electric trabant NT new trabi east german green design

no other vehicle is as closely connected to east german history as the ‘trabant’ first produced in 1957 and discontinued in 1991. the cars have developed a cult following and it was recently announced that an updated version ‘the trabant nt’ (new trabant) is to be unveiled at the IAA frankfurt motor show, germany in september 2009.

the original idea for the new car began with herpa miniaturmodelle, a producer of miniature cars hat make a popular model version of the trabant. in 2007 they conducted a poll and 93% of people who took part said they wanted to see a remake, so herpa bought the copyright and partnered with specialist auto company indikar to make it happen.

the new trabant was designed by car designer nils poschwatta. the electric car is fitted with solar panels on the roof and will travel up to 155 miles on a single charge.

left: old trabant logo – right: new trabant logo

herpa manager klaus schindler with 1/87 scale models of the trabant (image courtesy of herpa)

read more on the story: motor trend – CNN – BBC – financial times