You're probably thinking of Barkas.  It was powered by the same two
stroke engine as Wartburg and was front wheel drive as well.  I
remember it as the DDR equivalent of the VW Bus.

It's interesting how Chrysler claims invention of the minivan.  Europe
had small mikrobus-type vehicles long before Chrysler ever dreamed of
mass producing a small and efficient people mover.

On 4/22/09, Zolly <zolo@foxinternet.net> wrote:
> Ah, that's right the DKW.  There were still a few of them in the fifties and
> sixties.  The Wartburg looked better.  There was a two stroke van made in
> the DDR, I even drove one.  That was about the size of a bus or Vanagon.  I
> don't recall the name of it now, but it's on my lip.  There was no culture
> those days of people owning one and driving around and living in it or such,
> like here with a VW Bus or Westfalia.  Not even gipsies did it.  The control
> of people was way too strong to have anyone running around.  Especially the
> fact that you had to have a full time job.  There were more jobs than
> people, because three did the job of one.  People had to be occupied to be
> under control.
> I owned a Russian made bike that used to be a DKW before the war.  They took
> all the factories they could, away to Russia.  German machinery and
> technology was very advanced those days, compared to the rest of the world.
> Tooling of a vehicle is still today the largest expense to manufacture one.
> Here on this list sometimes we talk about having the whole car made again
> from scratch.  All the dies of the body cost lots, even if only one machine
> was used to make them.
> Those dies may still exist in South Africa.  I know a few guys who were in
> the manufacturing there, making the dies for the cars.
> Well, I'll stop this before I get too deep into it.
> Zoltan
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris S" <szpejankowski@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 9:18 AM
> Subject: Re: Cool Vanagon Paint Job
>
>
>> My dad bought a Wartburg 311 when I was 11.  It is based on an old
>> DKW/Audi design with a 3 cylinder 1l two stroke engine.  It was a
>> pretty car, hence no Trabant in our family.
>>
>> Gee, that gives me a Vanagon  engine conversion idea. ;-)
>>
>> On 4/22/09, Zoltan <thewestyman@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Well, I'm not an East German or a one time owner of a Trabant.  It is a
>>> car
>>> with two two-stroke cylinders, sounding like a lawn mower, the frame is
>>> steel the body is some pressed syntetic material or fibre glass, so you
>>> did
>>> not see one with a rusted out door.  Not a heavy car, four seater, made
>>> in
>>> the DDR.  Ended production after the take over, even had to replace the
>>> engine with a four stroke one.  It smoked and smelled but those who had
>>> one
>>> loved it for being trouble free and running forever.  Front wheel drive.
>>> Sputtering.  Four seater, two door.
>>> The word Trabant means "travelling mate" or something to that effect.  A
>>> real simbol of the 'good old times' of the communist era.  It was to them
>>>
>>> as
>>> the VW Beatle to us.
>>> The East Germans also had a three cylinder car that was bigger and faster
>>> and nicer, kind of like a 'communist Mercedes', called Wartburg.
>>> Now, you don't see any of them in Europe.  They are gone just as the
>>> Citroen
>>> DS or the Citroen 2CV.
>>>
>>> But the communists had a few other cars people here in the US would never
>>> recognize.  One of them was a rear flat engined air-cooled car with four
>>> seats and two doors, made in the Soviet Unio, bearing the name of the
>>> town
>>> is made in, Zaporozetz.
>>>
>>> Those of us who grew up in those times, remember the times in good spirit
>>> for we were young and playful and healthy and in love, etc.  Otherwise it
>>> was shit.
>>> Zoltan
>>>
>>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>>   From: Tom Buese
>>>   To: Zoltan
>>>   Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>   Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 8:11 PM
>>>   Subject: Re: Cool Vanagon Paint Job
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>   On Apr 21, 2009, at 6:58 PM, Zoltan wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>     It would impossible for an American to even guess this car painted
>>> on.
>>> It
>>>     is a Trabant 601, if I'm not mistaken.  And I bet, I'm not.
>>>     One of the nicest and most fun paint job.
>>>
>>>
>>>   OK, I'll show my ignorance, what is a Trabant-French?
>>>
>>>
>>>   YMMV,
>>>
>>>
>>>   Mr. BZ
>>>
>>>
>>>     Zoltan
>>>
>>>
>>>     ----- Original Message -----
>>>     From: "Mister Tom" <TomsGroups@SALICOS.COM>
>>>     To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>>>     Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 3:50 PM
>>>     Subject: Cool Vanagon Paint Job
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>       http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3334006588_3092a1321d.jpg?v=0
>>>
>>>
>>>   Tom Buese
>>>   tombuese@comcast.net
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Sent from my mobile device
>>
>> Chris S.
>> Disclaimer: "Death and serious injury may occur"
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.0.238 / Virus Database: 270.12.2/2072 - Release Date: 04/21/09
> 16:48:00
>
>

--
Sent from my mobile device

Chris S.
Disclaimer: "Death and serious injury may occur"