1989–1991 thumb|Trabant 601 entering West Berlin in 1989, Checkpoint Charlie thumb|alt=Two-door sedan with a man standing behind it|Trabant 1.1 with VW Polo four-stroke engine In mid-1989, thousands of East Germans began loading their Trabants with as much as they could carry and drove to Hungary or Czechoslovakia en route to West Germany–the so-called "Trabi Trail". Many had to get special permission to drive their Trabants into West Germany. The cars did not meet West German emissions standards and polluted the air at four times the European average.
1989–1991 thumb|Trabant 601 entering West Berlin in 1989 Checkpoint Charlie thumb|alt=Two-door sedan with a man standing behind it|Trabant 11 with VW Polo four-stroke engine In mid-1989 thousands of East Germans began loading their Trabants with as much as they could carry and drove to Hungary or Czechoslovakia en route to West Germany–the so-called "Trabi Trail" Many had to get special permission to drive their Trabants into West Germany The cars did not meet West German emissions standards and polluted the air at four times the European average