Loved and hated by East Germans in the time of the GDR, the Trabant has finally reached cult status. Joachim Baier examines the eccentric world of diehard Trabi enthusiasts.
The former East German people's car, the Trabant, has finally achieved cult status on classic car markets, with vehicles in mint condition fetching as much as twenty times the original price.
"Astronomical sums are being paid for cars in factory condition," says Chris Jenak, chairman of the Trabant Car Club in the town of Muehlhausen.
Lovingly called the 'Trabi', the car, built between 1955 and 1989, was a symbol of the communist East. In its heyday some 3.7 million Trabants kept an entire nation on the road. The last cars left the factory 14 years ago when the Berlin Wall fell.
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The Trabant's stock has risen in recent years in parallel with the rise of 'Ostalgia'. A Trabant Tramp P 601 with virtually no kilometres on the clock recently fetched a price of EUR 17,500, while a 1990 Trabant 601 convertible is being offered on the internet for EUR 9,900.
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http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=18388
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