For my Canadian friends

[sear]

"The number of people wanting to leave East Germany was actually not large." R5 #420

We don't know that.
We may have a fairly accurate count of how many tried to breach the Wall at or near Berlin.

But successful escapes perpetrated a hundred kilometers away would have been an embarrassment to the Soviets, who would have preferred to keep quiet about it.
Thus the full tally of successful escapes from East to West may remain under-counted to this day, potentially substantially so.

"The number of people wanting to leave East Germany was actually not large." R5 #420

Let's not conflate what they did, with what they wanted to do.
Anecdotes I've read indicate rumors inside the Soviet Union of Western prosperity resulted in for example a simple pair of bluejeans being swapped even up inside the Soviet Union, for a Trabant.

 

[Rigby5]

We don't know that.
We may have a fairly accurate count of how many tried to breach the Wall at or near Berlin.

But successful escapes perpetrated a hundred kilometers away would have been an embarrassment to the Soviets, who would have preferred to keep quiet about it.
Thus the full tally of successful escapes from East to West may remain under-counted to this day, potentially substantially so.


Let's not conflate what they did, with what they wanted to do.
Anecdotes I've read indicate rumors inside the Soviet Union of Western prosperity resulted in for example a simple pair of bluejeans being swapped even up inside the Soviet Union, for a Trabant.

That actually poses a question of status and style that makes it even more a case of propaganda.
The reality is the Trabant was one of the best cars ever made.
It was what was used for the flying car that took Harry Potter back to Hogwarts.
The body was rustproof fiberglass and it had a light 2 stroke engine that was not only indestructible, but got over 40 mpg.

 

[sear]

"The reality is the Trabant was one of the best cars ever made." R5 #422

"Proof of Trotsky's farsightedness is that none of his predictions have come true yet." Isaac Deutscher

" propaganda " R5 #422

Yes.

"... the Trabant was one of the best cars ever made. ...
The body was rustproof fiberglass and it had a light 2 stroke engine that was not only indestructible, but got over 40 mpg." R5 #422

This is why so many 2026 and 2027 model year cars so closely emulate these spectacular market-coveted features you've disclosed here.
What's more prestigious than showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant?
Showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant, pouring a quart of oil into the fuel filler neck, and then topping it off with ethyl. "All the way with ethyl !"

 

[Rigby5]

"Proof of Trotsky's farsightedness is that none of his predictions have come true yet." Isaac Deutscher


Yes.


This is why so many 2026 and 2027 model year cars so closely emulate these spectacular market-coveted features you've disclosed here.
What's more prestigious than showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant?
Showing up at a gasoline station with a Trabant, pouring a quart of oil into the fuel filler neck, and then topping it off with ethyl. "All the way with ethyl !"

As a mechanic until 1978, I find US cars to have been incredibly silly.
A V8 engine is going to weigh over 700 lbs all by itself, and use up a great deal of gas just accelerating its own mass.
Which is why now makers are more likely to install a turbo charged 4 cylinder engine with the same hp as a V8.
Two stroke engines make much more sense than 4 stroke engines, since they produce twice the hp without needing a larger engine.

The only bad thing about the Trabant was mixing oil with the fuel.
By using fuel injection and super charging, they did not need to do that, and it would have had much better emissions ratings, which is what killed the Trabant in 1991.