Amateur divers stumbled upon the hunchbacked Zaporozhets quite by accident. They were surprised to find a car at a depth of 25 m. It should be noted that Habermannsee is an artificial lake, and previously there was a quarry at this site.
To pull out the ZAZ-965, they had to seek help from the Berlin fire department. The operation involved 15 people, including rescue divers.
The task turned out to be not an easy one, because the water temperature in Habermannsee is only +3 degrees Celsius. Moreover, visibility at the bottom due to silt and mud is minimal – only 20 cm. They did not pull out the Zaporozhets on the first attempt.
The car is rusted and covered with numerous mussel shells, which suggests that it had been lying at the bottom for more than one decade. It is unlikely that the car can now be restored.
It still remains a mystery how the Zaporozhets ended up in the lake. Moreover, the model itself is rare for Germany, although ZAZ-965 were officially sold in the GDR.
