Trabant

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Jim Warren" saying something like:

Saw it in half and count the layers of paper.

Haha. You're nothing if not predictable.

Actually, it was quite an imaginative answer this time.

However, it was a serious question, and it would be nice to get some serious replies as well.

Jim

One way to get an approximate manufacturing date on most UK cars was by the Triplex trade mark on the windows. Anything like that on the Trabant?

But I'd be amazed if there wasn't some form of register giving dates against chassis number, etc? The communists were good at keeping records.

Take it back to were it came from and get them to tell you. Leave it there.

Yet more proof that the moniker "classic" means old piece of s*it that should have be crushed years ago. Is there some other less abused term we can apply to the more desirable old but non vintage cars that will exclude POS?

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

Peter Hill realised it was Sat, 27 May 2006 10:26:12 +0100 and decided it was time to write:

Please don't project your personal, subjective idea of what constitutes a classic on the rest of the world. One man's POS may be another man's classic - we don't all like old cars for the same reasons. Your use of the word 'desirable' illustrates how personal and subjective the label 'classic' really is.

Take vintage cars, for instance. They've been POS's since the 1920's. There was a time when many people considered them crushworthy. But today they're coveted for their idiosynchracies and historical significance. The world will be a shallower place if historically significant cars like Trabants are all crushed, just because they were POS cars.

A classic is simply an old car which gives pleasure to the owner - for whatever reason. It's not up to you - or anyone else - to say what should be crushed.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Dean Dark saying something like:

You're nothing if not thick as a plank.

QED.

A Trabant is a classic in my book.

And to my friend. The one her has just acquired is his second.

Jim

He has got in touch with the Wartburg and Trabant owners club and they have started digging for him. Their first response is that this is a rare one. One made specifically for export, as it doesn't have the standard trim and trimmings.

The translation of the original German documents shows two apparently significant dates. He believes one is the date of manufacture, and the other is the date of registration for export. But to get an age related plate, it is not good enough to suspect, there has to be documentary proof.

For now, he will let the owners club do their research. Unless of course anyone in this NG has the magic list of vehicle numbers for each year?

Jim

Is there a subtle logic to that grammar?

Clue: The 'R' key is adjacent to the 'E' key...

I watch the keyboard, not the screen, when I type. I obviously hit the E and R together and didn't notice. And as HER is a valid word, the spell checker let it through.

Jim

Dave Plowman (News) ( snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I don't know about Trabbi, but with Tatras (and, yes, there's a very big difference in the user profile of the two...), they often went back to the factory and got comprehensively updated - early ones would re-emerge with the later restyles and mechanical upgrades.

So what *IS* the "date of manufacture"?

Peter Hill ( snipped-for-privacy@nospam.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I would *FAR* rather have a Trab than some godawful 50s or 60s Longbridge of Cowley stodge.