Home Undercarriage Barkas 1000 specifications. The socialism shuttle: the history of the development of the Barkas B1000 minibus. Specifications Barkas B1000

Undercarriage

Barkas 1000 specifications. The socialism shuttle: the history of the development of the Barkas B1000 minibus. Specifications Barkas B1000

Even at the end of the 19th century, a Dane by nationality named Jorgen Skafte Rasmunsen received his engineering education in Germany. He did not return to his historical homeland, but settled in Central Saxony: in the German city of Chemnitz, Rasmunsen opened a small enterprise for the production of valves, and a little later the production facilities were moved by Jorgen to the city of Zschopau.

The factory belonged to the engineering industry, because it produced steam engines and metal products. After the First World War in Chopau "on the head of the day" a new production was created - a plant for the production of ferry cars under the name DKW, which eventually became the largest manufacturer under this brand. gasoline engines to bicycles, as well as a manufacturer of mopeds and motorcycles. The company was doing so well that by the end of the twenties, DKW had become perhaps the most famous and popular German brand of cars and two-wheeled vehicles.

Rasmunsen, who at that time was a well-known authority in the automotive industry, together with two other industrial engineers opened a new enterprise in Frankenberg - a factory for the production of components for DKW equipment. Initially the company was called Metallwerke Frankenberg, but later it was renamed Frankenberger Motorenwerke - Frankenberg Motor Works. This company is widely known under the abbreviation Framo.

In addition to engines and power system units, Framo began to produce light three-wheeled vans and trucks on the basis of DKW motorcycle units, and a little later, four-wheeled trucks. More than five thousand were produced in Frankenberg a year different cars carrying capacity from 0.5 to 1.2 tons. Thus, by the end of the thirties, the Saxon company became one of the main producers of lightweight freight vehicles in Germany.

Alas, the Second World War affected the fate of the factory in the same way as the rest of the German car factories: in the early forties, Framo was redesigned and completely transferred to the production of components for the military industry.

The outcome of the largest confrontation between the USSR and Germany put a fat point in the fate of a huge industrial complex - a significant part of the machine tools and other industrial equipment were dismantled after 1945 and taken to the Soviet Union.

On the remains of the former Framo in the first post-war years in Central Saxony, a simple car repair shop somehow functioned. However, in 1949, the company was nationalized, along the way including it into the large industrial association IFA (Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau). After all, the former legacy of pre-war Germany - Automotive industry- was an important branch of the economy. At the same time, all the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), which included East Germany, collectively gave the go-ahead for the release of this or that type of transport. That is why, for example, in Hungary in the post-war period. The plant, which received the name Werk Framo Hainichen, from the beginning of the fifties produced a pre-war Framo V501 truck equipped with a two-cylinder two-stroke, as well as a more modern truck Framo V901.

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The automotive industry in the GDR, as well as in the country, underwent a number of different structural changes, as a result of which the former Framo factory was renamed VEB Barkas Verke Hainichen in 1958. The form of ownership of the plant, which received the abbreviation VEB (German: Volkseigener Betrieb - "people's enterprise"), was characteristic of almost all post-war enterprises in the engineering industry of the GDR. As a rule, its small factories were part of larger production associations.

By that time, the Saxon city of Chemnitz was renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt. The former Framo enterprise, which became the socialist-people's "Barkas", was merged with the motor plant and automobile factory located in this city under the long name VEB Barkas-Werke Karl-Marx-Stadt. At the same time, the production facilities remained "at the old address" - that is, in Hainichen.

New time - new van

In the early fifties, in the young socialist state, the need arose for light delivery trucks. Initially, the issue was "cleared" by the resumption of production of the pre-war Framo models, but neither they nor the more modern V901 / 2 truck met the requirements of the new era.

The country's leadership instructed the designers of the enterprise from Karl-Marx-Stadt to develop delivery vehicles of a fundamentally new generation. Interestingly, initially, on the same platform, it was planned to produce both all-metal vans and flatbed trucks. One more key difference promising development from predecessors - progressive design. Cabover wagon layout, independent torsion bar suspension, front-wheel drive, load-bearing body- in a word, the project had more than enough innovations. We remind you that we were talking about post-war socialist Germany, which was just getting on its feet after the devastating consequences for this country in the aftermath of World War II. However, there is an explanation for everything: the automotive industry in Germany in the pre-war period was at such a high level of development that no shocks could lead to the degradation of the design school.

