thumb|Former [[Volkspolizei Barkas B1000 van]]

Barkas (VEB Barkas-Werke) was an East German manufacturer of small delivery vans and minibuses named the B1000. In addition to delivery vans, Barkas also made engines for Trabant cars.

The van was built in a new factory in Chemnitz (then known as Karl-Marx-Stadt) on a site which was formerly home to the Framo car plant, the old Framo factory having been crated up and shipped to the Soviet Union as part of a larger war reparations package in the late 1940s. The business had subsequently been nationalized by the GDR government.

B1000 production started in 1961 and continued until 1991. Originally the B1000 was powered by the 45PS three cylinder, two stroke DKW derived engine found also in contemporary Wartburgs. Shortly before production ceased, the model designation was changed to B1000-1, and the old engine was replaced by a 1.3four-stroke engine manufactured under licence from Volkswagen. The Belgian importer began installing a 1.8-litre (Endura-D) Ford diesel engine in the 1980s as the two-stroke was no longer competitive.

The B1000 was a remarkable van at the time; the unusually high loading capacity, two-stroke engine, front wheel drive, and semi trailing arms suspension differed from the more traditionally constructed vans in the West. Being the only commercially available van in East Germany, the factory offered many body styles; a flatbed, a panel van, a people carrier, a box van, and an ambulance were all available.

Comparisons with the Volkswagen van of the early 1960s were inevitable. Its front-mounted engine made the Barkas easier to load and more variable in its configuration, with space for up to eight passenger seats.

Altogether, 175,740 B1000s and 1,961 B1000-1s were built.

See also

  • Tempo Matador
  • DKW Schnellaster
  • VW T1

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Frankenberg Museum Barkas1100.jpg|B 1100 prototype

File:Barkas B1000.JPG|Fire engine

File:Barkas B 1000.jpg|People carrier

File:Stasi Barkas B1000.JPG|Stasi prisoner transport version

File:Barkas B1000 twin-axle LKW LX 26-98, Erfurt, DDR, August 1989 - Flickr - sludgegulper.jpg|Tandem axle

File:Barkas B1000 Pritsche.jpg|Pickup truck

File:Barkas1.jpg|Semi-truck

</gallery>

References

  • UK IFA owners' club Barkas page
  • www.barkas.de
  • Website zum 4-Takt-Barkas B1000-1
  • Fire Museum Frankenberg
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20041209040812/http://home.clara.net/peterfrost/barkas.html Alternative Autos
  • Barkas as a prisoner transport vehicle for political prisoners in the GDR