The IFA G5 is an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

three-axle truck produced by IFA from 1952 to 1964.

History

The IFA G5 series was produced in the VEB Kraftfahrzeugwerk "Ernst Grube",

Werdau Werdau () is a town in Germany, part of the Landkreis Zwickau in Saxony. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 8 km from Zwickau. The town was mentioned as early as 1304, and in 1398 it was purchased by Frederick, then margrave of Meissen ...

. The plant was part of the ''IFA'' combine and succeeded the Schumann works in Werdau. The development of the truck began during World War II in the Vogtland Maschinenfabrik AG ( Vomag). Although the Soviet occupation forces completely dissolved Vomag shortly after the end of the war, further development was carried out at

Auto Union Auto Union AG was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm for ...

and

Horch Horch () was a German car manufacturer, which traced its roots to several companies founded in the late 19th and early 20th century by August Horch. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the ...

. In the Eastern bloc, the G5 series competed against the Soviet ZIS-151 lorry.

Technical description

The G5 is a three-axle lorry with rear wheel drive (6×4) and switchable front wheel drive (6×6). It has no central differential, which means that turning on front-wheel drive will send different amounts of torque to the front an rear axles; there is no option to send the same torque to each axle, therefore, the all-wheel drive system is not suited for on-road driving. The cab was manufactured in several different versions, such as a closed cab, crew cab, cab with soft top, and a cab with fold-down windscreen. The G5 series and H6 series, which were built in

simultaneously, share several components. The G5 was available in different versions, such as dump truck, crane truck, box body lorry, tarpaulin lorry, tanker,

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...

, and fire engine.

Users

The main customers for these trucks were the

Alert police The ''Bereitschaftspolizei'' (literally 'Readiness Police'/On-Call Police (Reserve); effectively riot police), abbreviated BePo, are the support and rapid reaction units of Germany's police forces. They are composed of detachments from the Fe ...

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

(NVA), and the People's Police. Vehicles of

Combat Groups of the Working Class The Combat Groups of the Working Class (, KdA) was a paramilitary organization in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1953 to 1989. The KdA served as the '' de facto'' militia of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany composed of party ...

were used as

s on 13 August 1961, during the construction of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. Despite low demand, the number of G5 built was not sufficient to fulfill it. Decommissioned NVA G5s were later used in agricultural production cooperatives (LPG), as Minol fuel tankers, and as fire engines (TLF 15) with crew cabin.

Successor

There were two G5 generations, the G5/1, and the G5/2. A successor to the G5 series was developed in the late 1950s. This so-called G5/3 had a V8 diesel engine displacing 12.5 litres, single tyres rather than twin tyres, and a tyre pressure control system. In total, 4 prototypes and 2 pre-series production models were built in 1958/59 and 1961. Further development was cancelled in favour of the new IFA W50. It is said that reasons for abandoning the G5 series were the economic situation in East Germany, but also its high complexity (engine and tyres), low demand, and the necessity to upgrade IFA's Werdau plant for the G5/3's series production.

Gallery

Bundesarchiv Bild 173-1282, Berlin, Brandenburger Tor, Wasserwerfer.jpg, G5 based ''SK-2'' at the

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...

during the building of the

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-66203-0004, VEB Spezialfahrzeugwerk Berlin, Kehrmaschine.jpg, The G5 airfield sweeping machine, mady by the VEB special vehicle factory in Berlin, has a working width of 8 metres (1959) Fotothek df ps 0000071 Tiefbauarbeiten für die Bebauung der Ernst-Thälmann-Straß.jpg, G5 dumptruck IFA G5 Tankwagen (Minol) W50 Plane.jpg, MINOL G5 4,000 litre tanker with 4500 litre trailer IFA G5 Koffer Volkspolizei.jpg,

Volkspolizei The (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the or VoPo, was the national uniformed police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a highly- centralized agency re ...

truckbus A combination bus, also called a truck bus or shift bus, is a purpose-built truck with a "passenger container" fulfilling the role of a bus. Such vehicles used to be common in developing countries. Alternative combination buses can be a passen ...

Tlf 15 nva.jpg, NVA G5 ''TLF 15'' fire engine Tlf 15 g5.jpg, G5 ''TLF 15'' fire engine

Bibliography

* Christian Suhr: ** G5 – Der Dreiachser aus Werdau/G5 - The six-wheeler from Werdau, Reichenbach / V. Halle / S. 2007, . ** Nutzfahrzeuge aus Werdau/Trucks from Werdau, Klaus Rabe, Willich 2003. . * Günther Wappler: Geschichte des Zwickauer und Werdauer Nutzfahrzeugbaues/History of Zwickau and Werdauer Trucks, Verlag Bergstraße, Aue 2002. * Hartmut Frank Hunter: IFA-Hauber aus Zwickau und Werdau (Feuerwehrarchiv)/IFA Hauber from Zwickau and Werdau (Fire Archive) Verlag Technik, Berlin 1999. .

References

External links

''G5-Modelle bei der KVP/NVA''/G5 models in the Alert Police/NVA

''Wasserwerfer G5 SK-2''/Water cannons G5 SK-2

* ttp://www.ifaclub.co.uk UK-based official Wartburg, Trabant and IFA owners' club {{Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau Military of East Germany Military trucks of Germany Riot control equipment IFA vehicles Vehicles introduced in 1952