The Intrall Honker was the Polish off-roader built by Intrall Polska in Lublin between 2004 and 2007. The Honker had already served the Polish army under the Tarpan, Daewoo and Andoria names, and under Intrall it gained new versions before the company went bankrupt.
Intrall Honker at a glance
| Maker | Intrall Polska, Lublin, Poland |
|---|---|
| Production as Intrall | 2004–2007 |
| Earlier names | Tarpan Honker 1988–1997, Daewoo Honker 1997–2001, Andoria Honker 2001–2003 |
| Body | three-door, ladder frame, rigid axles on leaf springs |
| Seating | two front seats and two four-person benches in the rear |
| Diesel engines | Iveco 2.5; Andoria 4CT90 turbo, later 4CTi90 |
| Petrol engine | FSO Polonez units |
| 2004 addition | Honker Max with raised off-road ability |
| 2005 change | the marque became Intrall Honker |
| 2006 prototype | five-door with independent front suspension, not produced |
| End | production stopped with Intrall’s bankruptcy in 2007 |
| Later | DZT Honker 2009–2012, Honker 4×4 2012–2018 |
The Honker is described in the Polish Wikipedia article on the Tarpan Honker; the English article on Intrall supplies the company background. No free photographs of the Intrall-era Honker were found, so the page has no new pictures.
History of the Intrall Honker
From Tarpan to Daewoo
Work on the first Polish off-roader of this class began in the late 1970s, mainly to replace imported Soviet UAZ 469s for the army and state users. The PW-2 prototype was shown in 1984, and series production started in 1988 at the agricultural vehicle works in Poznań as the Tarpan 4011, later called the Tarpan 4WD Honker. Its Polish FSO AA engine of 75 hp proved too weak, so Iveco engines were adopted for the Tarpan Honker 4012 ten-seat hardtop and the 4022 two-seat crew model. The name was chosen in a competition and officially explained as the English word for the cry of wild geese returning to their nests; in fact it had been the codename of the Polish attack on Monte Cassino in the Second World War. An ambulance version, the Honker 4021, was built in small series from 1989.
The Honker in Lublin
In spring 1996 Daewoo Motor Polska bought the licence and the production tooling and moved the Honker to Lublin, where production started in 1997 as the Daewoo Honker 2324 with Andoria 4CT90 engines and some parts shared with the Lublin vans. A facelifted Daewoo Honker 2000 followed in September 2000. After Daewoo’s collapse the Honker passed to Andoria-Mot, which restarted production briefly in May 2002 and showed pickup and flatbed versions at the Poznań Motor Show in 2003.
Under Intrall
From 2004 the Honker was built by Intrall Polska, which in April 2004 presented the Honker Max, a more thoroughly off-road version with raised cross-country ability. In 2005 the marque was changed to Intrall Honker. In 2006 a modernised five-door prototype was shown with a fully redesigned independent front suspension on wishbones, torsion bars and hydraulic dampers, while the rear suspension was left unchanged; this version was never put into production. Intrall itself went bankrupt in 2007. The Honker line was later bought by DZT Tymińscy, which built the DZT Honker from 2009 to 2012 and the Honker 4×4 from 2012 to 2018.
Design and features
- Military origins: designed to replace the UAZ 469 in Polish army service.
- Simple chassis: a ladder frame with rigid axles on leaf springs and a three-door body.
- Flexible seating: two front seats and two four-person benches along the rear walls, with individual seats as an option.
- Honker Max: the 2004 version with raised off-road ability.
- Five-door prototype: the 2006 study with independent front suspension, never produced.
Intrall Honker versions
- Intrall Honker (2004–2007): the standard three-door hardtop and flatbed models.
- Honker Max (2004): a more capable off-road version.
- Pickup and flatbed: load-carrying bodies shown by Andoria-Mot in 2003 and continued by Intrall.
- Five-door prototype (2006): a single study with independent front suspension.
- Later DZT Honker: the same vehicle built by DZT Tymińscy from 2009.
The Honker was built in the same Lublin factory as the Intrall Lublin van. The company that gave the model its last name is described in the article on the Intrall marque.
Sources
- Tarpan Honker, Polish Wikipedia: design, engines, Intrall years, later production
- Intrall, English Wikipedia: company history, end of production
