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eduard
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Info Eduard - April 2011
eduard
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Info Eduard - April 2011
HISTORY
Interim type IFA P-70, now with a plastic body,
here in the Kombi form with the rear doors opening
out to the side.
IFA, actually, Trabant P-50, here in the form of the
Sonderausführung from 1959. Most of these vehicles had
a two-tone body, the delineation of the two colors being
in the form of an elegant sidebar.
branch, and during the same year began production
of automobiles. The main production item at the for-
mer Audi plant in Zwickau was the IFA F-8, which was
nothing more than the old DKW F-8. The four metre,
two-door vehicle was powered by a two-cylinder,
two-stroke engine with 690cc rated at 20hp (15kW).
The frame was built with a wooden skeleton covered
with leather, while in a small series of cabriolets, de-
stined for export, the frame was covered with steel
plates. High demand for steel was the Achilles´ heel
of the East German economy, the shortage of which
dictated the ongoing development of plastics. As has
happened so many times in human history, shortages
in one place fed development in another, examples
of which include moldy cheese, kielbasa, Tokay (To-
kaji) wine, and a certain Bakelite legend. Well, actu-
ally, more accurately, thermoset. I have to also add,
that the East Germans were at that time, certainly
through the fties and sixties, truly operating at ca-
pacity. This fact even inltrated through to Czech lm
production, thanks to from which we Czechs know that
our East German comrades from time to time made
mistakes. When it came to plastic frames, the ear-
ly fties saw experimentation with Vinidure, which
was a composite of PVC and paper. Through tes-
ting with liquid PVC, sawdust and cotton lint led to
Duroplast in 1952, composed of phenolic resin and
cotton lint, suitable for forming into frames. The parts
were cast into shape in about 10 minutes at 170oC.
By 1953, Duroplast accounted for about a third
of the body of the IFA F-8. The development of the
new vehicle with the Duroplast body powered by
a two stroke, two cylinder engine was ordered by the
Ministry of Industry in 1953, and was sanctioned by
the head of the East German Government in January,
1954. The development of the new vehicle was marred
by disagreements between the development arm of
the FEW at Karl-Marx-Stadt (which is what the com-
munists changed the name of Chemitz to in 1953, FEW
being the former development centre of Audi) and the
development division of AWZ at Zwickau. So, while
FEW was building two prototypes designated P-50,
there was an interim type being developed at Zwic-
kau, capable of being put into rapid production. This
was secretly designated F-8K at rst (K for Kunststoff,
or ‘articial material’), but was later dubbed P-70.
Series production began in the summer of 1955, and
by the time production ended in 1959, an impre-
ssive 36,796 units were delivered built in three body
versions. Besides the two-door limousine version and
a Kombi with rear doors opening to the sides, it was
very interesting and pleasing to look at, but, of course,
built in limited series. Most of these sporty types went
to export to western countries.
While P-70 production chugged merrily along, the
development of the P-50 continued to completion
in the second half of 1957. Production was ceremo-
nially initiated on November 7, 1957, on the 40th
anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
This was the Russian Revolution of November, 1917,
and for our younger colleagues, this was the beginning
of the USSR, or the Soviet Union, and was a big event.
Lenin’s real name was Uljanov, Stalin’s was Dzugas-
vili, GAZ automobiles were Fords, and these strange
little quirks permeated throughout the USSR. It must’ve
been pretty difcult to believe anything they told you.
A month before the start of production, the Soviet Uni-
on launched the world’s rst articial satellite to circle
the globe, Sputnik 1. In honour of the general awe
of this event, the new vehicle produced at Zwickau was
dubbed Trabant. Trabant is the German equivalent to
the Russian word Sputnik, but I would rather not dwell
too much on any theories as to why the comrades cho-
ose this name. Those that lived in the Eastern Bloc all
have their own inside knowledge....
Now, for some technical data on the Trabant P-50.
Its length was 3361mm, width 1493mm, the wheelba-
se was 2020mm, wheel track 1200mm in the front,
and 1240mm in the back. The empty vehicle weighed
620kg, and useful payload was 330kg. The two-door
body was made of steel frame with Duroplast body
panels. The 500cc engine was air-cooled, two cylinder
and two stroke providing 18hp (13kW) at 3750rpm.
Maximum torque was 44Nm at 2750rpm. Maximum
rpm was 4400. While coasting downhill, it was possi-
ble to engage the clutch. The fuel tank held 24l, and
was lled with gas and oil at a ratio of 25:1. It stunk.
Maximum speed was 90km/h, recommended speed,
80km/h (50mph). I won’t bore you with other details,
such as the 6v electrical system, save maybe the fact
that the trunk had an awesome 0.36 cubic metres, and
fuel consumption ranged between 6 and 8.5 litres per
100km (my two-tonne AUDI Quattro drinks an average
of 6.4 litres of diesel per 100km). The car was availa-
ble in four colors: light yellow Bananengelb, blue-grey
Blaugrau, light blue Aeroblau, and light red Hellrot.
Period shot of the Trabant P-50, likely from 1957 or 1958, showing a new vehicle from AWZ (AWZ meaning
Automobilwerk Zwickau). In May, 1958, the plant was renamed VEB Sachsenring.
It may be worthwhile for JaPo to look into the simi-
larities of these colors to those used on the Fw 190
in 1945...
At the end of the fties, the Trabant went through
a series of innovations, even unbelievable ones by la-
ter standards. Production began in 1959 of the Kom-
bi with a lengthened body, and later versions known
as Trabant Lieferwagen were delivered. A major inno-
vation came in October, 1962, when an up-powered
version called Trabant 600 began to leave the produc-
tion lines with a 594.5cc engine rated at 23hp (17kW)
with a maximum speed of 100km/h. The rst gene-
ration of Trabant was manufactured until 1965, with
a production run of over 238,000 units, with 48,000 of
those being the Kombi. Part of the production went for
export, rst of all to socialist countries of the Eastern
Bloc - 5,000 to Hungary, 3,500 to Poland, 2,500 to
Bulgaria, 500 to Romania, and 1,500 made their way
to Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark.
Amazingly, this wasn’t enough, and development
continued. In December, 1959, the heads of the East
German automotive industry met at Zwickau, to de-
cide what next for it. It was clear that modernization
was the answer, and these heads wanted to see results.
The industry conducted two studies, one closely linked
to the Trabant 600, the other markedly more modern,
but again, done in incognito. Comrade Factory Heads
expressed an enlightening, if not outright courage, that
had not been seen for a long time, and gave the green
light to this radical innovation. And so, the light of day
shone on the legendary Trabant 601, although the
road to production was yet to be a long one, lasting
some ve more years.
The new vehicle gained the oor area of the 600, the
body was expanded to 3555mm, and received new,
almost trendy lines. The glass surface area went up by
a quarter, and the trunk space increased to 0.415 cu-
bic metres. The useful payload went to 385kg, empty
weight dropped marginally to 615kg. Overall weight
t inside of a tonne. The engine was the same as in
the 600, and the maximum speed remained 100km/h.
Zero to 80km/h (50mph) took 20.7 seconds, the fuel
Period advert for the Trabant 601 from Mototechna,
at the time one of two rms selling cars in Czechoslovakia.
The other was Tuzex, selling cars not for Czechoslovak
crowns, but for western currencies, or special coupons, the
infamous ‘Bons’.
Trabant 601 in the Kombi form.
Trabant 601A Kübel in its military form with a steel
rear part of the hood.