http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/tags/germany/ Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:32 -0700 Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:32 -0700 http://www.flickr.com/ http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8542/buddyicons/29987108@N02.jpg?1365470215#29987108@N02 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/tags/germany/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712623190/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712623190/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8125/8712623190_ba32fd4ab7_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:32 -0700 2013-05-06T10:27:19-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8712623190 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711491291/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711491291/" title="Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8418/8711491291_dae74d2527_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:38 -0700 2013-05-06T10:25:29-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711491291 Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto berlin classic car wall germany model gate lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray brandenberg moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast foitsop lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711496981/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711496981/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8140/8711496981_aefa125116_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:33 -0700 2013-05-06T10:27:28-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711496981 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711495395/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711495395/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8557/8711495395_5bea41e9d2_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:32 -0700 2013-05-06T10:26:55-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711495395 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711494019/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711494019/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8126/8711494019_543035b461_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:34 -0700 2013-05-06T10:26:27-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711494019 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711497841/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711497841/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8393/8711497841_a7a3fc195f_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:31 -0700 2013-05-06T10:27:46-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711497841 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712626340/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712626340/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8712626340_b4f80a4bf9_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:29 -0700 2013-05-06T10:28:29-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8712626340 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712702898/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712702898/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8412/8712702898_0d002a6e21_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:35 -0700 2013-05-06T10:56:17-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8712702898 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711492739/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711492739/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8413/8711492739_6bda9c06d5_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:35 -0700 2013-05-06T10:25:57-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711492739 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711494149/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711494149/" title="Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8560/8711494149_c568fd4918_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:36 -0700 2013-05-06T10:26:30-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711494149 Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto berlin classic car wall germany model gate lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray brandenberg moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711491771/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8711491771/" title="Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8119/8711491771_6a6e934572_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:37 -0700 2013-05-06T10:25:38-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8711491771 Trabant 601 - 9 Novembre, 1989 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto berlin classic car wall germany model gate lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray brandenberg moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712623692/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/8712623692/" title="Trabant 601"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8542/8712623692_50122e4988_m.jpg" width="240" height="166" alt="Trabant 601" /></a></p> <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> Sun, 05 May 2013 17:57:30 -0700 2013-05-06T10:27:30-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/8712623692 Trabant 601 <p>The GDR (DDR) or German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.<br /> <br /> What was hidden behind the frontline of the Iron Curtain?<br /> <br /> Three enduring images come to mind.<br /> <br /> First and foremost, the Berlin Wall. Both the figurative and literal line between East and West.<br /> <br /> Second, the Brandenburg Gate. The grand Victory Gate entrance to the historic Walled City of Berlin. Chosen as one of eight checkpoints whereby the citizens of West Berlin could enter the Eastern portion of the city. Upon the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the Gate was to be used as a controlled entry point. On 14th August, citizens of West Berlin gathered on the Western side of the Wall, at the Gate. Under the pretence of the need to control the situation due to the protests, the Brandenburg Gate was shut, and would remain so until 22nd December 1989, little over a month since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, and the dissolution of the GDR. During the time of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate remained a focal point of the restriction of liberty, freedom and movement of people within the City of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the Trabant 600, the post WW II car of the people of East Germany. Not the first passenger car to be produced after the war, the 600 (601 and 610 variants included), far outlived its original intended lifespan. An earlier pre-Trabant P70 model had been produced from 1954 - 1959. The Trabant name had been chosen as part of a contenst to name the new car. 'Trabant', the winning name being a German term for 'satellite', highlighting the recent Soviet success of launching the artificial, Earth-orbiting satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957.<br /> <br /> The Trabant P50 started production in 1958, featuring a 500cc 2-stroke two-cylinder engine, derived from a pre-war DKW design. The car featured front-wheel-drive and unitary construction, much like the contemporary Austin Mini. Though the car is popularly thought to have a cardboard body, the vehicle is in fact a steel monocoque, where the 'closures', the opening panels (boot [trunk], bonnet [hood] and doors), along with the roof and fenders, was manufactured from a 'composite' multi-material known as duroplast. The primary fill material being a recycled form of cotton waste along with a phenol resin and East German industrial dyes. Not a rain-soaking soggy cardboard, but a tough, durable, energy absorbing material offering superior crash test performance than some 1980's era Western European hatchbacks.<br /> <br /> The Trabant received a 600cc version of the engine (to become the P60 in 1962) in 1960. Power increased from 13 kW (18 hp) to 15 kW (20 hp). The 1962 P60 again increased in power from the 600 cc engine to 17 kw (23 hp). The Trabant as it is best known was the significantly upgraded P601, introduced in 1964. The601's main advances being in the updated body, where the front facia, bonnet, roof and rear panels were changes to the squarer, 1960's European styling, from the curvier 1950's look of the original P50. The car was to remain essentially unchanged in this form until the cessation of production in 1991.<br /> <br /> Originally, production of the 601 was scheduled to conclude in 1967. Many prototypes were constructed and evalutaed for a successor model (many now housed in the Dresden Transport Museum), but as the newer designs were larger and required additional materials, production was rejected, and the 601 continued due to raw materials shortages. Throughout its life the Trabant 600 remained a highly labour-intensive vehicle to produce, that lack of technical progress and production method curtailing the opportunity to export the vehicle (as compared with the evolution of the Czechoslovakian-built Skoda cars).<br /> <br /> This lttle Trabant car could have been easliy forgotten by history, but fo the shear number (3.1 million built), and the influx of Trabant-borne East Germans flooding through the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, across the border from East Germany to West Germany, and through the other Soviet-era nations newly opened to the West, upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90.<br /> <br /> Today, though far fewer remain, the Trabant, along with the Brandenburg Gate, remain iconic images of the fracture line between East and West that existed under Communist rule in the second half of the 20th Century.<br /> <br /> This Lego miniland-scale Trabant 601 has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 66th Build Challenge - 'Behind the Iron Curtain' - celebrating vehicles produced in Communist-era countries.</p> lego911 auto classic car germany model lego render east 600 ddr trabant limosuine cad povray moc 601 ldd miniland duroplast lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056014391/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056014391/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7047/7056014391_85a1a1208c_m.jpg" width="240" height="142" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:42:36 -0700 2012-04-08T17:42:36-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/7056014391 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie foitsop lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909927884/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909927884/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/6909927884_f68a2b1330_m.jpg" width="240" height="145" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:43:34 -0700 2012-04-08T17:43:34-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/6909927884 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909926626/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909926626/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7048/6909926626_7408a9f6ac_m.jpg" width="240" height="142" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:42:49 -0700 2012-04-08T17:42:49-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/6909926626 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056014525/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056014525/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7056014525_cd1156ccf7_m.jpg" width="240" height="142" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:42:42 -0700 2012-04-08T17:42:42-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/7056014525 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056015707/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056015707/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/7056015707_738cac5b70_m.jpg" width="240" height="145" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:43:24 -0700 2012-04-08T17:43:24-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/7056015707 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909927204/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909927204/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/6909927204_6392cf5c73_m.jpg" width="240" height="145" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:43:09 -0700 2012-04-08T17:43:09-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/6909927204 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909926086/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/6909926086/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7220/6909926086_730d717662_m.jpg" width="240" height="142" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:42:29 -0700 2012-04-08T17:42:29-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/6909926086 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056016603/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/29987108@N02/">lego911</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/7056016603/" title="VW Campervan"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5315/7056016603_c1cc922772_m.jpg" width="240" height="145" alt="VW Campervan" /></a></p> <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:44:00 -0700 2012-04-08T17:44:00-08:00 nobody@flickr.com (lego911) tag:flickr.com,2004:/photo/7056016603 VW Campervan <p>Popular with hippies and retiries, the VW Campervan was a ubiquitous site on the worlds highways for 30 years after its introduction. Now succeeded by newer versions, the traditional Kombie and Campervan are highly sought after by collectors and yuppy surfer dudes.<br /> <br /> The version modelled in Lego Digital Designer here is a miniland replica of the Lego Group collector series Campervan, Nr. 10220.<br /> <br /> Modelled in Lego Digital Designer for Flickr LUGNuts 53th Build Challenge - &quot;LEGO Set Overhaulin&quot; - celebrating all things Lego with recreations of older sets.</p> lego911 auto classic car vw germany model lego render german campervan lugnuts moc ldd miniland 10220 kombie lego911