Honker (initially known as Tarpan Honker, also Daewoo Honker, Andoria Honker, Intrall Honker 4x4, and DZT Tymińscy Honker) is a Polish multi-purpose off-road vehicle. Shown as a prototype in 1984, it was produced in a variety of models. It is best known for its use by the Polish Army both at home and in Iraq. Apart from the army and police forces, the company to own the largest number of Honkers is the Polish KGHM company, which uses them to transport miners underground.
History
The prototype of the Honker was created in 1984 in the Fabryka Samochodów Rolniczych (Farming Vehicles Works) or FSR in Poznań. Based on the earlier design of the
FSR Tarpan, it was to replace it as the basic Polish-made light commercial off-road vehicle in public services, a role previously held by both its predecessor and the imported Soviet UAZ-469. However, it was not until 1988 that serial production was started. The car was produced in two variants:
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Tarpan Honker 4012, a typical hardtop with room for up to 10 passengers
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Tarpan Honker 4022, a pick-up truck with room for 2 passengers
Soon after production started, the FSR started the construction of a new, slightly shorter, and narrower (2210 mm) version, which received the designation of
Honker 4032. Although the prototype never entered serial production, it was the first car to be known solely as a Honker, without any indication of its relation to the earlier Tarpan.
In late 1996 the design was bought by the Daewoo company, who decided to continue the production in Lublin. The interior design was slightly modified and the car received the new designation of Daewoo Honker 2324. The car did not differ much from the original version and was available in the same set of options. There were plans for the creation of a modernized Daewoo Honker II with either Two-wheel drive or 4x4 drive, but they were called off and instead the factory only modified the external design and continued the production under a new name of Daewoo Honker 2000.
After the bankruptcy of Daewoo, the license was inherited by two companies. Andoria-Mot continued the production in small quantities from 2002–2003, and in 2003 created two modernized versions, both in a hard-top pick-up combination. Intrall made the Honker from Jan. 2004-Spring 2007. In 2004, Intrall created another model, the heavier off-road oriented Honker MAX. In addition, in 2004 the Honker saw yet another modification; a heavy armored and mine-protected version, the Honker Skorpion 3, was created specifically for the Polish Army forces in Iraq.
In 2016, the company producing the Honker, , filed for bankruptcy, ending the production of the vehicle.
Variants
Honker vehicles were produced in multiple versions, including hardtop versions,
, and
Pickup truck. Honkers produced up to 1992 used the M20 (taken from the
FSO Warszawa) gasoline engines shared with Żuk and
ZSD Nysa trucks.
Firstly, FSR put gasoline engines from the
FSO Polonez car, next 2.5-litre
Iveco diesel engines (most famously used in the
Renault Master and
Iveco Daily), and from 1997 onwards used the Andoria turbodiesel engines 4CT90 and later 4CTi90. The truck has a three-door body, based on a rigid frame bridges driving the leaf springs.
Production
Production models of Honker was low, reaching a maximum level of a few hundred vehicles. In Poznan in 1992, FSR built 450 vehicles in 1992; 314 vehicles in 1994; and 288 vehicles in 1995. FSR production stopped in early 1996.
In mid 1996 Daewoo bought the rights and established Daewoo Motor Poland Sp. Ltd. to produce vehicles. Production resumed in autumn 1996 trials for the assembly of Honkers in Lublin. In both factories, they built only around 20 autos.
Yearly production were as follows:
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1997 - 155 vehicles were produced
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1998 – 232 vehicles were produced
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1999 – about 350 vehicles were produced
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2000 – about 200 vehicles were produced
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2001 – about 30-50 vehicles were produced
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2002 – about 140 vehicles were produced
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2003 – about 278 vehicles were produced
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2004 – 495 vehicles were produced
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2005 – 177 vehicles were produced
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2006 – 245 vehicles were produced
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2007 – 35 vehicles were produced
In the spring of 2007, production was again suspended.
In 2008, the Ukrainian company DP Naftogazbud Polior planned to begin production of a modernized version of the Honker but for unknown reasons production never started there.
In 2009, Syndyk DMP, the owner of the rights to Honker, sold the company to DZT Tymińscy, which then restarted production of the Honker.
Operators
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– 3 Honkers in use by mine agencies.
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– dozen Honker Skorpion 3 (probably unarmed) in use by Iraqi army.
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– used by Latvian Forces in Iraq.
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– used by Lithuanian Forces in Iraq.
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– used by Nigerian Armed Forces.
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– in use by Polish Land Forces, Policja, and others.
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– several dozen Honkers were bought from Polish Land Forces by citizens of Ternopil (fund-raiser). Honkers were also renovated and sent to the War in Donbas.
Gallery
File:Kołobrzeg - Honker regulacja ruchu.jpg|Honker in Kołobrzeg
File:Pokaz 1 Pomorskiej Brygady Logistycznej.jpg|Honker Skorpion-3
File:Honker Baryton.jpg|Honker Baryton
File:Wojsko Polskie Irak DA-SD-05-12334.JPEG|Honker Skorpion-3 and a ZWD-3 command vehicle based on a Honker in Iraq during the Iraq War
File:PL Tarpan Honker MIL car.JPG|Tarpan Honker
File:Szkolenie_przed_IV_zmian%C4%85_PKW_Irak_%2818%29.jpg | Presentation of Honker Skorpion 3 before mission in Iraq in 2003
File:Honker long web.jpg|4x4 LWB Honker to offer for a civilian market
File:Polish_CIMIC_vehicles_in_Iraq.JPEG |A convoy for the Polish CIMIC group (Civilian Military Cooperation) heads to an elementary school in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq on January 19, 2005. They are going to deliver school supplies and toys.
File:SLRt_FSR_Tarpan_Honker_from_Muzeum_Ratownictwa_during_%22Stra%C5%BC_po%C5%BCarna_wczoraj_i_dzi%C5%9B%22_exhibition_on_Jeziora%C5%84skiego_square_in_Krak%C3%B3w_3.jpg |Honker in fire engine version. This fire engine served for many years in one of the SOPiRG ArcelorMittal Polska fire fighting units.
File:Honker_MSPO15_DSC02737.jpg| Honker in 5-door version with new Polish camouflage, demonstrated on Defence Industry Exposition (MSPO) in Kielce in 2015. Note the new HONKER brand logo on the car.
File:Polish CASA-295M (20).jpg|Polish CASA C-295 transporting a military Honker
File:Polish Tarpan Honker.JPG|C-130 transporting a Honker
External links
