Fifteen years ago when Bernd Peukert from Trebbin, in what
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
was then East Germany, bought this vehicle the choice was simple: You could have any car you like as long as it was a Trabant. Put like that, Bernd opted for a Trabant. However there was a
catch—a five-year waiting list. Unless you were in business
and then the wait was just three years. Luckily for Bernd his work as an electrician qualified him for the latter. He took delivery of this Combi model in 1985 and still uses it for work every day. It has a 600cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine with steering column gear change and illuminated economy gauge. So far it has clocked up a total of 89.000 km.
Bernd reckons if you put your foot down it can reach a top speed of 110 km/h. When German reunification came about in 1990, Bernd could not wait to get a different car and today he also owns a 1983 Mercedes. It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder and, since ceasing production, the once derided Trabant is now much sought after by collectors.
A Trabant fan club has been
formed and is planning to hold an annual gathering at Zwickau Sachsenring on the Czech border.