A Berliner Tours the USA in a Trabi to Raise Funds

Jan-Erik Nord’s champagne beige Trabi has arrived by ship across the Atlantic, and he will be embarking on a journey across the USA at the end of June. He plans to cover over 6,000 kilometers in the cult two-stroke engine “Made in Zwickau”. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the best-selling Trabant model, the 601, which is the vehicle Nord will be driving on his mission titled “Route 601.”

On his tour, Nord will visit famous cities such as Detroit, Chicago, Las Vegas, Yellowstone National Park, and Stanford in California. Throughout his journey, he will always carry a small teddy bear given to him by Käthe Hofmann from Zwickau, a four-year-old who has lived with the incurable butterfly disease since birth.

Originally planned as a vacation, Nord has turned his tour into a “Charity Drive for Käthe”, aiming to raise awareness and collect donations for a new but expensive therapy for those affected by the disease. He plans to discuss the cause with people along the way, seek support from institutions, and document his tour on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Although the Trabant is a product of the socialist GDR, it gained popularity in the USA, notably appearing alongside Thomas Gottschalk in the comedy “Trabbi goes to Hollywood” in the early 1990s. Nord discovered his love for the cult car later in life, becoming a fan as an adult after his wife gave him a ride in a Trabi for his birthday. This experience sparked his passion for the vehicle, overcoming initial challenges with the two-stroke engine with steering wheel gearshift. Nord now owns his third Trabi, having started his collection with old-timers from the East.