Trabi fan Jan-Erik Nord drove across the USA in a two-stroke engine from Zwickau and collected donations for research into the rare butterfly disease. But the tour caused the cult car far more problems than initially expected. The heat and fuel in the USA took a toll on his Trabant 601, Nord told the German Press Agency. He was only able to drive up some mountains at 10 to 15 kilometers per hour. “In Las Vegas it was 47 degrees in places,” said the 43-year-old. To cool down a bit, he tied a wet towel around his head. “That was my air conditioning.”
He always took a teddy bear with him on the tour, which four-year-old Käthe from Zwickau had given him. She suffers from the rare skin disease known to experts as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Now the girl has given part of the money she collected – around 5,000 euros – to scientists at the University Hospital in Freiburg. There, research is being carried out into EB and the girl is being treated. Käthe’s parents have high hopes for a new therapy from the USA. However, the costs are estimated at around 800,000 US dollars (around 737,000 euros) for treatment over a period of six months. “We hope that the health insurance company will approve it,” said father Frank Hofmann.
Nord: “The Trabi was a great door opener”
Nord had already presented a check for another $5,000 to scientists at Stanford Children’s Hospital in the USA for research into butterfly disease. But the tour was not just about money, he stressed, but also about raising awareness about the disease. “The Trabi was a great door opener and helped to start a conversation with people really easily.” No one he met had ever heard of this rare skin disease before.
Nord said he drove around 9,000 kilometers from the east coast to the west coast in four weeks. However, unlike his original plan, he was unable to auction the car off for a good cause at the end of the tour. This was not possible due to the strict environmental regulations in California. Instead, a friend bought it, so the car still found a new home in the USA.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240908-930-226259/1
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