Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau (),
usually abbreviated as IFA, was a conglomerate and a union of companies for
vehicle
A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...
construction in the former
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
.
IFA produced
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
s,
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
s,
light commercial vehicle
A light commercial vehicle (LCV) in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand is a commercial carrier vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 metric tons (tonnes). The LCV designation is also occasionally used in both Cana ...
s,
automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
s,
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
s,
vans and heavy
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...
s. All East German vehicle manufacturers were part of the IFA, including
Barkas,
EMW (which made
Wartburg cars),
IWL,
MZ,
Multicar,
Robur,
Sachsenring (which made
Trabant
Trabant () is a series of B-segment, small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East Germany, East German car manufacturer HQM Sachsenring GmbH, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant P 50, Trabant 50 ...
cars) and
Simson.
Car production
IFA cars were based on pre-war ''
DKW'' designs and made in the former
Horch factory in
Zwickau
Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,.
The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...
. The
F8 had a two-cylinder engine, and the
F9 had a three-cylinder unit. The F8 bodies were straight copies of the pre-war models, and rapidly looked old-fashioned, but some had more modern coachwork by
Baur of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, then in
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
. The three cylinder cars (F9) had not got into production before war broke out in 1939, and so had more up to date bodies similar to the West German DKWs. More than 26,000 F8's and 30,000 F9s were built. IWL produced
W50 and
L60 trucks and
Robur light trucks and vans.
The IFA badge was dropped from cars in 1956, and the F8s became
Zwickau P70s, and the F9 was rebodied to become the
Wartburg and production transferred to
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...
.
Vehicle gallery
Two wheels
Image:Emw-R35-mit-hinterradfederung.jpg, EMW R 35, 1951–55
File:Pitty rechts.jpg, IWL ''Pitty'', 1954–55
File:Troll001.jpg, IWL TR 150 ''Troll'' 1, 1962–1965
Image:RT125.JPG, MZ 125/3, 1959–1962
Image:TS 1501.JPG, MZ TS 150 "Luxus", 1973–1985
Image:TS 2501.JPG, MZ TS 250/1 "Luxus", 1976–1981
Image:MZ ETZ250.JPG, MZ ETZ 250
Image:Simson Schwalbe.jpg, Simson Schwalbe
Image:Simson S51B.JPG, Simson S51
Cars
Image:Wartburg-2006-09.jpg, IFA F8
Image:IFA-F9.jpg, IFA F9
Image:1952-55 EMW 340 Limousine, at Wartburg 2006-08.jpg, EMW 340 limousine
Image:Sachsenring-P-240-Cabriolet.jpg, P 240 ''Sachsenring'' cabriolet
Image:Trabant P50 front.jpg, Trabant P50
Image:Trabant601K.jpg, Trabant 601 S Universal
Image:Wartburg 312.jpg, Wartburg 312 Camping
File:Wartburg 353 by Hobson's Conduit 1988.jpg, 1985 Wartburg 353 saloon
Transporters, trucks and tractors
Image:Framo barkas pritsche.jpg, Framo
Image:Barkas B1000 Pritsche.jpg, Barkas B1000 flatbed truck
Image:Multicar.JPG, Multicar M 25
Image:Robur 2005.jpg, Robur LD 3000
File:H3 Front.png, IFA H3
File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006203 006 Ansicht eines IFA H3 während der Fahrt vor dem H.jpg, IFA H3A
Image:IFA G5 Tankwagen mit Anhänger.jpg, G5
File:S4000.png, IFA S4000
File:IFA H6 Pritsche (schwarz).jpg, IFA H6
Image:IFA H6B S Dresden.jpg, IFA H6 bus
file:W 50 L Blau.jpg, IFA W 50
Image:IFA L60.jpg, IFA L 60
Image:IFA Pionier RS 01-40, August Horch Museum Zwickau.jpg, IFA Pionier RS
References
External links
UK-based official Wartburg, Trabant and IFA owners' club
{{Authority control
Defunct truck manufacturers
Defunct bus manufacturers
Emergency services equipment makers
Motorcycle manufacturers of Germany
Cycle manufacturers of Germany
Car manufacturers of East Germany
Bus manufacturers of Germany