One of the things with owning a Trabant is the amount of attention it gets you, everywhere. No-one bats an eyelid at a Ferrari or Porsche, but this thing is a different story.

So much so that there was an entire event to celebrate the weirdness of Iron Curtain motoring called Red Oktober, funnily enough in October, at Crich Tramway Museum. I just had to take it and arranged for a couple of comrades to join me in the event.

It wasn’t a short drive and involved a few varying road conditions, so I thought I’d detour off the main road towards the end and tackle some lanes. This was a good idea except for the fact that I’d loaded up with additional people and it seemed to me that I was working the little car really hard on the inclines. I shouldn’t have worried as it took it all in it’s stride, but I discovered a screeching noise which disappeared eventually. I wondered what was being deprived of oil or lubrication, I am secretly hoping that it’s an alternator or something less involved than a gearbox or engine. Although they aren’t a big issue on these, they just cost more to fix than the bits attached.

Being allowed to drive in the museum is pretty cool, it’s outdoors and you are sharing the space with trams, which are a lot bigger than a Trabant…. But there were also some very cool old cars and bikes there, Tatras, Wartburgs, Skodas and the odd Yugo/Zastava.

Some people not only came in military outfits, but complete military vehicles.

Being allowed to drive in the parade was a big plus, the three of us piled into the car and took part. Unfortunately this time they didn’t switch the tracks so we drove on the ‘right’ side of the road. Someone took several photos of every vehicle and shot video too, so have alook, Jalopy in moving pictures…

Comerade(s)