Duroplast
Duroplast is a composite thermosetting plastic which is a close relative of formica and bakelite. It is a resin plastic reinforced with fibers making it a fiber-reinforced plastic similar to glass-reinforced plastic. Fabric used is either cotton or wool.
Duroplast is light, strong and flexible. It is mostly made of recycled material, cotton waste and phenol resins. Because it can be made in a press similar to shaping steel, it is more suitable for volume car production than fibreglass.
Duroplast was used by East Germany automobile manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau to produce the body of the mass-produced Trabant motor cars.
The product was first used in the body of the IFA F8 and later also the AWZ P70 or Zwickau P70 and the Trabant. It was also used to make suitcases. The use of duroplast in Trabants allowed creation of an urban myth that Trabant is made of corrugated cardboard. As evidence there are many jokes about this car.
Trabant Joke:
During a visit to the Leipzig Trade Fair, a wealthy oil sheikh heard that there is a car with a delivery time of over ten years. Since Rolls Royce usually delivers more quickly than that, it must be quite an exceptional car, which he would certainly have to have in his collection. Sight unseen, he made a request to order this Trabant. In Zwickau, they're aware of this great honor, so they immediately change the running Five-Year Plan and bring forward a specimen. In the container, the car reaches the emirate in a handful of weeks. The happy oil sheik immediately called his friends together, opened the container, and exclaimed in surprise: "Gosh, they have incredibly long delivery times, but at least they send you a cardboard model in advance — and the best, you can even drive it!"
