As I was in Europe a year and a half ago, there was this buzz all over about
the "60 years of the Bully"  "the bus is 60 years old", etc.  The TV was
full of it for a week at least and there was a huge celebration with a big
concert in that area.  It was some big affair.
Barkas, yes.  And that Barkas Westfalia is looking great.  I hope, they did
not use the same old engine though.
Zoltan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris S" <szpejankowski@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: DDR cars, Vanagon, etc ...

> 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"
>>
>>
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>>
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>
> --
> Sent from my mobile device
>
> Chris S.
> Disclaimer: "Death and serious injury may occur"