$16,000 Raised as Trabants Arrive After 16,100 Miles
January 12, 2008
A trek from former East Germany to Phnom Penh in Cambodia was completed the other day, two Trabants out of the three that started the trip made it headed by an American bloke called John Lovejoy. They covered 16,100 miles and traveled through 21 different countries. A report suggested they suffered 310 breakdowns during the journey which would mean in theory they broke down on an average of every 50 miles or if you divide it by the three Trabants every 150 miles. The rest of the report went on to say how the ex-Soviet era cars that were made of mostly plastic and have a top speed of only 50 mph - a the normal type of misinformed reporting that we grow to love over time.
With such a high breakdown rate it makes you wonder just what they did to their cars which were built originally for the bad roads of Eastern Germany with the idea of little help or affordability if they broke down over and over again. That fact that there are so many still surviving shows that they really were built to last, their simple construction meaning that most problems can be fixed or bodged if the resources were not available.
But good on the ones that made it, here’s to yet another Trabbi long distance trip!
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January 15th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I’m one of the guys who made it to Cambodia- thanks for the support.
There certainly were a lot of breakdowns. We didn’t actually count, but worked on an average of two breakdowns a day. Some days (normally the days when we weren’t moving) we didn’ t break down at all. But others we broke down five or six times (like trying to cross the Anzob Pass in Tajikistan).
For a story about dumping a Traabbi go here: http://www.trabanttrek.org/blog/?m=200712
Dan
Trabant Trek
http://danmurdoch.blogspot.com
January 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I am thinking, Tajikistan roads are just slightly worse than East German ones - I expect any 15 year old car would have the same problems. Congrats to you all for the brave trip!