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News imageWitness History, Witness History, The Trabant

Witness History

Witness History

The Trabant


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17 June 2021

9 minutes

Available for over a year

The iconic East German car dominated the roads of communist Central Europe for decades. The Trabant was made out of resin and cotton waste, had a two-stroke engine and its design remained virtually unchanged for thirty years. Johannes Dell has been hearing from legendary German designer Karl Clauss Dietel who worked for years to make improvements to the Trabant - but his innovations were never implemented.

(Photo: a Trabant 601. Credit: BBC)

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