601S

Great fun and cheap noteriety!

I really wanted to have an Austin 7 Ruby, but could not justify the cost of such a toy. I have an MZ(E.German) motorcycle, so I was already involved with E.German 2 strokes. Along came a Trabi,and I bought it. It is a very basic car, rather noisy, but has a very safe feel to it. The suspension is by transverse elliptical springs front and back. This gives the car a very vintage feel, the car can hop a bit, but it but works well. The brakes are drums all round, and are adequate for the weight of the car and the speeds it attains. The steering is by rack & pinion, and is very light and accurate, a bit like my MG Midget used to be. Road holding then is actually quite good and very predictable. The engine is a 600cc vertical twin 2 stroke. It is very torquey, and the wee car is very good at climbing hills, we live in Scotland! On average we get 56mpg. Acceleration is brisk enough up to 40mph but then begins to tail off. Top speed is 60mph, but for engine longevity and comfort of the occupants, 50mph is the cruising speed. It can sit at this all day long, but a realistic days driving will be about 160/180 miles due to the buzz inside the car. Heating is dramatically good, as good as our 2012 car. Given that it is a LH drive car, with a column gear change, it is actually a very easy car to drive. The controls are light and accurate. It has several features to encourage economical driving. The accelerator pedal has two spring tensions to fool the driver into using just the first half of the throttle(as does our 2012 KIA!) There is a LED display gauge linked to the fuel line which measures fuel flow, the LEDs light up green for good, amber and red for bad . The gauge also has a built in photo electric cell that automatically dims the gauge at night and brightens it for daytime, sophisticated or what!! There is an automatic free wheel device in 4th gear which comes into play as soon as you lift your foot off the gas. The whole car is very interesting technically, much more so then a Morris Minor or similar. It does have electronic ignition, twin coils, dual circuit brakes, 12 V alternator but no fuel gauge ! It is extremely reliable and has been to the Arctic Circle, to Zwickau,and to all the compass points in the UK.It is a viable back-up 2nd car. A real hoot, and great FUN!

Report as offensive