The world's worst car...?

[Starseeker]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1415302.ece

The car is a freak. It started to roll off the production lines of East Germany in 1957 as the communists’ answer to the Volkswagen Beetle. That was the year that the Soviet Union launched a Sputnik into space and the two were billed as the onset of a modern, scientifically advanced socialism.

The reality was that the car had primitive brakes, no fuel pump and no oil filter. Instead of a fuel gauge it had a dip-stick. Wise drivers carried not only a spare wheel but also a spare engine.

Because there was a steel shortage, it was made from compressed cotton waste held together with a phenol-based resin. An original plan to build it out of compressed cardboard foundered after the test model was left out in the rain: it was the first soggy car in history.

That is.., pretty amazing.

 

[SuAside]

the Trabant? come on, it wasn't all that bad. ^^

ok, it was fucking bad, but not quite as bad as the article says.

 

[mr. pastorius]

Bunch of bullshit. The Trabant is one of *the* legends. It was cheap and simple, a perfect car for that time and the economical situation of an average Eastern European. Besides, you can still see quite a number of these cars rolling on the streets in the ex-communist countries. That's how bad the "world's worst car" is.

 

[KQX]

I posted this photo before, but I think it's worth posting again....

Yugo-Limo, FTW:

 

[Zaron]

Hell yeah, let's travel with class -communist style.

 

[mr. pastorius]

Sorry, but even the Yugo Limo can't compete with this:

It wouldn't be so special if the car didn't have two engines and two steering wheels. The sign would translate as "push pull", by the way.

 

[SuAside]

Bunch of bullshit. The Trabant is one of *the* legends. It was cheap and simple, a perfect car for that time and the economical situation of an average Eastern European. Besides, you can still see quite a number of these cars rolling on the streets in the ex-communist countries. That's how bad the "world's worst car" is.

i'm guessing the article is refering to the first production run or something.

the Trabants we saw in central and western europe really weren't bad for their price.

 

[Maphusio]

wow and here I thought those silly gun lovers in Yugoslavia made the worst car... Know why they put vents on the back of Yougos? ...So you can keep your hands warm while pushing em.

 

[Eric the Viking]

The Edsel is usually considered a bit of a lemon. Guess which region of female anatomy the grill was commonly compared to....

 

[Maphusio]

The Edsel is usually considered a bit of a lemon. Guess which region of female anatomy the grill was commonly compared to....

The vulva?

 

[Tagaziel]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1415302.ece

The car is a freak. It started to roll off the production lines of East Germany in 1957 as the communists’ answer to the Volkswagen Beetle. That was the year that the Soviet Union launched a Sputnik into space and the two were billed as the onset of a modern, scientifically advanced socialism.

The reality was that the car had primitive brakes, no fuel pump and no oil filter. Instead of a fuel gauge it had a dip-stick. Wise drivers carried not only a spare wheel but also a spare engine.

Because there was a steel shortage, it was made from compressed cotton waste held together with a phenol-based resin. An original plan to build it out of compressed cardboard foundered after the test model was left out in the rain: it was the first soggy car in history.

That is.., pretty amazing.

GTFO n00b, Trabant is awesome!

My family owned one for a few years. Loud, slow, but pretty comfortable and efficent.

 

[mirdza]

Trabant was well ahead of it's time, it's only a matter of time when all other cars will be made out of plastic...

 

[Wooz]

It was made out of cardboard, sonny. Duroplast isn't exactly "plastic", it's hardened resin-thingy.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

First production-line Trabants may have been as bad as the article said, but the later models sure weren't. There were plenty of them here in Iceland 25 years ago.

There was a Russian car brand (can't remember its name, had a Z in it) that was worse than the Trabant. One of the jokes surrounding it was that the only sound insulation the car had were your own knees, pressed against your ears.

Anyone remember any of this?

 

[Neamos]

Zaparozhec?

 

[mirdza]

It was made out of cardboard, sonny. Duroplast isn't exactly "plastic", it's hardened resin-thingy.

says here it's plastic...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast

 

[Wooz]

It is a resin plastic reinforced with fibres (either cotton or wool)

However, Duroplast's components are edible, and there are stories of pigs, sheep or other domestic farm animals consuming duroplast.

Can you read?

 

[10mmCurator]

This almost reminds me of that Cheech and Chong movie where they drove that truck that was made out of Marijauna

 

[Tagaziel]

It is a resin plastic reinforced with fibres (either cotton or wool)

However, Duroplast's components are edible, and there are stories of pigs, sheep or other domestic farm animals consuming duroplast.

Can you read?

Have you watched "Black Cat, White Cat" Woozie?

 

[Lord 342]

I understand that later production run Trabants were actually fitted with the 1.1 litre engine from the VW Polo. There are certainly cars I'd choose a Trabant over -a Citroën 2CV, a Subaru 360, or, indeed, any of the abysmal Zaphozhets cars. (I believe there is no propper spelling of that name as it is a transliteration of a name or something like that).

That said there are a couple Eastern European cars I'd love to lay hands on... The Tatra T700 and the GAZ Chaika (the second generation ones, at least).