Without further ado, new model named the same as the company itself - Barkas. In order to speed up the process of developing a new model and reduce production costs, the country's leadership made a strategic decision - to unify the new van with "passenger" products from other GDR factories. That is why Barkas received a three-cylinder two-stroke engine from a passenger car Wartburg 311. A compact two-stroke with a volume of 966 "cubes" developed about 37 Horse power- God knows not what, however, for a light delivery truck with a carrying capacity of 1 ton, such "power equipment" should have been enough.

Already in 1956, the first prototypes of the all-metal van were manufactured, which were soon supplemented with minibuses of various configurations and purposes. After all, Barkas had to take on the whole heap of tasks for the transportation of small goods and passengers, including such a specific area as an ambulance. medical assistance and the fire department.

In a couple of years, almost four dozen different prototypes were manufactured, which, until 1961, passed various tests, having wound over a million kilometers on their pre-production wheels. During this time, were identified and eliminated various disadvantages designs, and the future Barkas finally got its usual look.

The exterior of the German van deserves a detailed description. It would seem that it is a utilitarian "carriage", and even a cabover layout - well, what emotions can such a "refrigerator" evoke? However, thanks to the efforts of German artists, the Barkas turned out to be an extremely harmonious outwardly car with "clean" lines and correct proportions.

The modest, harmonious and laconic design of Barkas turned out to be so integral that fleeting trends and trends automotive fashion did not affect the appearance of the car in any way. At the same time, all the years of its release, the original Barkas did not look outdated - it was just a perfect product of its era.

The reverse side of the coin is the complete immunity of the exterior to modifications and "modernization" with the help of primitive cosmetic techniques.

If even now the touchingly round-head "Barkasik" with its plump forms does not cause rejection, then in the early sixties it looked not only attractive, but also very modern even against the background of the "capitalist" minibus VW T1. In fairness, we note that the East German cabover looked, perhaps, even more perfect than its western counterpart.

The shuttle of socialism

In the summer of 1961, it was launched mass production Barkasov, and the bodies of monophonic vans called Barkas B1000 were manufactured in Karl-Marx-Stadt, and the final presentation of the cars took on all in the same Heinichen. As you might guess, the digital index of Barkas indicated its maximum carrying capacity.

At the very beginning of its conveyor path, Barkas received a "new heart" - the AWE-312 engine, the working volume of which increased by several dozen "cubes", and the power, accordingly, increased to 42 "horses". However, this figure, taking into account the cargo-passenger capabilities of the car, looked more than modest, but at that time the GDR automobile industry simply did not have an alternative.

Like other cars of Eastern European production, the Barkasiks chirped merrily with their two-strokes, delivering cargo and passengers in various cities of the democratic republic.

The model also received a very flattering assessment from professionals, because a modest-looking machine with its own weight of 1,200 kg could carry almost the same amount of baggage by weight, and in an all-metal body due to the rationality of the cabover layout and front wheel drive placed about six cubic meters of cargo. Absence cardan shaft and torsion bar suspensions favorably influenced the height of the floor, which in addition turned out to be completely flat.

In addition to the van itself, in the mid-sixties, other modifications appeared in the Barkas lineup - a truck with an onboard platform on a spar frame and an eight-seater minibus. In addition, over time, the car has become a little better technically, having received a dual-circuit brake system and an electric washer windshield... For comparison: the first Soviet ones used a primitive rubber "bulb" with a mechanical washer drive.


Excursion road train based on Barkas B1000

To ensure an acceptable level of comfort in the cold season, the designers had to install on passenger versions minibuses an autonomous interior heater, which externally was given out only by an additional door with slots on the left side. And in a hot period, the life of the inhabitants of the cabin was facilitated by the presence of an opening sunroof. However, the problems associated with the summer heat arose not only among passengers, but also in the power unit, which is why the cooling system of the minibus was repeatedly modernized.

