Go Trabi Go is a 1991 German comedy directed by Peter Timm and starring Wolfgang Stumph, Claudia Schmutzler, and Marie Gruber. It was the first major box office hit about events concerning the then-recent German reunification.
Udo Struutz (Stumph), a teacher in the East German town of Bitterfeld, is a great fan of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and wants to visit all the places described in Goethe's Italian Journey. Following the reunification of Germany, he seizes the opportunity to do so as it is now possible for him and his wife Rita (Gruber) and daughter Jacqueline (Schmutzler) to travel to Italy. Driving in their family Trabant 601, nicknamed "Schorsch", they set out for their first vacation in the west.
Provides examples of the following tropes:
- The Alleged Car: Schorsch barely functions properly, being a Trabant 601 with all that that entails, and takes a massive amount of abuse throughout the film.
- The Precious, Precious Car: When Udo is awakened by a group of young women wanting to party, he panics and sends Schorsch down some steps, which causes its outer casing to be torn apart, forcing him to replace it with mismatched spares. Later, the car loses its roof because the family forgot to properly secure it.
- Road Trip Plot: The basic plot of the film revolves around a man and his family seeking to take advantage of their newfound freedom to travel by recreating Goethe's Italian Journey using their family car.
