Trabant crushes Beetle as cult car

THE Trabant, that smoky symbol of former East Germany which was expected to disappear with the fall of communism, is twice as popular as its western rival, the Volkswagen Beetle.

A 1979 Trabant - cream of Eastern Bloc technology

Ten years after German re unification, the affection in which one of Europe's most uncomfortable modes of transport is held is evidence of a growing wave of nostalgia. The Trabant, with its gear stick on the dashboard, hard seats, primitive suspension and inability to take a tight corner at more than snail's pace, has all the makings of a car salesman's nightmare.

Yet statistics from Germany's federal motor vehicle registration bureau show that what the Trabant lacks in power and comfort, it now makes up for in cult appeal. There are 228,501 Trabants on the road in Germany, 209,340 owned by easterners, more than double the registered Beetles, at 101,603.

Edgar Haschke, of the International Trabant Register, which holds meetings to celebrate the car's achievements, said its image was better than ever. He said: �People treat them like their favourite old relation, but their survival is due to more than just sentimentality. The Trabi is a simple car that is easy to repair. With modern cars you are afraid to open the bonnet because they are so complicated. A Trabi, on the other hand, holds no fear.”