IFA P3

P3
Assembly 1962/63:	VEB Cooperation Center Automobile Construction Karl-Marx-Stadt
Assembly 1963–1965:	VEB Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde
Assembly 1965/66:	VEB Automobilwerke Ludwigsfelde
Production period:	1962-1966
Previous model:	IFA P2M
Successor:	none

Restored P3

The P3 is an all-terrain vehicle ( SUV ), which in the GDR for military use in the NVA and border troops of the GDR was produced.

history

The name "Sachsenring P3", which has often been found since 1990, comes from the fact that the vehicle's engine was produced by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau . It is a six-cylinder gasoline engine that engineers at the former Auto Union factory in Siegmar (formerly Wanderer ) in Chemnitz designed for use in the IFA P2M in the 1950s . The Sachsenring factory in Zwickau later also produced the engine for the P3. This was a further development of the P2M engine with an engine block made of aluminum instead of gray cast iron and an output of 75 hp (P2M: 65 hp). That is why all P3 engines have the "Sachsenring" label on the nameplate as the manufacturer. In a modified form with a larger oil pan ( pressure circulation instead of dry sump lubrication ) and a modified camshaft , the engine with 80 hp was also found in the Horch P 240 "Sachsenring" built from 1956 onwards .

After the production stop of the P2M, the P3 was created as a completely new design at the end of the 1950s. Contrary to what is often assumed, both designs did not tie in with military vehicles that had been developed and built in the Auto Union plants in Saxony before 1945 , such as those designed by Auto Union in the mid-1930s on behalf of the Army Weapons Office and by other manufacturers ( Ford and Opel ) built medium and heavy unit cars of the Wehrmacht . The P3 was designed by a design office specifically entrusted with military developments - the KEW (Motor Vehicle Development Plant) in Hohenstein-Ernstthal in Saxony  .

After a long search, the first assembly company for the P3 was "Object 37" - a camouflage name for a vehicle repair company of SDAG Wismut  - for the start of series production. The company was located on the site of the former Auto Union plant in Siegmar (formerly Wanderer ) in Chemnitz-Siegmar . Officially, in the literature and on the vehicle nameplates, "VEB Cooperation Center Automobilbau Karl-Marx-Stadt" was specified, a network that was essentially created to organize and coordinate the efforts to build the P3, as the car was due to its complexity did not fit into the production profile of a single manufacturer in the GDR. In this respect, “Object 37” was also a temporary solution. VEB Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde was soon chosen to produce the required quantities . In the course of its production time, the P3 thus had two manufacturers to whom numerous companies supplied the required assemblies.

In the mid-1960s, the East German representatives did not oppose the internal Comecon decision to stop building all-terrain vehicles in the GDR. That meant the end of production for the P3. All-terrain vehicles that were still required were obtained from the Soviet Union by the NVA, such as GAZ and UAZ . There was no successor to the P3. After this, off-road cars were no longer mass-produced in the GDR. A smaller vehicle, the so-called IFA K900 small bucket , was only a sketch of ideas.

technology

• Length / width / height: 3.71 m / 1.95 m / 1.95 m
• Empty weight: 1860 kg
• Permissible total weight: 2560 kg
• Engine: six-cylinder - gasoline engine , type OM6-35L
  • Engine block from cast aluminum , OHV valve control , side camshaft with spur gear, dry sump lubrication
  • Displacement : 2407 cm³
  • Bore × stroke : 78 mm × 84 mm
  • Power: 55 kW (75 PS)
• Consumption: approx. 24 l / 100 km
• Top speed: 95 km / h
• Power transmission:
  • Two-disc dry clutch
  • 4-speed manual transmission, synchronized
  • synchronized transfer case / off-road reduction
  • optional
    • Rear wheel drive via cardan shaft (4 × 2) or
    • All-wheel drive (4 × 4) via switchable front-wheel drive
  • 100% differential lock at the front and rear mechanically switchable
• Construction:
  • Box frame, open body made of sheet steel, bow frame, tarpaulin roof, foldable windshield, mostly as three-door, only about two dozen as four-door with convertible top for management personnel
• Chassis:
  • Independent suspension, double wishbones at the front, semi-trailing arms at the rear, longitudinal torsion bars, telescopic shock absorbers, central lubrication
• Seats: 5 to 7 (three-door)

About 3000 P3 were built.

commitment

The off-road vehicle P3 was mainly intended for military use. However, it was also used by the fire brigade , civil defense, in agriculture and forestry, as well as in surveying in the GDR. After they were segregated, vehicles also ended up in private hands. The border troops of the GDR used the P3 until the end of the 1980s and the NVA also kept the vehicles mainly as a so-called mob reserve until the end of the GDR.

Web links and sources

Commons : IFA P3  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Private homepage for IFA P3 - information, setup, meetings, videos
• Here you can find the P3 and the K900
• Rebuilding a P3
• Videos from the P3: 1 and 2