1990 Trabant 1100

[HARDCORE]

What do you do when a car on your "one day I'd like a project.." list comes up for sale locally, for a very reasonable price, at a time when you can't afford it and don't have the time for it..?

Well, this. Obviously..






Today I borrowed a trailer and went & bought it It's awesome, and I love it. We got it back to TAB without drama and everything seems to work ok, to the extent that it's going for an MoT in the morning - HA! It apparently has (or at least recently had) a Hungarian one anyway, so how bad can it be? Are Hungarian MoTs comparable to ours?


Also, it's probably going to snow soon and the cars I currently have on the road are really low.


Apologies for the terrible phone pics - it was all a bit last minute. More soon (like an amusing list of MoT failures, probably. Followed by being annoyed by the DVLA when I try to get a V5/Reg for it).
Ta to mantaphil for tat collecting assistance

[craig1010cc]

I like Is it a 2 stroke or polo powered one?

[v8jim]

Also on my project list,very cool little cars

[HARDCORE]

Dec 22, 2013 20:17:52 GMT craig1010cc said:

I like Is it a 2 stroke or polo powered one?

1100 = Polo 4-banger dude, which is exactly what I wanted

[giacosa]

Weren't these some of the very last cars out of Zwickau before it closed?

[austinpowers]

Welcome to the club,A Hungarian mot lasts for two years and are strict. Nice car even if it has got 4 cylinders instead of 2.

[RobinJI]

Very cool! What Polo engine is it that they wedged into these?

[qwerty]

The 1043cc 4 cylinder engines. I've seen pictures of a G40 powered one.

[uncleterry]

Thats awesome. Should be perfect for the upcoming bad weather, and then once its a bit warmer you can pick up a mk3 golf 1.4 (ABD lump - they fit mk2/3 polos no problem so can't see why they won't work here) engine for next to nothing and drop that in for a bit more power with a ton of reliability!

[mikehamid]

I've always wanted one of these! I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure

[griffo20022]

There's one of these at a taxi place near me! If I had the time/money I'd be seriously hassling the owner for it! I love em! Great project dude

[EmDee]

YAAAY! Another build thread for you to neglect!

[mantaphil]

Trabant update, took it for a MOT.

1 rear seat belts missing
2 o/s/f seat belt does not lock
3 washers don't work
4 both head lamps have no pattern
5 n/s and o/s side repeater missing
6 o/s fog lamp missing ( is on the wrong side)
7 exhaust has major leak
8 exhaust system not adequately supported
9 emissions not tested
10 n/s track rod end dust cover split
11 n/s front subframe mounting prescribed area excessively corroded
12 n/s rear (floor/ inner arch/ chassis) suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
13 o/s/r brake hose twisted
14 o/s/f ball joint cover split
15 o/s/r (arch) suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
16 n/s/r brake has little or no recording
17 front brakes uneven
18 brakes imbalanced across an axle

And 8 advisory items.

[HARDCORE]

Megalolz.. Sort that lot out at the weekend then

[mikehamid]

Dec 23, 2013 22:37:52 GMT mantaphil said:

Trabant update, took it for a MOT.

1 rear seat belts missing
2 o/s/f seat belt does not lock
3 washers don't work
4 both head lamps have no pattern
5 n/s and o/s side repeater missing
6 o/s fog lamp missing ( is on the wrong side)
7 exhaust has major leak
8 exhaust system not adequately supported
9 emissions not tested
10 n/s track rod end dust cover split
11 n/s front subframe mounting prescribed area excessively corroded
12 n/s rear (floor/ inner arch/ chassis) suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
13 o/s/r brake hose twisted
14 o/s/f ball joint cover split
15 o/s/r (arch) suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
16 n/s/r brake has little or no recording
17 front brakes uneven
18 brakes imbalanced across an axle

And 8 advisory items.

Sounds about right for a Trabant to be honest. Shame they're such a pain in the to get road legal in the UK.

[fuel]

am curious to know what the 1100 looks like under the bonnet compared to the earlier 500/600 based models. Looks like change of PCD and rims too.

[pandapolo]

More polo-esque running gear on the 1100's isnt it?

[HARDCORE]

For your amusement..

[madmog]

Dec 27, 2013 11:45:52 GMT fuel said:

am curious to know what the 1100 looks like under the bonnet compared to the earlier 500/600 based models. Looks like change of PCD and rims too.

I'm not sure whether this one is slightly customized or not but gives you an idea.



From Berlin's East German motorbike museum - sadly they no longer have the Trabi collection.

The rocker cover (cam cover?) said IFA rather than VW - apparently the East German regime didn't want to publicize that they were using the class enemy's technology.

The bonnet is different too but I don't have a comparison pic.

[cianha]

How'd I miss this? More Trabis is always a good thing. I was lucky than mine had been Irishised when it was brought in by the previous owner.

How bad is the rust?