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In 1972, the "ageless" Barkas finally got a new "heart" -. In the same decade, the Barkasy underwent a series of modernizations and design changes, the purpose of which was to meet the car's new international safety requirements and car exhaust standards. In the course of improvements, minibuses, vans and trucks received seat belts for the driver and front passenger, new optics, alternator, clutch cable instead of hydraulic, more modern steering and the power system ...

Thus, by the beginning of the eighties technical part the car became noticeably more modern and more perfect, and in 1983 the Barkas B1000 was finally updated externally. However, the models with the code name "83" and "84" will be immediately distinguished from their predecessors only by a big fan of these minibuses, since all the changes in the exterior were reduced to the installation of other bumpers with a rubber strip and front foglights. A new version has appeared in the salon of the modernized version. dashboard... Late Barkasy can also be distinguished by the type of side door - since 1988 it has become sliding instead of the usual swing door.

Up to 8,000 longboats were assembled in Hainichen per year, with the production peak in the mid-seventies. In 1980, a car with serial number 100,000 rolled off the assembly line, and by 1987, 150,000 minibuses, trucks and vans Barkas B1000 had already been manufactured.

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As in the case of the Wartburg and the Trabi, the changes in the state system favorably influenced the construction of the Barkas, but did not affect its fate in the best way. In other words, commercial vehicles also transferred to "Volkswagen traction", because in the GDR in 1989 they already produced licensed Volkswagen engines Golf. Like a passenger car from Eisenach, Barkas received another "heart" - a 1.3-liter gasoline engine with a capacity of 58 liters. with. The four-cylinder four-stroke engine was quite modern by the standards of the eighties, structurally being an analogue of the Soviet G8 unit.

Like the debut of the first Barkas in 1962, the updated Barkas B1000-1 was shown at the Leipzig Fair in 1989, and since 1990, the serial production of the modernized Barkasiks began.

Alas, "the bolivar of capitalism could not stand these three": like Wartburg and Trabant, even with a new power unit the hopelessly outdated minibus turned out to be simply not in demand by the market in the new conditions. After all, a huge stream of used equipment from Germany poured into the former socialist republic - including commercial vans and vans like the VW T2. Of course, the "specter of socialism", even if it had lost its primitive two-stroke, looked pale in comparison with the "bourgeoisie". In addition, over the course of several decades, the East Germans had already, as they say, “gorged” on Barkasov, and the Western consumer was not interested in such a product at the conceptual level.

That is why the life path of Barkas B1000-1 turned out to be very short - until 1991, less than 2,000 were produced refurbished cars, and in just thirty years of conveyor experience in Hainichen, they have collected over 177,000 round-to-the-cute Barkas.

In the early nineties, in parallel with such native Zhiguli, our compatriots began to buy second-hand Barkasy in the GDR - fortunately, the East Germans offered their equipment at a reasonable price. Quite a few minibuses served as a kind of "carriers" of the property of Soviet officers who moved to their historical homeland with their families and goods acquired in the GDR.

Even with an archaic two-stroke, Barkas aroused great interest among the residents of the Soviet Union, because it was simply impossible to get a car of this class and purpose for personal use before! In addition, it turned out that German car even in the "used" form, it is rather unpretentious and reliable, and in practice the Barkasov proved to be in order with efficiency.

In the spirit of the times, in the early nineties, a crazy "project" was born in Russia: the equipment for the production of minibuses and vans, which had become unnecessary for the Germans, decided to acquire the Kirov plant, which had previously produced items for the "defense industry".

The business idea was to buy “cheap” free production facilities for the production of Barkas and to localize production as much as possible at the regional level in the Leningrad Region. Engines, of course, planned to use domestic - from the classic Zhiguli.

Alas or fortunately, something went wrong: in 1993, the German side meticulously prepared the equipment for shipment to Sosnovy Bor, located 70 kilometers from St. Petersburg, but ... Most likely, for financial reasons, the German-Russian project never took place. A year later, the machines and dies in Hainichen were simply disposed of, turning this page of its history forever.

