page_title: List of automobiles known for negative reception
section_title: Trabant (1957–90)
hierarchical_section_title: List of automobiles known for negative reception / 1950s / Trabant (1957–90)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ein Trabant (Typ P50, auch „Trabant 500“) im August-Horch-Museum, Zwickau. Der zweifarbige „Sonderwunsch“ (lidoblau/creme) wurde zwischen Juni und Oktober 1959 gebaut. English: A Trabant (type P50, a.k.a. “Trabant 500”) in the August Horch Museum, Zwickau. This bi-coloured Sonderwunsch (“special wish”) in lido blue/creme was built between June and October 1959.
context_page_description: This is a list of automobiles known for negative reception. They are judged by poor critical reception, poor customer reception, safety defects, and/or poor workmanship. For inclusion, these automobiles have either been referred to in popular publications as the worst of all time, or have received negative reviews across multiple publications. Some of these cars were popular on the marketplace or were critically praised at their launch, but have earned a strongly negative retroactive reception, while others are not considered to be intrinsically "bad", but have acquired infamy for safety or emissions defects that permanently damaged the car's reputation. Conversely, some vehicles which were poorly received at the time ended up being reevaluated by collectors and became cult classics.
context_section_description: The Trabant P50 was introduced in Communist East Germany in 1957, followed shortly afterwards by the updated 601 in 1963. Because of its outdated and inefficient two-stroke engine (which produced poor fuel economy, low power output and thick, smoky exhaust), duroplast body and production shortages, the Trabant was regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the economic downturn of East Germany and of the fall of the Eastern Bloc. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989. However, the end of the GDR also meant the end of the Trabant as it wasn't competitive any more against its new, much more sophisticated West German, French and Japanese competitors that quickly conquered the East German and Eastern European markets following the fall of the wall and the end of the Eastern Bloc. VEB Sachsenring, the manufacturer, tried to respond with an updated Trabant, the Trabant 1.1, that was first shown in 1989 and featured a new four-stroke engine by Volkswagen, but this proved too little too late to save the outdated car, and production lasted for only about two years. Time magazine named the Trabant one of the 50 worst cars of all time, and it was included in Automotive Atrocities! The Cars We Love to Hate with author Eric Peters describing its two-stroke, 18 horsepower engine as "Notorious for producing a billowing contrail of smoke, while its unsynchronized manual transmission required at least a fifth of Stolichnaya to deal with effectively." Automotive journalist Dan Neil said the Trabant was the car "that gave communism a bad name" and was "a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness." He also noted that after East Germans drove their Trabants to freedom in West Germany, they immediately abandoned them. Edmunds.com ranked the Trabant as the 9th worst car of all time, claiming it is "one more reason why Communism is evil." In his book "Crap Cars", Richard Porter ranked it the 9th worst car ever and said: "Before the old borders were broken down, us in the West thought we knew how harsh life was behind the Iron Curtain. Then we saw the Trabant. Oh, the humanity." It was the butt of jokes in East Germany. After the end of the GDR, these jokes quickly spread to West Germany as well and also became a popcultural phenomenon when comedy films like Go Trabi Go and Trabbi Goes to Hollywood featured Trabants as important plot devices. However, despite, and partly even because of its poor image, the Trabant has gained a strong cult following in the whole of reunified Germany, with many collectors clubs across the country maintaining them. Today it is considered a recognizable nostalgic symbol of the gone world of the GDR that, together with other products considered typical for East Germany, regained popularity since the reunification due to "Ostalgie", a German term referring to nostalgia for aspects of life in East Germany.
caption: Trabant P50 Limousine
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