The Trabant and Other East German Cars Quiz

Answer: 1991

The last Trabants left the production line in April 1991. The Zwickau factory was sold to Volkswagen AG. Volkswagen redeveloped the factory into a centre for engine production, but it also produces some Volkswagen Golfs and Passats.

Answer: Duroplast

The body panels of the Trabant were made from Duroplast. Duroplast is a composite thermosetting resin plastic similar to Formica and Bakelite and reinforced with fibres.

Answer: Zwickau

The factory operated by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau was the former Auto Union/DKW factory which had operated out of the site prior to the war VEB's first products were basically copies of pre-war DKW designs. Zwickau is in the western part of Saxony. The Trabant was the result of a planning process which had been intended to design a three-wheeled motorcycle.

Answer: P50

The original Trabant, introduced in 1957 and powered by a 500cc engine, was the P50. It received a 600 cc engine in 1962 and became the P60.

Answer: VW Polo 1000cc

The locally built EA111-series engine was given the model code BM 820 by the East Germans. The plant also made 1.3-litre versions for use in the Wartburg 1.3.

Answer: Melkus

The company was founded by the racing driver Heinz Melkus. The cars used engines from Wartburgs and many of the parts came from either Wartburgs or Trabants. Their only road car was the Melkus RS 1000, a sports car with gull wing doors powered by a mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine.

The company was revived in 2009 and from 2009 to 2012 produced cars with engines by Volkswagen and Toyota.

Answer: DKW F8

The DKW F8 was a compact two-stroke engine vehicle, introduced in 1939. The F in its name stood for Front in reference to its front wheel drive configuration. When passenger car production at Zwickau ended in 1942, approximately 50,000 F8s had been produced. After the war the car reappeared in 1949 as the IFA F8, from the Zwickau plant which now operated under Soviet control.

Answer: Opel

In 1988, the old 2 stroke engine of the Wartburg was replaced by the four-stroke engine from the Volkswagen Golf. The new Wartburg was short-lived, as production was inefficient and could not compete with West-German manufacturers. Production ended on 10 April 1991, with the factory being acquired by Opel.

Answer: Wartburg

The Wartburg name is derived from Wartburg Castle, which is situated on one of the hills overlooking the town of Eisenach where the cars were made.

Answer: AWZ P70 Zwickau

The car that preceded the Trabant was the AWZ P70 Zwickau a small car which was produced by VEB Automobilwerke Zwickau (AWZ) between 1955 and 1959. It had a Duroplast body on a wooden frame and plywood floor.