#GDR #trabant #P70 For those who find the Trabant too mainstream, the P70 offers an interesting alternative. This small car, originally built by VEB Automobilwerk Zwickau as the AWZ P70 "Zwickau" and later by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau as the Sachsenring P70, was a true innovation. After the Chevrolet Corvette, the P70 was one of the first mass-produced cars with a plastic body – and the first whose plastic body was not handmade.

The P70 was based on the IFA F8 and served as a test platform for the new body material. However, due to its high price, it was not suitable for mass motorization in the GDR. This task was taken over by the more affordable Trabant, which went into production in 1958 and replaced the P70. As a result, the P70 was produced for only four years, from 1955 to 1959. A total of 36,151 vehicles were built, including sedans, coupes (about 1,500 units), and station wagons. All models were also exported.

The body of the P70 was revolutionary: a wooden frame, covered with specially developed duroplastic panels made of phenolic resin and cotton short fibers, replaced the deep-drawable steel sheet that was scarce in the GDR. This made the P70 lighter and more durable.

In the spring of 1956, the P70 station wagon came onto the market. Up to the B-pillar, it was similar to the sedan, but had a roof covered in artificial leather and a large, side-hinged rear door on the left, which provided access to the spacious trunk. This made the station wagon very popular. From the spring of 1957, there was also the sporty P70 coupe with a steel body, which attracted international attention. The sleek shape, the aggressive grille, the highly polished aluminum air scoop on the hood, and the retractable crank windows with a center bar gave the coupe a sporty look. Despite the sporty design, the coupe had the same engine as the other models – so the sportiness was more appearance than reality.

After the popular uprising of 1953, the GDR government planned the production of a modern small car in large quantities for the general population. The Research and Development Plant (FEW) in Karl-Marx-Stadt received the development order for the P50. The plastic body was intended as a solution to the shortage of deep-drawn sheet metal. The presentation of the prototypes took place in June 1954.

In addition to a station wagon, the P70 was also available as a four-seater coupe, which can be seen at the August Horch Museum in Zwickau. It was the last major design from the Dresden bodywork factory, formerly Gläser. The vehicle was presented in the spring of 1957 at the Leipzig Fair. The chassis of the coupe was identical to that of the P70 sedan, but the modified body parts on the coupe were made of metal rather than duroplastic. The vehicle could be luxuriously equipped with red or red-brown leather. The manufacture of the panoramic windshield from safety glass was an enormous challenge in the 1950s, was expensive, and one of the reasons for the relatively high price of the car.

To save sheet metal for vehicle production, Auto Union engineers had been researching plastics since the 1930s. The material shortage after World War II led to the resumption of this research in vehicle construction. The result of these efforts was the P70, internally designated as F8K (K for Kunststoff, or plastic). The P70 was the first production vehicle with a body made of lightweight duroplastic. The design of the P70 followed the pontoon style popular in the 1950s, with smooth side panels without visible fenders and running boards.

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