1958 awz zwickau p70

Written by: C Blackmore.
In my early teens I watched a movie called Everything is Illuminated. Elijah Wood plays a character that heads to Ukraine to trace his families Jewish roots. On arrival in Lviv, he meets a local father and son with a Trabant 601 Estate.

The movie itself is worth a watch, but I found myself fascinated with this vehicular oddity. Growing up in New Zealand, we get a lot of JDM imports, we’re familiar with the British, US and modern European automotive industries. But as a kid born in the early 90’s, I had never seen anything like that Trabant 601.

Fast forward 15 ish years; by now had familiarised myself with the Trabant, I knew it was 2 stroke, I knew it was a unique vehicle and I knew there were very few in New Zealand, possibly none. However a surprise awaited me in 2019, when I stumbled across a Zwickau P70.

To be entirely honest I had no clue what a Zwickau was. I knew it was 2 Stroke, the owner said it was ‘like a Trabant’- and that was good enough for me. 3 years later, I finally managed to go film the thing. On the way to check it out I quickly did a bit of research and discovered it had a wooden frame, plywood floor and used the infamous Duroplast for it’s body. But it wasn’t until I sat behind the driver’s seat that I realised how fascinating this vehicle actually was.

I was mind blown about its features or lack there of. It has a huge lever sticking out the middle of the dash board, which connects to a rod that goes through the radiator and joins onto a shifter rod sticking out of the motor. It has 3 forward gears and thankfully had reverse. The engine was less than 700cc, the door was stopped from opening too far by a tiny leather strap and the only way to fill the fuel tank was to open the bonnet.

The AWZ Zwickau P70 lasted for 5 years from 1955-1959 when the Zwickau name was abandoned and the Trabant was created in it’s place. The Trabant was lucky enough to get a steel frame, but continued to use Duroplast for the body and it still retained the 2 stroke motor.

The Trabant had a few changes over the years but remained relatively unchanged till production ceased in 1990. Learning about East Germany and it’s automotive industry taught me that with necessity, anything is possible. I’ve succumbed to the DDR rabbithole of vehicles. I’m now learning about the Wartburg, the Barkas and more.

Watch the video in it’s entirety for a closer look at the Zwickau. Hopefully this is only the beginning of my DDR vehicle adventure!