“With Respect to The Moving Powers”
(image via: Michele Giacuz)
We’re not sure what Bulgarian sculptor Georgi Donov was thinking when he decided to feature the Trabant in his compositions but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt: van Gogh wasn’t in his right mind when he painted some of his masterpieces either. Kudos to photographer and Flicker user Michele Giacuz for capturing the unlikely yet beautiful scene above.
(images via: PostVirtual and Facebook/Georgi Donov)
Located in central Sofia, the centerpiece of Donov’s “With Respect to The Moving Powers” is a distressed (well, more than usual) Trabant with a bust of surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp on its roof. It’s not clear whether Donov likes Trabants, hates Duchamp, or both. By the way, the Trabant was a lucrative export product for the DDR though only fellow Warsaw Pact nations like Bulgaria we’re forced, er, allowed to import it.
Firmly Planted In History
(image via: Sean Daniel Shortwinter)
Boasting unit body construction and the extensive use of recycled “Duraplast” body panels when they were first introduced, Trabants were actually quite advanced for their time. Trouble was, “their time” was a brief un-shining moment. As the rest of the world progressed, the Trabant stayed pretty much the same and when communism was relegated to the ash heap of history, over 3 million two-stroke Trabants went along for the ride. Nice to know a few cherished “Trabis” serve to remind us of the not-so-good old days.