1986 Barkas B1000 - longboat

Barkas (VEB Barkas-Werke) is an automaker in the GDR, which from 1961 to 1991 produced minibuses and delivery vans of the B1000 model, as well as light trucks and special vehicles based on them.

The production was created on the basis of the Framo car plant in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz), which was nationalized by the government of the GDR.

The assembly production of the enterprise was distinguished by low automation and a high proportion of manual labor. At the same time, the only produced model had not undergone major modernization for several decades, and by the beginning of the 1990s. very outdated. After the unification of Germany, Barkas products turned out to be uncompetitive, and on April 10, 1991, the car factory's conveyor was stopped.

In 1993, the equipment of the enterprise was dismantled and packed for shipment to Russia in order to organize the production of minibuses at the Kirov plant near St. Petersburg, however, due to the lack of freely convertible currency from the Russian side, the deal did not take place, and all the cargo prepared for shipment was scrapped.

Currently, the site of the former Chemnitz plant is located assembly production Volkswagen engines.

Barkas B1000

general information

Engines

Weight:

1324 kg

In the early 1950s. the leadership of East Germany was tasked with creating a multi-purpose truck with a carrying capacity of 1 ton, capable of moving at a speed of 100 km / h. In 1956, a prototype of a van called L1 was built, a year later, a prototype of a minibus, which for several years passed more than 1 million km of tests. Design features promising models were: wagon layout, bearing all-metal body, independent torsion suspension, front-wheel drive.

The first production batch of cars was produced on June 14, 1961. Originally installed two-stroke three-cylinder engine with air cooled from Wartburg-311 with 28 hp. was boosted to 42 hp, in 1972 - up to 45 hp, while the design was introduced additional system cooling.

On May 15, 1969, the Barkas B1000 was assembled with the Moskvich-412 power unit. However, the Soviet side refused to supply this engine, since it accounted for more profitable export supplies. Also, attempts to install a diesel engine and bring the carrying capacity to 1.3 tons failed.

In the next two decades, the design of the car underwent changes in the steering, clutch mechanism and lighting technology, in 1987 a sliding side door was installed in the van.

In 1989, the series went four-stroke diesel engines Volkswagen, model received an index B1000-1.

A total of 175,740 Barkas B1000 cars and 1961 B1000 / 1s minibuses were produced.

Modifications Barkas B1000

Barkas B1000 1.0 MT

Classmates Barkas B1000 by price

Unfortunately, this model has no classmates ...

Owner reviews Barkas B1000

Barkas B1000, 1984

A unique car of the socialist era. A specially designed machine for raising the national economy of the GDR. Front-wheel drive, 3-cylinder, 2-stroke 45 hp engine. Torsion bar suspension, freewheel gearbox, semi-automatic type, if you release the gas, the car rolls on neutral gear, press the gas - Barkas B1000 smoothly picks up. Loading capacity 900 kg. Electronic economizer, LED fuel level and temperature, coil for each candle. For those times Hi-tech... At a time when our Zhiguli cost 15 thousand marks in the GDR and there were queues for it, Barkas B1000 cost 150 thousand marks and could be sold into private hands only with the personal permission of Eric Honecker. The car was intended only for use in organizations and was produced on more than 13 different chassis. Now this exhibit is carefully used for outdoor walks and parties in nature. I sold the car, Barkas B1000 went to Tyumen, but a warm attitude towards this brand remained, in our city there are still a lot of such riders and maybe I will still have Barkas in the ranks of my rarities.

Dignity : it is simply a unique car.

Flaws : you can close your eyes to them.

