The body panels of the Trabant were made of Duroplast, a material of 46 percent cotton and 52 percent phenolic resin. It was developed because steel was scarce in the postwar years, and it saved expensive sheet steel.
The first Trabant went into pre-series production on 7 November 1957. The last one left the line on 30 April 1991. Nearly 3.1 million were built. East Germans often waited 10 to 15 years for a new one.