When one considers the automobile’s role in the German state of Saxony today, thoughts turn to Porsche?s modern facility in Leipzig?the one churning out Panameras, Cayennes, and Macans?or to BMW?s Leipzig plant, where the Bavarian concern’s i cars and 1- and 2-series vehicles are constructed. Thirty years ago, Saxony buzzed with the gutless two-stroke rap of locally built Trabants, the German Democratic Republic?s main contribution to 20th-century motoring and a deleterious reminder of what sad havoc totalitarianism’s ugly thumb can wreak on the glorious art of German automotive engineering.

Trabis are not, however, a common sight stateside, so imagine our surprise when we happened on one. It was parked up on some rocks on a parking barrier outside a Sinclair station on Utah?s State Route 63, the road into Bryce Canyon National Park. Judging by its patina, the Honecker-era runabout seemed to have been resting there for some time. Naturally, we pulled over and grabbed a couple of snaps, because, hey, fish-out-of-water Duroplast-bodied East German semi-reasonable motorcar facsimile! When we arrived at our hotel for the night, we couldn?t stop thinking about the little Trabi with its die-cut Bitburger stickers gradually evaporating in the sun. Naturally, we consulted the World Wide Web for more information. Turns out, the car was used by a man named Rolf Becker to drive to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He began the journey in Los Angeles, was ...