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D-ROLF, FREE WHEELING IN U.S.A.

Tuesday, January 29, 2002
By Stacey Wiebe Mercedsun-Star/Calif.

Rolf Becker, called D-ROLF, a world traveler and folk hero from Germany, is accustomed to pleasing crowds. He's his country's answer to Crocodile Dundee,(or Mr. Bean) and he's succeeded in his chosen role of thought-ful court jester. Tuesday, he stopped off in Merced while en route to Salt Lake City. There, he'll play the role of journalist and enjoy the Olympic Winter Games with other tenants in the "German house." Becker, 54, was disco-vered by C. Salmeri and Dick Collins of Merced while they were at Yosemite National Park. Becker had been visiting a friend, but he decided to check out the natural surroundings before shoving off to San Francisco and then swinging east to Utah. Salmeri said, "We saw him (D-ROLF) go by. We got up to lookout point and Rolf was out there and Dick said, 'What kind of car is that?' And he told us the whole story."

D-ROLF's adventures in the United States began in 1990, when he became the first man from East Germany to cross the country in his 2-cylin-der, 1960s model Trabant -601. With a thick German accent, but in perfect English, he said, "I went west to see the U.S. It was not a question of money, but a question of philo-sophy. After the reuni-fication (of Germany), the car was a symbol: Fill not the conditions that your mother, father, brother or sister have for a car." According to Becker, the Trabant, or "Trabi," as he has called the roughly 30 incarnations of his original Trabant, is a popular and highly visible car in East Ger-many. About 3 million of the tiny 26-horsepower cars were made. Top speed for the Trabant is about 60 mph.

Becker says, "If you say 'Elvis Presley,' people have a picture in their minds of a Cadillac. If you say 'East Germany,' you picture a Trabant. It is a car with character."

Out of costume, Becker resembles a well-read college professor. In costume, however, he becomes the clown that lies just beneath the surface of his ready smile. Collins, who became fast friends with D-ROLF in Yosemite, says, "He's a card. The guy is a master at  promotion." In a bright yellow pinstriped shirt, D-ROLF is the picture of a classic street performer as he waves a trumpet and tells a joke from beneath a worn black hat. After finishing his college studies of locomotive engines in East Germany in 1971, Becker obtained employment in an office. But he wasn't happy.   "I wasn't satisfied to sit in the office and study plans ... . I knew that was not the way for me to be happy." In 1983, he left the office to begin a new career behind a street organ. Being an organ grinder in East Germany was different from being one in the United States. "I made stand-up comedy, and I was prepaid. I did not have to bother the people." Though he had been attending the Olym-pic Games since the late 1970s, D-ROLF's popula-rity grew as he played to growing crowds and increased the scope of his travels. "The people worldwide are the same," he says. In 1990, he made his way to the Uni-ted States for the first time. He was “the hero" in New York City's 1990 Steuben Parade, and he continued to wow the crowds. In 1999, a book about some of his travels - titled "Nicht Ohne Meinen Trabi", or "Not Without my Trabi" - was published. He's funding his trip to Utah with American and European sponsorship. Still, he travels light, without the frills associated with celebrity status. "If I make this trip without profit, it's a great win. I made relations and I have seen America!"

See also: Pravda, Yomori Shimbun, Finacial Times, USA-ToDay, FAZ, Capital, Australian, Le Nation, ND, NZZ, Car & Driver… ARD, CNN, BBC, ABC…ZDF

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Drehorgel-Rolf wants to build Trabant with six cylinder

My Webs\a my web 05\6 zyl engl      
Rolf Becker: Car will be fast over 200 km/h - sponsors gave 10,000 euro

Globetrotter "Drehorgel-Rolf" from Halle builds a "Super-Trabant" with a team of fuss-pots. "This two-stroker with six cylinders will be fast over 200 km/h", assures the Hallenser with civil name Rolf Becker. The Trabant produced at GDR times in the Saxonian Zwickau was fast up to 100 km/h. "So it was written in the description. The speed of the Trabi could be investigated however never so correctly, because we were allowed to drive only highest 100 in the east", says Rolf grinning, who admits with his spectacular routes as driving crosswise through America with the Trabant.

Now the "Supertrabant" is assembled by mechanics at a "secret place" in Brandenburg. Approximately 10,000 euro will be invested so far by a network at sponsors, says Becker. Presumably to the autofair in the spring 2005 in Leipzig the vehicle will be presented. It will drive with a mixture of gasoline, oil and gas on high-speed tires. "Orgel-Rolf" wants to use the runabout inland and abroad as advertising media. "We want also to go to Gottschalk's, "Wetten, dass..?" and in America on a salt lake ", describe Becker his ambitious objectives.

See also: D-Rolfs Galleries with some english texts

 

 

 

D-ROLF anajulikana sana duniani nyumbani Ugermani na hata na hata nchi zingine za ulimwengu. Hivi karibuni ataendesha kuelekea afrika. Ni njia ndefu na muhimu lakini atakuwa ame amini gari yake aina ya Trabi.

D-ROLF inaminisha nini?
D ina simamia nchi yangu ya Ugermani ama 'Drehorgel' - Gita ya mkononi ambayo nina julikana nayo ulimwengu mzima kama mchezaji. Lakini hiyo si muhimu. Kile muhimu ni muungano. Nina unganisha watu ambaye wako na mafikirio kama zangu.

TRABI inaminisha nini?
Watu ambaye wana elewa Trabi hawawezi ku amini kwamba kuna watu wengine ambaye hawa  elewi Trabi ni nini. Na wale ambaye wameielewa hawawezi kuwamini kwamba Trabi ina weza kuendeshwa na kusafiri.

Ni muhimu kweleaza juu ya Trabi. Kama uli ishi Ugermani mashariki, ulikuwa una heshimiwa uki endesha Trabi. Inje yake kime tengenezwa na bao ngumu na paa ya spaki. Ina julikana pia kama Trabant kwa jina ingine.

D-ROLF amewai kwenda kwa mashindano mengi za magari ulimwenguni kama kwa mfano;

-Mwaka wa 1993 -ali ingia kwa mbiyo kutaka Paris kwenda Dakar na kwa maelfu za magari mwanzoni alikuwa mmoja za magari ishirini na sita ambaye zilielekea njiani.

-Mwaka wa 1990- D-ROLF ali ingia Amerika na Turabi yake kupitia 'Route 66'

-Mwaka wa 2000- D-ROLF alikuwa Australia kwendesha kutoka pwani paka pwani  pembeni kote.

Ana bado mpango ya kwendesha mpaka New Delhi, Madagascar, Las Vegas mpaka  Albert Schweizer Lambarane hivi karibuni.

Safari yake ya kwanza kuelekea Afrika Kusini ilikuwa ya ndege lakini wakati huu anataka kuijaribu na Trabi yake. Anataka pia ahusiane na watu na watoto maskini ambaye hawajiwezi  huko Afrika kusini na aone vila wana weza kujisaidiana. Anajaribu kukusanya pesa ili aweze kusaidia wale ambaye hawa jiwezi huko Afrika Kusini.

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Link: http://www.zr.ru/news/156553/

Link: http://www.autosphere.ru/2007-05-29/20/

Link: http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/?article_id=6118