{"id":3495,"date":"2009-06-29T11:23:47","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T11:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.influx.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3495"},"modified":"2022-12-12T12:22:52","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T12:22:52","slug":"trabant-communist-chic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/","title":{"rendered":"Trabant: Communist Chic?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"trabant_rear_1\"<\/figure>\n

Now we are all up for purity, simplicity and stripped-down functionality in our cars. We like to drive, after all, rather than sit in a cossetted virtual environment redolent of bubble economies and the ubiquitous pixel. But it’s fairly difficult to get our heads around why the Trabant<\/a> \u2013 relic of cold war-era command economies and the ubiquitous desire to get the hell out of the Communist bloc – retains an enduring appeal.<\/p>\n

\"trabant_flag_1-7\"<\/figure>\n

But is it so difficult to understand? This nice example of the Trabi Delux: complete with colour co-coded steel hubs, branded mudflaps and an appealing two tone champagne colour, undoutedbly has some tangential coolness about it. It might struggle to get up to fifty on a good day and with a prevailing wind you’ll be able to smell the two stoke engine’s <\/a>fumes in Leipzig, but it remains, despite ourselves kind of cute.<\/p>\n

\"trabant_flag_1-14\"<\/figure>\n

Millions of these little monsters were produced in the DDR (the misnamed German Democratic Republic<\/a>) between 1957 until the wall came down in 1989. They had a steel monocoque chassis and were front wheel drive, but the body panels were made from a recycled material called Duroplast, which, apparently, lessened the East German state-owned manufacturer’s need for expensive steel imports.<\/p>\n

This particular car was snapped in the parking space of the Chairman of Bath and North East Somerset Counci<\/a>l. Is the love of a retro car is the only communist sympathy the councillor is harbouring? Or could it be that we are we about to see the good burghers of Bath turn a deeper shade of red?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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- Influx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The East German Trabant: icon of nasty emissions and shoddy engineering: or cool communist classic?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Influx Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-06-29T11:23:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-12T12:22:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/trabant_rear_1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Fordham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@influxmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@influxmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Fordham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Fordham\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/a6c91b312024b67eded5a6ab27166bac\"},\"headline\":\"Trabant: Communist Chic?\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-06-29T11:23:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-12T12:22:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/\"},\"wordCount\":263,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/trabant_rear_1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1950s\",\"german\",\"german cars\",\"trabant\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cars\",\"Influx Daily\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/blog\/trabant-communist-chic\/\",\"name\":\"Trabant: Communist Chic? 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