Eastern Bloc Cars

I wouldn't mind one of these:

And it's almost a Fiat...

Powar wrote:

wcelliot wrote: (my 1962 603 East Berlin Department of Central Planning staff car apparently returned to the build line circa 1968 for a new body and fresh engine)

Bill, I really hope that you share some pictures of your collection with us one day. I'd love to see the Tatra.

My pix are up at http://www.fnader.com/CurrentCars.htm though the Tatra is only featured on the http://www.fnader.com/FormerCars.htm since I sold it in a moment of weakness. My wife was highly miffed.... though she never indicated any great level of affection for it that -before- I sold it..

The P600 (with factory trailer towing package!) Sold to the only other known P600 owner in the US after he lost his in a nasty divorce. (His was an even rarer "combi" wagon... have never seen another.)

wcelliot wrote: My pix are up at http://www.fnader.com/CurrentCars.htm though the Tatra is only featured on the http://www.fnader.com/FormerCars.htm since I sold it in a moment of weakness. My wife was highly miffed.... though she never indicated any great level of affection for it that -before- I sold it..

Thanks! Truly awesome collection, both past and present...

Thanks! Fine line between "collector" and "mental disorder"... my wife and I often debate where I come down...

Check out blackrabbit's cars on Classic Motorsports, he has a few different Eastern Bloc stuff. Motorcycles too.

http://classicmotorsports.net/community/blackrabbit/

wcelliot wrote: The P600 (with factory trailer towing package!) Sold to the only other known P600 owner in the US after he lost his in a nasty divorce. (His was an even rarer "combi" wagon... have never seen another.)

There's a guy in the Minneapolis area who has imported a couple Trabant 601's and has them for sale, including a wagon: http://www.shocauto.com/Inventory/080476_Trabant_Universal.htm I haven't seen him around at the car shows recently and it looks like his website hasn't been updated for a while so I'm not sure if he still has them or not.

The P601 wagon is pretty unusual in the US, but the P50 and P600 wagons are super rare everywhere.

Bill

As mentioned Wartburg's were imported briefly but as you can imagine selling a "commie" car in the US in the 50s and 60s didn't go so well. There is a website documenting some of the history and hate mail at www.wartburgusa.com

My wartburg was not an import but actually brought over for personal use by an east german diplomat then left in the country. It languished through many owners for many years unable to get it titled since it was a grey market car.

Trabant lore, from Wiki:

A good deal of jokes plays on the fact that the car was cheap and devoid of any conveniences.

How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill up the tank! VEB Sachsenring brought out a new Eco-Trabi: Immediately available for delivery, extremely cheap, extremely quiet, extremely environmentally friendly - with electric power train. Small problem: The extension cord is only 20 meters long and not in stock.

An East German driver pulled into a service station and asked, "Can I get a windshield wiper blade for this Trabi?" The mechanic looked the car over for a long time and finally said, "Okay, it's a trade!"

Did you know they have Knight Rider in the GDR? It's a Trabant with a pocket calculator!

An East German worker's five years were up, and he went to take delivery of his Trabi. He asked the company's representative, "Can I get a car with seat belts?" "Sure," said the representative, "and while we're at it, we can give you one with two-tone paint, air-conditioning, and an AM/FM/Longwave/Shortwave radio!" Mortified, the customer mumbled, "Now you're just making fun of me." "Well," roared the representative, "who started it?"

What do you call a Trabant up a hill?: A miracle.

What do you call two Trabants up a hill?: A mirage.

What do you call ten Trabants up a hill?: The factory's up there.

What's the best feature of a Trabant?: There's a heater at the back to keep your hands warm when you're pushing it.

What type of seats do you get in a Trabant?: Hammocks when you buy the EX model.

Why was the Trabant made?: There was a mistake, it was supposed to be a washing machine.

Quite a few jokes play with the widespread urban legend that Trabant's body was made of corrugated/laminated/reinforced/etc. cardboard, i.e., it was a "cardboard car", playing off of the supposed flimsiness of its body: the Trabant was made of duroplast, a cotton fiber reinforced resin.[3]

During a visit to the Leipzig Trade Fair, a wealthy oil sheikh heard that there is a car with a delivery time of over ten years. Since Rolls Royce usually delivers more quickly than that, it must be quite an exceptional car, which he would certainly have to have in his collection. Sight unseen, he made a request to order this Trabant. In Zwickau, they're aware of this great honor, so they immediately change the running Five-Year Plan and bring forward a specimen. In the container, the car reaches the emirate in a handful of weeks. The happy oil sheik immediately called his friends together, opened the container, and exclaimed in surprise: "Gosh, they have incredibly long delivery times, but at least they send you a cardboard model in advance — and the best, you can even drive it!"

A West German businessman is driving a Mercedes through East Germany on a rainy night when his windshield wipers stop working. He takes it to an East German mechanic, who tells him there are no Mercedes windshield wiper motors in the GDR, but he will do his best to fix it. When the businessman returns the next day, to his surprise the windshield wipers are working perfectly. "How did you find a Mercedes windshield wiper motor in the East?" he asks the mechanic. "We didn't," replies the mechanic "We used the engine from a Trabant!"

96DXCivic wrote: So Eastern Bloc cars I was able to find. http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/1804393100.html Damn not much.

An attempt was made to import ARO's around 1990. I remember seeing an otherwise empty dealership around Yarmouth or Freeport, Maine in the Summer of '91 that still had two new ARO SUV's inside.

zomby woof wrote: I almost bought one of those new to replace my Skoda

FWIW Skoda is somehow corporately related to VW. Many VW parts come in packaging with VW/SEAT/Skoda logos...

Woody wrote:

96DXCivic wrote: So Eastern Bloc cars I was able to find. http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/1804393100.html Damn not much.

An attempt was made to import ARO's around 1990. I remember seeing an otherwise empty dealership around Yarmouth or Freeport, Maine in the Summer of '91 that still had two new ARO SUV's inside.

They tried that again a few years back too. I don't have to tell you how that one came out.

wcelliot wrote:

Is that a stock engine in that thing? Weird car ...

Yes it is! Rear mounted air cooled V8 FTW.

Jay wrote: Yes it is! Rear mounted air cooled V8 FTW.

I wonder if one of those will fit in my Daewoo?

And it's a hemi!!

2.5L, about 100hp, 4 sp on the column (with the pattern reversed from US cars) , 4 wheel disc brakes, a gas heater under the driver's seat (inside the car), and a swing axle rear suspension....

wcelliot wrote: And it's a hemi!! 2.5L, about 100hp, 4 sp on the column (with the pattern reversed from US cars) , 4 wheel disc brakes, a gas heater under the driver's seat (inside the car), and a swing axle rear suspension....

Probably handles just like a really big 911 ... uh, a really big 911 with swing axles.

Yep, pretty similar.

The Nazi's banned their officers from driving V8 Tatras (just about the fastest sedan available to them at the time) due to the high number of crashes with them.

The car is lighter than it looks but still has a lot of mass moving on those swing axles...

Saw this, and thought it was pretty cool.

Trabant GSXR

http://www.sportmotor.hu/motoros_videok/speed/trabant-gsxr-750-68661

I would love me a Niva

mad_machine wrote: I would love me a Niva

I have a spare one but as a '91 it would be tough to get into the US. Should have kept the papers from the '85 I scrapped.

Go down to South America. There are plenty of Lada Niva 4x4s down there.

wcelliot wrote: Thanks! Fine line between "collector" and "mental disorder"... my wife and I often debate where I come down...

Wow. Nice collection. I never knew bootlegging was THAT profitable.