Alexey, Kostroma

Barkas B1000, 1986

I got Barkas B1000 from my grandfather. He was already very good condition, but, of course, I had to dig deeper into it: repairing the pump, regulating the ignition, bringing the engine into working order. This car was produced in 1986, production of the GDR. Displacement 0.992 l 46 Hp, 2-stroke 3-cylinder engine, gasoline mixed with oil 1/50. Front-wheel drive, there is a blocking of the driving wheels, a 4-speed manual transmission, which allows you to roll forward without switching off the gear. Independent torsion bar suspension, Barkas B1000 has 7 passenger seats, there is a sunroof for ventilation and the car is equipped with an independent interior heater that runs on gasoline (there is a separate 5-liter tank - it heats up so that you will not freeze in winter). Electric heating provided rear window... All parts of this car except tires and battery are original. Even a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher and a factory jack. On the road, the Barkas B1000 behaves quite steadily, due to its mass and torsion bar suspension, shallow pits and a gravel road are not perceptible for it. It picks up speed slowly, but after 60 km / h it is quite torquey, the optimal speed is 80. The car is in decent condition. At the moment, Barkas is an indispensable assistant in household and active recreation. Our plans are to keep the Barkas B1000 in its original form.

Dignity : a great car of its era.

Flaws : needs attention. Age.

Dmitry, Smolensk

Barkas B1000, 1970

So, we have a 1970 Barkas B1000 with a dead engine and a good body. A comfortable minibus with a reliable power unit, good brakes, and quite roomy. I will restore, as the condition of this unit leaves much to be desired. The choice was made in favor of a 1.8 liter engine and a VW Passat B2 gearbox. This unit, which is very common in our area, is distinguished by unsurpassed reliability, simplicity, low price and availability of spare parts. And it's a pleasure to work with him - he understands and assembles like a Kalashnikov assault rifle. And in terms of size and weight, it is not much larger than the native 2-ton, and even more so 4-ton.

Dignity : a car for connoisseurs.

Flaws : needs attention.

In socialist Germany, they were issued as cars and trucks. The most famous cars of the socialist period are, of course, Trabant and Wartburg. However, there was in the GDR and his "immortal Rafik" - a small minibus called Barkas, whose history is closely connected with the history of the German engineering industry in the pre-war period.

Origins

At the end of the 19th century, a Dane by nationality named Jorgen Skafte Rasmunsen received his engineering education in Germany. He did not return to his historical homeland, but settled in Central Saxony: in the German city of Chemnitz, Rasmunsen opened a small enterprise for the production of valves, and a little later the production facilities were moved by Jorgen to the city of Zschopau.

The factory belonged to the engineering industry, because it produced steam engines and metal products. After the First World War in Chopau "on the head of the day" a new production was created - a plant for the production of ferry vehicles under the name DKW, which eventually became under this brand the largest manufacturer of gasoline engines for bicycles, as well as a manufacturer of mopeds and motorcycles. The company was doing so well that by the end of the twenties, DKW had become perhaps the most famous and popular German brand of cars and two-wheeled vehicles.

In addition to engines and power system units, on the basis of DKW motorcycle units, Framo began to produce light three-wheeled vans and trucks, and a little later, four-wheeled trucks. More than five thousand different vehicles with a carrying capacity from 0.5 to 1.2 tons were produced in Frankenberg a year. Thus, by the end of the thirties, the Saxon company became one of the main manufacturers of light commercial vehicles in Germany.

Alas, the SECOND WORLD WAR IMPACTED THE FATE OF THE FACTORY LIKE THE OTHER GERMAN AUTOMOBILE PLANTS: AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FORTIES, FRAMO WAS RE-PROFILED AND FULLY TRANSFERRED TO THE PRODUCTION OF PRODUCTION OF MILITARY WASHING COMPONENTS.

On the remains of the former Framo in the first post-war years in Central Saxony, a simple car repair shop somehow functioned. However, in 1949, the company was nationalized, along the way including it into the large industrial association IFA (Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau). After all, the former legacy of pre-war Germany - the automobile industry - was an important branch of the economy of the socialist GDR. At the same time, all the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), which included East Germany, collectively gave the go-ahead for the release of this or that type of transport. That is why, for example, in Hungary in the post-war period, cars were not produced.
The plant, named Werk Framo Hainichen, has been producing a pre-war Framo V501 truck equipped with a two-cylinder two-stroke engine since the early fifties, as well as the more modern Framo V901 truck.

