Trabi to stage a return

The chubby little Trabant automobile, which became a global symbol of German reunification almost two decades ago, could soon be reborn as a lifestyle car along the lines of the new Mini or Fiat 500.

The Trabant became famous as the vehicle used by thousands of East Germans to cross the border from communism to freedom after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Now Klaus Schindler, a businessman, believes the time is ripe to revive the Trabi, as it is affectionately known.

He plans to reinvent it as a retro-styled lifestyle car using the power unit and running gear from the BMW 1 series compact. The original car sported a puny two-stroke engine which belched out acrid blue smoke.

Talks with two specialist motor manufacturers are underway and if it does hit the road, the “New Trabi” could cost up to BD13,000 to buy.

Mr Schindler believes fans and admirers of the car would be prepared to pay the price.

The “New Trabi” retains the familiar front grille and pointed rear lights of the original but it looks altogether more muscular. It features flared wheel arches and a roofline which extends to the tail end, doing away with the old Trabant’s tiny boot. With its four doors and hatchback, the redrawn car is longer than its predecessor and more practical at the same time.

“We want to stress the importance of this vehicle as a symbol of mankind’s struggle for freedom,” said Mr Schindler at the recent Frankfurt Car Show. “The response so far has been very positive indeed.

“When I first came up with the idea, people said I was crazy. Now they think it is great.”

Mr Schindler is not a high-powered auto executive himself but rather an enthusiast who heads marketing and distribution at Herpa, a firm which manufactures plastic miniature models of cars and aeroplanes in the Bavarian town of Dietenhofen.

The company has sold more than 100,000 of a tiny replica of the Trabant and was displaying the “New Trabi” as a 1:10 scale mock-up in a showcase on its stand. The model is even finished in the distinctive light blue colour ordered by most owners of the real thing in its GDR heyday.

“After all, this is a cult car. You only have to say the name Trabi or ‘Trabant and people know straight away what you mean”, said Schindler.

Herpa has bought the rights to the Trabant name, but says production of the real thing will depend on its reception from car lovers.

By logging onto the company’s Internet site it is also possible to take part in an online survey in English, asking whether the car should be built and in what form.

Mr Schindler would like to see the “New Trabi” produced at a plant in Saxony, the state where the car was first turned out 50 years ago.

The full-size Trabi was cramped and underpowered, yet three million of them were made and the cult car still has a strong following both in Germany and abroad.

Trabant assembly ended officially at the Zwickau plant in 1991 and only a few thousand Trabis remain in everyday use on roads. Most Germans in the east have long since exchanged the cheap and cheerful mini-car for something more sophisticated.