Subject: [Spridgets] Two Inches - But wait, there's more!

From: Tim Collins <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 05 May 2012 12:03:56 -0400

It is incredible that one man took his bride to safety in an Austin 
Healey Sprite, but TWO - with the SAME Sprite!!! WOW
I like the line about the defective exhaust. LOL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The House At Checkpoint Charlie
A Little West Berlin Museum Celebrates The Ingenuity Of Those Who 
Conquered The Wall

December 07, 1986|By Article by Paul Martin, a freelance writer based 
in Riverside.

The exploit, and the Sprite, received international publicity. 
Several months later Norbert Konrad tried the same stunt. Although 
born in Germany, Konrad had an Argentine passport. He had fallen in 
love with an East German woman, Helga Werner, but the authorities 
refused permission for her to emigrate. Although concerned that the 
guards at Checkpoint Charlie might be particularly suspicious of 
sports cars, Konrad rented an Austin-Healey Sprite at a West Berlin agency.

As Helga huddled in the trunk, Konrad drove toward the East Berlin 
checkpoint. En route, an East Berlin policeman stopped him; Konrad 
was certain he had been discovered. He relaxed when the policeman 
pointed to a loose fitting on the exhaust pipe and told him to have 
it repaired. Konrad gladly fixed it, then resumed his drive.

At the checkpoint Konrad showed his passport, and the guard directed 
him to the customs office. Instead, Konrad stepped on the gas, raced 
for the barrier, ducked his head under the 37 1/2-inch-high 
horizontal pole and skidded into West Berlin. Konrad later returned 
the car to the rental agency and was incredulous when he learned it 
was the same vehicle Heinz Meixner had used. Several weeks later 
Konrad and Werner were married.

The trick worked twice, but no more. To prevent a third Sprite 
escape, the East Germans embedded steel bars in the concrete beneath 
the barrier.

<the article continues>

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-12-07/features/8604010562_1_rainer-hildebrandt-west-berlin-east-berlin/3

Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/sets/ 
------------------------

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