The automotive industry in the GDR, as well as in socialist Czechoslovakia, underwent a number of different structural changes, as a result of which the former Framo factory was renamed VEB Barkas Verke Hainichen in 1958. The form of ownership of the plant, which received the abbreviation VEB (German: Volkseigener Betrieb - "people's enterprise"), was characteristic of almost all post-war enterprises in the engineering industry of the GDR. As a rule, its small factories were part of larger production associations.

New time - new van

The country's leadership instructed the designers of the enterprise from Karl-Marx-Stadt to develop delivery vehicles of a fundamentally new generation. Interestingly, initially, on the same platform, it was planned to produce both all-metal vans and flatbed trucks. Another key difference between a promising development and its predecessors is the progressive design. Cabover wagon layout, independent torsion bar suspension, front-wheel drive, monocoque body - in a word, the project had more than enough innovations. We remind you that we were talking about post-war socialist Germany, which was just getting on its feet after the devastating consequences for this country in the aftermath of World War II. However, there is an explanation for everything: the automotive industry in Germany in the pre-war period was at such a high level of development that no shocks could lead to the degradation of the design school.

Without further ado, the new model was named the same as the company itself - Barkas. In order to speed up the process of developing a new model and reduce production costs, the country's leadership made a strategic decision - to unify the new van with "passenger" products from other GDR factories. That is why Barkas received a three-cylinder two-stroke engine from a Wartburg 311 passenger car. A compact two-stroke with a volume of 966 "cubes" developed about 37 horsepower - not God knows what, but for a light delivery truck with a carrying capacity of 1 ton such "power equipment" should have been enough.

Already in 1956, the first prototypes of the all-metal van were manufactured, which were soon supplemented with minibuses of various configurations and purposes. After all, Barkas had to take on the whole heap of tasks for the transportation of small cargo and passengers, including such a specific area as ambulance and fire service.

In a couple of years, almost four dozen different prototypes were manufactured, which, until 1961, passed various tests, having wound over a million kilometers on their pre-production wheels. During this time, various design flaws were identified and eliminated, and the future Barkas finally got its usual look.

THE MODEST, LADY AND LACQUER DESIGN OF THE BARKASA PROVED SO INTEGRATED THAT THE PASSING TRENDS AND FREQUENCIES OF AUTOMOTIVE FASHION HAS NO IMPACT ON THE APPEARANCE OF THE CAR. WITH THIS ALL YEARS OF ITS RELEASE, THE UNIQUE BARKAS DIDN'T LOOK OUTDATE - IT JUST WAS A PERFECT PRODUCT OF ITS ERA.

The reverse side of the coin is the complete immunity of the exterior to modifications and "modernization" with the help of primitive cosmetic techniques.

The shuttle of socialism

In the summer of 1961, the serial production of Barkas was launched, and the bodies of monophonic vans under the name Barkas B1000 were manufactured in Karl-Marx-Stadt, and the final presentation of the cars took on all the same in Heinichen. As you might guess, the digital index of Barkas indicated its maximum carrying capacity.

LIKE THE OTHER VEHICLES OF EASTERN EUROPEAN PRODUCTION, "BARKASIKI" HAPPENED BY ITS TWO-TAKE CARS, DELIVERING CARGO AND PASSENGERS IN DIFFERENT CITIES OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC.

In small quantities, the Barkas were delivered abroad - of course, to the CMEA countries. In particular, East German vans worked in the Hungarian postal service.

The model also received a very flattering assessment from professionals, because a modest-looking machine with its own weight of 1,200 kg could carry almost the same amount of baggage by weight, and in an all-metal body, due to the rationality of the cabover layout and front-wheel drive, about six cubic meters of cargo was placed. The absence of a propeller shaft and torsion bar suspension favorably influenced the height of the floor, which in addition turned out to be completely flat.

In addition to the van itself, in the mid-sixties, other modifications appeared in the Barkas lineup - a truck with an onboard platform on a spar frame and an eight-seater minibus. In addition, over time, the car has become a little better technically, having received a dual-circuit brake system and an electric windshield washer. For comparison: the first Soviet "kopecks" used a primitive rubber "bulb" with a mechanical washer drive.

