A history buff and automobile enthusiast, Jean-François Bourque is one of very few owners of a Trabant car in North America.
Upon release of Car driving On QUB RadioAntoine Joubert and Germain invited this Trabant diehard to meet this little East German car.
A car made with the means at hand
Although German, the Trabant has nothing to do with Volkswagens or luxurious Mercedes-Benzes. Released in the early 1960s, this small two-door car with a unique look couldn’t be more rudimentary.
“The bodywork is made of Duroplast. It is shredded cotton fiber which gives the impression of fiberglass. East Germany was very limited in its ability to exploit natural resources, such as steel. It’s a shortage car! “says Mr. Bourque.
Mechanically, the Trabant is hardly more sophisticated. “This is an older DKW 500cc air-cooled two-stroke engine. It is very close to the mechanics of a snowmobile. Over time, the engine capacity increased to 600cc with a power output of 24 horsepower,” adds Bourque.
A crush on the streets of Berlin
It was during a trip to Germany that Jean-François Bourque fell in love with the Trabant. Interested in Cold War history, he traveled to Berlin for its great historical heritage. Knowing the Trabant only by name, he took advantage of this trip to familiarize himself with this pretty-faced car.
“For about 80 euros, I spent 1h30 driving a Trabant. I had the opportunity to choose from 50 models on site to take a guided tour of the city, ”he recalls. Accompanied by a dozen other tourists, he toured the city at the wheel of this old-timey car.
A model found in Texas
After this trip, Jean-François Bourque realized the obvious: he had to find a Trabant.
“When the Berlin Wall fell, Trabants were practically useless. Officials of an American museum bought two of them, but never exhibited them. In 2013, a Trabant collector in Texas bought one of the two and then sold it back to me,” says Bourque. According to his testimony, there are between six and seven Trabant cars in Quebec. One of the owners even pushes the exercise to drive his car year-round in Montreal!
A bit like the Volkswagen Beetle or the Citroën 2CV, the Trabant is one of those cars whose heritage goes beyond the automobile. It is neither more nor less than a part of our history represented by this car from East Germany, in a not so distant time when the world was decidedly divided in two.
News of the week
During this broadcast of Car drivingthere was also talk of the presentation of the Honda Accord 2023 and the Pilota 2023.
Road tests
Antoine Joubert and Germain Goyer share their impressions of the recently tested 2023 Jaguar F-Type and 2023 Toyota Mirai.
Answers to questions from the audience
The two hosts answer questions from the audience about the Toyota RAV4 hybrid, Honda CR-V hybrid, Lexus NX hybrid and adventure SUVs.
Car drivingis every Saturday at 10am on QUB Radio, repeating Sundays at 6pm.
