Trabant makes green comeback

Yes toymaker. German toymaker Herpa Miniaturmodelle unveiled the electric Trabant nT at last week's Frankfurt Motor Show. But the polluting plastic bodied car that signified Communist era has ditched its smoky two-cylinder engine and gone electric.

Like the Mini, the Trabant concept borrows some retro design cues, like the vertical tail-lights, flat roof and projecting grille design. However the nT is longer and better proportioned to allow it to package a battery pack and 45kW electric motor that drives the front wheels.

The original Trabant was produced for more than 30 years by former Eastern German carmaker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke. During that time it had very few changes. The four-seater was powered by a smoky 17kW two-cylinder two-stroke engine. More than 3 million Trabis, as they were affectionately known, were built between 1957 and 1991. There are still more than 50,000 registered on German roads.

Herpa has not released technical details on the concept car apart from saying it has a rooftop solar panel to help recharge its batteries. The concept was built by IndiKar, a German company that specialises in individual car bodies as well as prototypes. Herpa bought the Trabant copyright in 2007 and initially built miniatures of the car for model collectors and children. The nT is its first full-size car.
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