A light truck with an onboard platform was used in many sectors of the GDR

Excursion road train based on Barkas B1000

To ensure an acceptable level of comfort in the cold season, the designers had to install an autonomous interior heater on the passenger versions of minibuses, which externally was given out only by an additional door with slots on the left side. And in a hot period, the life of the inhabitants of the cabin was facilitated by the presence of an opening sunroof. However, the problems associated with the summer heat arose not only among passengers, but also in the power unit, which is why the cooling system of the minibus was repeatedly modernized.

In 1972, the "ageless" Barkas finally got a new "heart" - an engine from Wartburg 353. In the same decade, the Barkas underwent a series of upgrades and design changes, the purpose of which was to comply with the new international safety and emission standards. In the course of improvements, minibuses, vans and trucks received seat belts for the driver and front passenger, new optics, alternator, cable clutch instead of hydraulic, more modern steering and power system ...

Thus, by the beginning of the eighties, the technical part of the car became noticeably more modern and more perfect, and in 1983 the Barkas B1000 was finally updated externally. However, the models with the code name "83" and "84" will be immediately distinguished from their predecessors only by a big fan of these minibuses, since all the changes in the exterior were reduced to the installation of other bumpers with a rubber strip and front foglights. The interior of the upgraded version has a new dashboard. Late Barkasy can also be distinguished by the type of side door - since 1988 it has become sliding instead of the usual swing door.

Instances produced in the eighties are easily distinguished by the bumpers with a black stripe.

As in the case of the Wartburg and the Trabi, the changes in the state system favorably influenced the construction of the Barkas, but did not affect its fate in the best way. In other words, commercial vehicles were also transferred to Volkswagen traction, because in 1989, licensed engines were already produced in the GDR. Volkswagen golf... Like the car from Eisenach, Barkas received another "heart" - a 1.3-liter petrol engine with a capacity of 58 liters. with. The four-cylinder four-stroke engine was quite modern by the standards of the eighties, structurally being an analogue of the Soviet G8 unit.

Like the debut of the first Barkas in 1962, the updated Barkas B1000-1 was shown at the Leipzig Fair in 1989, and since 1990, the serial production of the modernized Barkasiks began.

Alas, the "bolivar of capitalism could not stand these three": like Wartburg and Trabant, even with a new power unit, the hopelessly outdated minibus was simply not in demand by the market in the new conditions. After all, a huge stream of used equipment from Germany poured into the former socialist republic - including commercial vans and vans like the VW T2. Of course, the "specter of socialism", even if it had lost its primitive two-stroke, looked pale in comparison with the "bourgeoisie". In addition, over the course of several decades, the East Germans had already, as they say, “gorged” on Barkasov, and the Western consumer was not interested in such a product at the conceptual level.

That is why the life path of Barkas B1000-1 turned out to be very short - until 1991, less than 2,000 updated cars were produced, and in just thirty years of conveyor experience in Hainichen, more than 177,000 round-to-the-cute Barkas were assembled.

Even with an archaic two-stroke, Barkas aroused great interest among the residents of the Soviet Union, because it was simply impossible to get a car of this class and purpose for personal use before! In addition, it turned out that the German car, even in the "used" form, is quite unpretentious and reliable, and in practice the Barkasov proved to be in order with efficiency.

IN THE SPIRIT OF TIME IN THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETIES IN RUSSIA A CRAZY "PROJECT" WAS BORN: THE EQUIPMENT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MINIBUSES AND VANES DECIDED TO BUY THE KIROVDU VAN FOR THE GERMANS.

Nevertheless, out of almost two hundred thousand copies issued over 30 years, many Barkas survived. In the CIS countries, these cars, of course, were used "all the way" for the most direct purpose - that is, for the transportation of goods and passengers, while in the former GDR itself, a nice minibus already in the new century has become a kind of symbol of a bygone era - as vehicle various state-owned enterprises, and the main asset of cooperators and small entrepreneurs.

Despite its modest power and utilitarian essence, Barkas played an important role in the formation of the post-war German state, which is still not forgotten in its historical homeland. The remaining in service copies, as a rule, are found as nostalgic "oldtimers" in East Germany - of course, these machines are in the appropriate technical condition.