Tarpan Honker
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Honker (initially known as Tarpan Honker) is a Polish multi-purpose all-terrain pick-up truck. Created in 1984, it is still in production in a variety of models. It is best known as the light truck used 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 KGHM company, which uses them for transport of mineworkers underground.
[edit] History
The prototype of the Honker was created in 1984 in the Farming Vehicles Works (FSR) in Poznań. Based on the earlier design of the Tarpan car, it was to replace it as the basic Polish-made pick-up truck in public service. However, it was not until 1988 that the serial production was started. The car was produced in two varieties:
- Tarpan Honker 4012, a typical hard top with room for up to 10 passengers
- 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 more narrow (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 Honker, without any indication of its' relation to the earlier Tarpan.
In late 1996 the design was bought by the Daewoo Motor Polska 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 creation of a modernized Daewoo Honker II with either 4x2 or 4x4 propulsion, 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 numbers and in 2003 created two modernized versions, both in a hard-top pick-up combination. The other was Intrall Polska, which in 2004 created another offspring, the off-road car Honker MAX. In addition, in 2004 the Honker saw yet another modification: an armoured heavier version Honker Skorpion 3 was created specifically for the Polish Army forces in Iraq.
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