Just recently, I was stripped of my vehicle in Hungary and forced to shop for a new car... I don't need a car for the day-to-day, but for my impulse travel... it's pretty important. For the last few weeks, I have been searching high and low for just the right vintage classic to be my transportation sidekick (for weather and distances the skateboard can't hang with). I'm not interested in a fancy looker with a shiny paint job, or a speed racer that will get me to Budapest in under an hour... just something with a little style... something I can't find in the States. Well, finally, last week, I found an outlet... my colleague's husband's friend's brother has a TRABANT.He owns a used car dealership and this Trabi sits right in my price range, and with just a funky enough character to peak my interest. Since I started looking, I've been eyeing Trabants, Ladas, and Fiats... and EVERYBODY I've talked to has warned me about the Trabant. They say the East German disasters are always breaking down and can't top 80 kilometres / hour (about 50 mph). Well, right they may be, but I was determined to find out for myself.
The Internet listing boasts "Friss műszaki; kifogástalan műszaki állapot!" (meaning: Recent technical inspection; in perfect technical condition!) So, I met the Trabant Tuesday night at my flat and gave it a drive. The car, made of Duroplast (recylcled paper / plastic), is definitely different than any other vehicle I've ever driven in my life... that's for sure! I knew pretty quickly that it wasn't going to get me to Zurich or Berlin, but I still hoped it could function as a local hooptie. Despite the shaky drive, I considered it for a fun jalopy to take around town and to Budapest and back for the next seven months. So, I asked if I could see it Wednesday, in the daylight.
The next morning, I met the guy at the Sportcsarnok and he told me to drive it for the day and let him know what I think in the evening. Well... that sounded great. So, I hopped in the not-so-trusty Trabi and attempted to fire it up. No dice. After about five minutes, I got it to start and I drove it one kilometer to my flat. I ran upstairs to grab my recyclables, but decided to keep the car running to avoid the startup issues again. I drove to drop off my recyclables and get some groceries at the local market. I pulled into Tesco and went shopping for about an hour. I came out and loaded the cart full of groceries into the Trabant... I went to start it up, and... nothing. It wouldn't even turn over. The Trabi was dead. I just laughed and thought... wow, I originally thought this was something I could potentially drive to France, and I found out I can't even drive it three-kilometres roundtrip to the grocery store and back home.Oh well, the search continues... (I had to leave the Trabant in the parking lot, catch a cab home with all the groceries, and hustle to make it to school on time)
2 comments:
I remember those from when I was there! I always wanted to try to drive one haha now I don't want to!
Trabant! cool that you got to (at least) try it out! That's already in a museum now (DDR museum in Berlin)... it'd have been cool if that really worked and you went to france or came to Berlin with your Trabi!
And now i know why i don't see them around.
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