The BR Collective Trabant

[Kaiser]

Greetings comrades,

As some of you may know, a few weeks ago I bought the backroads Trabant from galwaygolf of this parish. Most are probably quite familiar with it; from what I gather it has a longer history in Octane/BR circles than I, so I won't go into any great detail and instead just pick up from here:

These are the photos I received from gg a day or two before it was to arrive:

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This was the very first I had seen of the car more than a week after paying for it, safe to say I breathed a big sigh of relief just for the fact that it was still in one piece at least. It was much, much better than expected.

On the truck and headed for Dublin:

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Some cargo included:

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The doing of some ne'er-do-wells during Cian's ownership:



And finally landed safe in Dublin:

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TBC...

[Kaiser]

A quick wash and assessment yielded altogether positive results. Roof rack reattached for good measure too:

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Straight onto LDM-tuning.de for a few rudimentary bits such as two plugs, filters and a front offside bumper corner (missing in the above photo). Bit of a faff having to wait a few days to just pay for the parts etc but I got a confirmation email this morning to say that my bits are in the post. Tyreleader yielded 4 "Fortuna" tyres for a €not much, and they arrived yesterday. Wheels refurbed* and tyres fitted today:

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Day by day the car seems to be coming around to things; it starts and runs fine and regular spins have blown the cobwebs off. Brakes are the next thing to be looked at, but as Cian advised they were done under his custodianship, so shouldn't want for much now.

The car as of this morning. Found the nearside rear bumper corner in the boot with a few other bits (thanks gg), just the front offside to arrive from Germany and that'll be 4 then:

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[Kaiser]

A quick look at things while the tyres were being fitted today. Front drums in 87!

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And now to the bodywork. Plenty of battle scars and road blemishes:

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(inb4 rusty knob)

Vinny Byrne to the rescue with a pretty decent paint match:

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[Kaiser]

Lick of paint on the rear bumper:

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LDM want over €100 for the two hinges required in order to remount this door, which isn't going to happen:

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So...:

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It's never going to be perfect, so why not? I was going to leave the white door for a bit of character or something, but gave the green light in the end. A few flies might end up stuck under the paint, but sure that only adds character

And thats were it's at for now.

Next to do:

- find, purchase and fit two wing mirrors
- change tax status to classic
- chance an NCT?

[-MICK-]

ah delighted to see the old girl getting some love..... well done man....

[Flet]

Kaiser, just a friendly tip: there was an issue at the NCT a few years back due to the car not having safety glass or the glass missing some sort of EC/EU era stamp.

It might be worth consulting with one of the NCT testers on here or with a tester/test centre you know before booking a test.

[Kaiser]

Kaiser, just a friendly tip: there was an issue at the NCT a few years back due to the car not having safety glass or the glass missing some sort of EC/EU era stamp.

It might be worth consulting with one of the NCT testers on here or with a tester/test centre you know before booking a test.

Thanks for the heads up. I wonder if changing it’s status to vintage might change anything. Must have a look at the NCT manual.

[markcro]

Brilliant! Well may you drive her! What an iconic car!

[admredux]

Thanks for the heads up. I wonder if changing it’s status to vintage might change anything. Must have a look at the NCT manual.

Nothing a few stickers wouldn't sort out. With lads swapping vin plates and log books these days it seems a bit much no?

Sent from my SM-N950N using Tapatalk

[cianha]

Oh man, great to see Angela getting the love! I'd recommend checking the grease points for the suspension as well while you have the wheels off.

[Kaiser]

Oh man, great to see Angela getting the love! I'd recommend checking the grease points for the suspension as well while you have the wheels off.

Was it you Cian who NCT’d the car? Had you any problems with the glass?

[Ryan]

This car seems to be as equally revolting as it is charming. I am not sure if there is a German word for the feelings I get looking at it but I'm quite conflicted.

Also not sure what sound system this has (if any) but it probably should have the soundtrack from Go Trabi Go on constant rotation.

[Flet]

Ryan it is simultaneously the worst and best car you'd ever drive. Each journey is a total adventure.

You stop for fuel and are accosted by some beard who says that his Dad had one of them (thinking it's a Ford Anglia) and then as you go to drive off are flagged down by a homesick Polish or Hungarian man.

I think my brother had a story about going through the Supermacs drive-thru in it and the Hungarian lady working there was so impressed she wrote her number on his takeaway bag.

[Roarsbaby]

This car seems to be as equally revolting as it is charming. I am not sure if there is a German word for the feelings I get looking at it but I'm quite conflicted.

Also not sure what sound system this has (if any) but it probably should have the soundtrack from Go Trabi Go on constant rotation.

Maybe the same way Flet 'enjoys' Clare Daly?

[Kaiser]

I was showing a few photos at dinner the other night, and a few of the Eastern European chaps with whom I live loved it. There is one German fella though who was nearly disgusted at the sight of it