Trabi, Simson and Co: Do the GDR oldies have eternal life?

This is the situation with spare parts for Trabants

"We can supply almost any part. If something is broken, it will be repaired," says Frank Hofmann, head of Trabantwelt Zwickau. His company is one of the larger suppliers. He buys Trabi spare parts from original stocks, but parts production plays the bigger role.

There is now a large network of manufacturers "who produce for us". However, his company also manufactures parts itself. According to Hofmann, who says he has been running his company in the Trabi town of Zwickau for 23 years, he is delighted that the number of registrations is increasing.

According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 41,862 cars built by Sachsenring in Zwickau up to 1991 were registered at the beginning of the year. After a low of 32,311 Trabants in 2014, the number has recovered significantly. Hofmann believes the reasons for this trend are a dash of nostalgia for the East and the relatively simple technology of the vehicles, "which almost anyone can repair".

Some Trabant owners now also value exclusivity - for example with a roof tent or storage space for an old leather suitcase. There is also a large tuning scene. According to estimates by the owner of Trabantwelt, thousands of Trabants are still slumbering in garages or warehouses without registration.

Simson: Eastern lifestyle and a bastion for mechanics

According to estimates, up to one million Simson mopeds from Suhl are still rattling along the roads, especially in East Germany. There are currently no official figures because not all of the vehicles are subject to registration.

Mopeds with names such as Schwalbe, Star, Sperber or S50/51 have cult status, especially among young people - partly because of a special provision in the Unification Treaty: unlike other mopeds, the two-strokes were allowed to travel at 60 km/h and not just 45 km/h if they were registered in the GDR. According to the Thuringian Ministry of Transport, almost six million Simson two-wheelers were built in Suhl.

A huge potential for spare parts dealers such as Meyer-Zweiradtechnik GmbH (MZA), based in Meiningen, Thuringia. Owner Falko Meyer was already focusing on the spare parts business in the 199Os, when newly built Simson two-wheelers were difficult to sell.

At the beginning of the 2000s, he took over stock, tools and equipment from the Simson insolvency administrator - and became a licensee of the brand. In recent years, a new location for spare parts supply has been built in Meiningen - "we have invested more than 30 million euros since 2018", says the company boss.

MZA now also operates an online store and no longer only supplies specialist dealers. The company, which employs around 170 people, is thus following a market trend: "Young people do a lot of things themselves, they tinker and screw things together and want individuality," says Meyer. Workshops have lost market share.

His company has more than 10,000 spare parts in its range - mainly for Simson, but also for other GDR two-wheelers such as the MZ motorcycle, says the native Saxon. He speaks of fierce competition. "There is no bottleneck. You can practically assemble a moped from parts. Basically, these mopeds are immortal," says Meyer.

Wartburg drives in a niche

In the opinion of the director of Automobilen Welt Eisenach, this also applies to GDR cars. Even if the Wartburg, with around 9,100 examples, is more of a niche model, the supply of spare parts is secure. Registration figures for the former GDR mid-range car from the former Eisenach car factory have been rising since 2015 - slowly but steadily.

Martin hopes that 16-year-olds today will start with the "Simme", as the mopeds are colloquially known, and end up with Wartburgs or Trabants as adults. According to his estimates, more well-restored GDR vintage cars will come back onto the market in the next few years because their owners are parting with them for reasons of age.

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