning German bittersweet comedy “Goodbye Lenin”, set in the few weeks before and after Reunification.
The story focuses on an East German son’s efforts to ensure that his committed Communist mother who fell into a deep coma just before reunification does not realise what is going on, for fear that this could threaten her fragile health. One of the most memorable scenes comes shortly before the end of the film when the mother is finally well enough to go out with the family for a trip in the new Trabant, acquired whilst she was in a coma. She is utterly astonished at how they have been able to move so quickly up the considerable waiting list - (they’ve only been waiting 7 years…) - of course, not realising that the general preference has switched to non GDR produced cars which are now possible to acquire ……
