The Trabant was a product of the IFA group, which brought together all the automobile plants in East Germany. The Trabant was a smaller version of the 1950s Zwickau T70, which itself was a development of the IFA F8. The Trabant had a long career, which began in 1962 and ended in 1980. Over the years the car, with its characteristic plastic body, received the 595cc two-stroke engine; the last cars were fitted with the 1100cc VW Polo engine.