Orlik 139 IFA W50 LA

The IFA W50 is a German truck that was produced between 1965 and 1990 at the VEB IFA company in Ludwigsfelde in the then GDR. The car was driven - depending on the version - by one of the three engines with a capacity of 110 to 180 HP. In total, it is estimated that approximately 57,000-590,000 units of this truck were manufactured. The IFA W50 was developed and put into production as the successor to the IFA S4000-1 model. The first prototypes of the new car appeared in 1961 - they were called the W45. Due to the desire to achieve economies of scale and mass production, a decision was made to build a new factory in Ludwigsfelde, dedicated to the production of the W50 model. In the course of production, many specialized variants of the IFA W50 truck were created, including: a fire engine, a military truck (IFA W50 LA), a tanker or a tipper. The car was a rather successful design, and in the 1980s, almost 70% of the Ludwigsfelde production was exported