Saw Ida yesterday. I liked the main automotive character but was unable to identify it. Looked somewhat like a Borgward to me. After some searching I discovered it was an Opel Wartburg produced in East Germany. Opel

I was then very surprised to lean that they had been imported for sale in the USA: Promotex Online - Willy Witkin's Wartburgs

I was not aware that any East German cars had been sold in the USA>

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Me neither. No communist block cars at all I would have said. From the rear it looks like a 50 51 Studebaker. Best looking communist block car I've seen.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I thought the same thing. Puts the lie to the claim that communist cars lack aesthetics. That's part of the reason I took the effort to track it down. I wondered if the filmmakers had used a Western European import.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

The later ones were more bland:
http://www.tiptopglobe.com/big-photo/car-wartburg-1-3-tourist-1.jpg

Though I still think the 30s through 90s Tatras were AMAZING cars...
http://www.motorstown.com/images/tatra-t603-04.jpg

(Dr. Porsche may well have copied the design when designing the VW Beetle/KDF-wagen.)

That split window is clearly copied in the 63 stingray!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

That isn't OPEL.
It's Wartburg. Wartburg 311 (sedan), 312 (T-model), 313 (roadster). It was based on the IFA F9 (DKW platform). It has 3-cylinder two-stroke water-cooled engine.

I like it! Of course, if I was the importer, I would have insisted on a name change for those Wartburg's sold in English-speaking countries...

Hogwart's Burgers?

Warzenhof.

Wartburg was acquired by Opel in 1991. Wartburg (car) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Sorry, but Wartburg never was an OPEL.

check out this wagon from the wiki site linked above.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

In 1958, Daimler-Benz bought the West German automaker Auto-Union and actually tried to sell the DKW here until 1964. After Auto-Union was purchased by VW in 1965, the company's products reappeared here in 1970 as the Audi
I saw a Wartburg 311 at the Carlisle PA import-show a few years ago, along with a Polish Syrena.
Another eastern-bloc car that was imported to the US by Willy Witkin at the height of the late-50s import craze was the Czech-built Skoda. Similar styling to the Wartburg, but rear-drive and powered by a push-rod four. Stock NYC traffic-footage of one can be seen through the back window of Cary Grant's taxi, early in the 1959 Hitchcock film 'North By Northwest'.
Here in Fairfax County several years ago, I got the chance to take some final photos of a sad, decayed 1963 Skoda Octavia Kombi (wagon) before the county made the owner get rid of it.
Many of these weaker and more obscure imports were unsuited to US highway speeds, lacked reliable parts & service support, and were killed off by the new American compact cars (Corvair, Falcon & Valiant) introduced in 1960.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW