Trabant

[Merna]

Trabi (the word means satellite) is one of the hidden marvels of [German engineering]. [East Germany] (DDR)had very limited resources after WWII, in addition to some pretty weird manufacturing restriction, such as no 4-cycle engines and limits on steel production. Hence the Trabi was born with a 26-hp, air-cooled, two-cycle engine and a body made out of a cellulose composite (not metal!) rendering it a bit unsafe in crashes. The car is very simple: the gas tank is at the highest point under the hood, and the fuel is gravity-fed to the [carburator] (no [fuel pump]), the engine is air-cooled (no need for radiator, antifreeze or waterpump), and it has a direct ignition system (no need for distributor cap/rotor, etc.). The inside is very cramped and its dashboard has a profound simplicity: a [speedometer], a digital vacuum gauge and a few switches. Max speed is 60 mph (more than enough for the bad roads in E Europe). Some of the trickier things about running one are adding oil to the fuel manually (like the old lawnmowers). The car also has a cute dipstick with liter-marks that one can dip in the gas tank to see how much gas there is, since there is no fuel gage. The gravity-fed fuel line has a manual shut-off that one has to use after parking not to flood the enginge. The shifter is a column-mounted, L-shaped, 4 speed thing with a black plastic handle. The design of the car is distinctive but simple. Round bug-type headlights, two doors and vertical stoplights complement some [pretty odd] color choices, such as diarrhea brown or traffic-light green.