Trabant 601 The Trabant was the 'peoples car' of East Germany and ran from 1958 up to 1991.  The 601 dates from 1964 when it replaced the earlier, more rounded P50.   It was powered by a 600cc two stroke engine and had a poor reputation for being rather smokey.  The body was pressed from a textile reinforced plastic which led to it earning the nick name the 'cardboard car'. At the time of German reunification Trabant models were rushed out to celebrate. Thus the Vitesse model, although not bad, is not up their usual standard. The baseplate is pressed steel and the front grill is represented by a  paper sticker, perhaps in keeping with the original!
	The 1:87 plastic Herpa and Wiking models are very similar, excellent for such a small scale.  The blue model is by Endocar and has 'Whizz wheels' and wide tyres.  If the tyres were to scale they would be 400mm wide!  The IMU model is 1:160 (shown next to the Vitesse).  This model was issued with a model of the Brandenburg gate in Berlin or alternatively with a piece of the old Berlin wall, tacky or what?