Description
1984 Trabant 601 - registered Historic Vehicle, free road tax and no MOT required. Owned for 8 Years, bought as a project, all work undertaken, and driven less than 1500 miles in the last 8 years. I just don’t use it, so better someone can enjoy it. Bought as a solid example, but a non-runner, here are the things that have been done: All panels off (apart from roof) New outer arches, new rear section of nearside sill and complete offside sill all cavities spray injected, panels reinstalled with PU adhesive and stainless steel fasteners, new shock absorbers, new brake lines and flexibles, new suspension bushes, new front trunnions, sleeves and boots, all new glass seals, new door and boot seals, new headlining, new seat covers, rebored to 625cc with new Mahle pistons, new crankshaft (new bearings) and disc valves, new fan bearings, new alternator bearings and diodes (12v), repainted in period correct cellulose powder blue with off-white roof. Sensible Modifications include: new 28mm Mikuni carb conversion (starts, idles and runs really well without the usual leaks), electronic ignition + new Bosch coils, new VW hubs front and back, conversion for VW polo front discs and callipers, conversion for VW Golf rear disks and callipers (stops better than it goes!), Wilwood brake balance valve (to reduce braking efficiency of rear brakes), DoT 5 Silicon brake fluid, new JB 5 x 13 MiniLites with Yokohama tyres, new bigger bore complete exhaust system with expansion-chamber front box, new 50mm de-cambered multi-leaf springs front and rear, reconditioned later style gearbox with spider output and CV driveshafts and freewheel checked and working well, early style rounded bumpers, NOS early style (thin) steering wheel, period glass front indicator lenses, period rev counter, VW spacesaver spare wheel. It has always been stored in a warm dry garage. I have photos of restoration and receipts, also have a little anecdotal information about the car history, I have the west German plate that it was purportedly registered onto before being purchased as a set piece for U2's 1992 Zoo tour, but little else to substantiate this. I am part of the Trabant owners club, in fact the only time it has been driven is on club events. The club is very welcoming and a good source of information and parts etc. That said, most of the parts I have purchased are from TrabantWelt. de. They have absolutely everything in stock and prices are sensible. This is one of the reasons I chose this as a project. The car runs really well, sailed through its last MOT with no advisories and done 2085km since then. Paintwork is not perfect, after 8 years been stored and polished, it has the odd mark here and there and is thin on some edges due to polishing, it is also a little bit flat, but personally, I think this looks about right as a minor patina, but appreciate this is quite subjective. Underneath it was all stone chip sealed and looking fine. Any inspection welcome.
