We get some unusual stuff in the shop...

[foxpaws]

But today's suspect was odder than usual...

It has a really short wheelbase too - if you look at the shot on the rack, the back wheels are in front of the rear slip plates... 911s, new Minis and old Miatas fit fine on this rack...

So what is it - and bonus points for year...

[ErVikingo]

Looks like a Hillman to me. Perhaps even a Trabant.

[HardDrive]

That would be a Trabant. Enjoy comrade.

[Flieger]

The cardboard car!

[foxpaws]

Yes we have a winner -

How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill up its gas tank!

But, oddly ErVikingo it is the same color as my Hillman... (yes I owned one... I am so ashamed)

[fintstone]

One of those almost killed me when I lived in Germany.

[mikeferg75]

What shop? I wanna swing in and see that

[fintstone]

A cardboard box with a lawnmower engine.

[ErVikingo]

My brother has a convertible Hillman! (a Minx).

I thought Traby but the somewhat correct camber threw me off. Don't let it sit in the rain....

[foxpaws]

Mike - the Trabi has already left the building...

PM me and next time I know something cool is coming in I'll let you know...

2 stroke, 2 cylinder redbeard - sort of like a snowmobile engine...

I believe it is 595ccs... fast....

[cairns]

Q. Why does a Trabant need a rear window defroster?
A. So your hands stay warm while you're pushing it.

Q. How do you double the value of a Trabant?
A. Fill up the tank.

Q. How do you turn a Trabant into a sports car?
A. Put sneakers in the trunk.

Q. How many workers does it take to build a Trabi?
A. two, one to fold and one to paste.

Q. How do you measure the acceleration of a Trabant?
A. With a diary.

Q. What's the difference between a Jehovah's Witness and a Trabant?
A. You can shut the door on a Jehovah's Witness.

[fintstone]

I was in the far left lane of tha autobahn heading for East Germany in my Supra doing between 135 and 140 mph when I passed a semi followed by an East German Trabant. Both were doing about 45 mph. When I was about one car length away, the Trabant suddenly moved into the lane directly in front of me at about 40 mph. There was really no where to go so I hammered the brakes and went into a spin across the five lanes of busy autobahn. I fought fir control while desperately trying to bleed off enough speed so the impact would not be so bad...but really didn't expect to survive. After a 180... Or was it a 360...I ended up in the shoulder on the far side, five lanes away facing traffic. It almost looked like I had planned it that way. Amazingly, the excellent West German drivers that were mostly going from 80 to abbot 110 mph in the slower lanes had managed to somehow dodge me in my spin. After sitting there for a few minutes, I drove on to Berlin...but had burned off so much rubber that al four Goodyears had to. Be replaced due to the flat spots on them (thump, thump, thump...all the way back to Frankfurt the next day.

One of those almost killed me when I lived in Germany.