Trabi jokes
Sep. 2nd, 2010 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fridiThe Trabant (an East German Car)
A good deal of jokes plays on the fact that the car was cheap and devoid of any conveniences.
* How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill up the tank!
* VEB Sachsenring brought out a new Eco-Trabi: Immediately available for delivery, extremely cheap, extremely quiet, extremely environmentally friendly - with electric power train. Small problem: The extension cord is only 20 meters long and not in stock.
* An East German driver pulled into a service station and asked, "Can I get a windshield wiper blade for this Trabi?" The mechanic looked the car over for a long time and finally said, "Okay, it's a trade!"
* Did you know they have Knight Rider in the GDR? It's a Trabant with a pocket calculator!
* An East German worker's five years were up, and he went to take delivery of his Trabi. He asked the company's representative, "Can I get a car with seat belts?" "Sure," said the representative, "and while we're at it, we can give you one with two-tone paint, air-conditioning, and an AM/FM/Longwave/Shortwave radio!" Mortified, the customer mumbled, "Now you're just making fun of me." "Well," roared the representative, "who started it?"
* What do you call a Trabant up a hill?: A miracle.
* What do you call two Trabants up a hill?: A mirage.
* What do you call ten Trabants up a hill?: The factory's up there.
* What's the best feature of a Trabant?: There's a heater at the back to keep your hands warm when you're pushing it.
* What type of seats do you get in a Trabant?: Hammocks when you buy the EX model.
* Why was the Trabant made?: There was a mistake, it was supposed to be a washing machine.
Quite a few jokes play with the widespread urban legend that Trabant's body was made of corrugated/laminated/reinforced/etc. cardboard, i.e., it was a "cardboard car", playing off of the supposed flimsiness of its body: the Trabant was made of duroplast, a cotton fiber reinforced resin.
Stands of the GDR furniture industry at the autumn fair in 1981
* During a visit to the Leipzig Trade Fair, a wealthy oil sheikh heard that there is a car with a delivery time of over ten years. Since Rolls Royce usually delivers more quickly than that, it must be quite an exceptional car, which he would certainly have to have in his collection. Sight unseen, he made a request to order this Trabant. In Zwickau, they're aware of this great honor, so they immediately change the running Five-Year Plan and bring forward a specimen. In the container, the car reaches the emirate in a handful of weeks. The happy oil sheik immediately called his friends together, opened the container, and exclaimed in surprise: "Gosh, they have incredibly long delivery times, but at least they send you a cardboard model in advance — and the best, you can even drive it!"
* A West German businessman is driving a Mercedes through East Germany on a rainy night when his windshield wipers stop working. He takes it to an East German mechanic, who tells him there are no Mercedes windshield wiper motors in the GDR, but he will do his best to fix it. When the businessman returns the next day, to his surprise the windshield wipers are working perfectly. "How did you find a Mercedes windshield wiper motor in the East?" he asks the mechanic. "We didn't," replies the mechanic, "We used the engine of a Trabant."
A good deal of jokes plays on the fact that the car was cheap and devoid of any conveniences.
* How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill up the tank!
* VEB Sachsenring brought out a new Eco-Trabi: Immediately available for delivery, extremely cheap, extremely quiet, extremely environmentally friendly - with electric power train. Small problem: The extension cord is only 20 meters long and not in stock.
* An East German driver pulled into a service station and asked, "Can I get a windshield wiper blade for this Trabi?" The mechanic looked the car over for a long time and finally said, "Okay, it's a trade!"
* Did you know they have Knight Rider in the GDR? It's a Trabant with a pocket calculator!
* An East German worker's five years were up, and he went to take delivery of his Trabi. He asked the company's representative, "Can I get a car with seat belts?" "Sure," said the representative, "and while we're at it, we can give you one with two-tone paint, air-conditioning, and an AM/FM/Longwave/Shortwave radio!" Mortified, the customer mumbled, "Now you're just making fun of me." "Well," roared the representative, "who started it?"
* What do you call a Trabant up a hill?: A miracle.
* What do you call two Trabants up a hill?: A mirage.
* What do you call ten Trabants up a hill?: The factory's up there.
* What's the best feature of a Trabant?: There's a heater at the back to keep your hands warm when you're pushing it.
* What type of seats do you get in a Trabant?: Hammocks when you buy the EX model.
* Why was the Trabant made?: There was a mistake, it was supposed to be a washing machine.
Quite a few jokes play with the widespread urban legend that Trabant's body was made of corrugated/laminated/reinforced/etc. cardboard, i.e., it was a "cardboard car", playing off of the supposed flimsiness of its body: the Trabant was made of duroplast, a cotton fiber reinforced resin.
Stands of the GDR furniture industry at the autumn fair in 1981
* During a visit to the Leipzig Trade Fair, a wealthy oil sheikh heard that there is a car with a delivery time of over ten years. Since Rolls Royce usually delivers more quickly than that, it must be quite an exceptional car, which he would certainly have to have in his collection. Sight unseen, he made a request to order this Trabant. In Zwickau, they're aware of this great honor, so they immediately change the running Five-Year Plan and bring forward a specimen. In the container, the car reaches the emirate in a handful of weeks. The happy oil sheik immediately called his friends together, opened the container, and exclaimed in surprise: "Gosh, they have incredibly long delivery times, but at least they send you a cardboard model in advance — and the best, you can even drive it!"
* A West German businessman is driving a Mercedes through East Germany on a rainy night when his windshield wipers stop working. He takes it to an East German mechanic, who tells him there are no Mercedes windshield wiper motors in the GDR, but he will do his best to fix it. When the businessman returns the next day, to his surprise the windshield wipers are working perfectly. "How did you find a Mercedes windshield wiper motor in the East?" he asks the mechanic. "We didn't," replies the mechanic, "We used the engine of a Trabant."
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Date: 2010-09-02 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-02 08:25 pm (UTC)