Once Siberia and back: Tiger Duck is looking for a new home

How did we come up with the idea of ​​driving two Citroën 2CV to Siberia? Micha was standing in the yard three, we arguably discussed how far the old boxes could go. And said: Let's go and see what happens.

We - that's Daniel D., Micha, Daniel S. and me, four boys from Heidelberg, with the late adolescent fantasies that are typical for school leavers. We started disassembling, welding, flexing the duck motors: make three out of three. A few months later we started with a tiger duck and one in froggreen. After the big farewell breakfast in April 2004, we did not set out until around noon: The Tigerente carburetor was flooded, the engine did not start.

So that went the whole ride. Constantly something was broken. Shortly before Vienna, we could not switch with the green duck (no oil in the gearbox) and lost at Timisoara in Romania the key of the Tiger Duck. It was not bad that they could no longer be completed; we drove to the parking lots of the best luxury hotels in the cities.

It was difficult only in the very frequent police checks. Many policemen were disappointed anyway after the meeting - we paid no bribe. Since it made a good impression, if you have to shine before starting in the wiring harness to find the right lines.

$ 25,000? No thanks

Shortly before the Kazakh border, the transmission of the green duck finally broke down. We parked in the fertile Danube delta, migratory birds flew over us, everything was croaking and chirping, wild marijuana grew along the paths. For the guys who lived there, it could have been paradise. But when they attacked us in the night, they said they were not feeling well, eating too little, that life in the province was actually puking. After a long discussion we agreed: They helped us push the duck to Astrakhan, so we gave them our hinges so they could get a decent carp from the Volga.

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27 pictures

In Yekaterinburg (Western Siberia) the television became aware of us. A media studies student had given MTV Russia a hint. It was a big march, three cameras, a dozen BMX cyclists, who - for whatever reason - skated around the interview. Finally, we should sing a song. And sang: "The most beautiful country in the German country, that is the Badnerland."

Unforgettable is also the nocturnal telephone call in Irkutsk with a businessman. We were just about ready to sleep in the hotel car park, where two very smartly dressed boys came: "Like, you sleep in the cars? They invited us to their graduation party. That we had not shaved since the departure, that each had no more than two change jeans, that the last shower was already a bit ago - all no problem for the young economists.

We drank and ate, had to tell again and again who we were and that these two cars belonged to us in the parking lot, from which one had already heard so much on television and radio. One of the guys handed me his cellphone, his dad wanted to talk to me and offered $ 25,000 for the tiger-duck. "Thanks, no, we do not sell!"

The two ducks were stars in Russia in 2004. They were filmed, photographed and decorated. At first, the signing on the car helped to make policemen happy: "No, we can not pay any money, but you can sign on the car." Later everyone got the Edding, who asked for it. The Duck Bodies became travel logbooks. And the more ornaments they wore, the longer passers-by walked around the cars, smiling.

Only the best for the ducks

We drove to Lake Baikal and camped on the sandy shore next to two men from Ulan-Ude and their sons. They wanted to strengthen the father-son relationship with the Baikal trip, shooting around in the woods with rifles and jumping into the six-degree cold water. And we made a cash fall: Together, we had spent no more than ten dollars a day, yet the money was not enough to continue to Mongolia. "Then we'll go back," said one. Everyone agreed.

For weeks there was only a main course without side dish for lunch: dry rice, dry noodles, dry potatoes. If we argued with empty stomachs, it did not matter. Our ducks got only the best gasoline, we were dependent on their chugging engines. We avoided gas stations with fuel below 85 octane. And if the gas station attendant seemed dodgy, we drove on.

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We also visited the big rock festival Nashestvie. All alternative Russian blogs asked: Does the singer Shnur come with his band Leningrad? In St. Petersburg, the authorities had recently canceled a concert of this already legendary band - too vulgar, too critical. When we drove our ducks on the muddy terrain, but the band was there. And in the early morning after the concert, in which 50,000 festival visitors cheered him on, the Leningrad drummer told us: "When you turned into the parking lot, we thought these cars are the real stars of the evening."

Six months and 26,000 kilometers took the journey. Both ducks have survived the trip, even though the engine of the green duck in Germany soon stopped chugging. For the whole journey she had worried us more than the Tiger Duck. With the frog we drove shortly after Novosibirsk in this oversized pothole, in Astrakhan had to be implanted a replacement gear and twice the battery to be replaced, and then we usually pushed. We did not have the heart to scrap the green duck. An acquaintance from Schwäbisch-Hall offered to accept her as a part donor. We agreed - better live in parts than not at all.

"On the 31st of December the duck is somewhere else!"

The tiger duck was more robust. She just drove on. After the trip, Daniel D. and I started studying in Dresden. And found that the duck is a good-mood machine not only in the eastern hemisphere. Wherever you go, you wave, smile, life is better for a few moments. We even got TÜV again, although the subfloor was rusty holes in places. But the TÜV also work with heart.

After our undergraduate studies in Dresden our ways parted. Daniel D. wanted to move to Bremen, I was planning a year abroad in Buenos Aires. Where to go with the duck? The other two lived in townhouses, nobody had space. After much back and forth my father took her in his garage. Only for one or two winters, so his announcement.

So Daniel D. and I drove our beloved Tiger Duck back to Heidelberg on a final night ride. Here our journey had begun. The duck was back home. For now.

Eleven years have passed since then. My father's cautious questions as to when the duck will be picked up again became quiet and ever louder requests, now demands. A few weeks ago there was a deadline: "On December 31, the duck is somewhere else, otherwise I'll let it scrapped." My dad no longer wants to squeeze past the duck to fetch garden tools. The hanging on the wall bicycles should not fall on him. He finally wants to get back in his garage.

We all understand that well. But where to go with the duck? In 30 years, when we retire, we want to go with her again the same route to Lake Baikal. Until then she should not be in the rain. We still live in city apartments, unfortunately, no one of our friends and relatives has a free garage space.

And then Micha came across the one-day article "The duck is safe". To our great surprise, our tiger duck was one of the duck legends. We did not know how this photo found its way to the editorial office. But we are sure: this can not be a coincidence. Our duck wants to live!