Daewoo Honker 2000

Often emulated, rarely replicated is the idea of selling a truck as both a capable military machine and road-going SUV. I can understand the appeal, especially as humanity hurls itself toward authoritarianism and oligarchs who just happen to own power plants, missile silos, and enough black turtleneck sweaters to outfit hundreds of henchpeople.

Hear me out: what if it was the Polish military we were talking about here? 

And what if it started life as a military vehicle from a manufacturer named Tarpan, and the civilian version really was named for the sound of wild geese?

Surely, it’s not named for Operation Honker, a codename for one of the bloodiest battles during the Second World War, with Allied forces, including Polish and Canadian soldiers, assaulting German — read: Nazi — forces who held fortified positions in and around Rome.

Fascist rule of Italy had already ended halfway through 1943, with Italian forces becoming allies with the Americans and other Commonwealth nations against those who occupied their territory. Over the months of fighting that followed in and around the Monte Cassino abbey and the surrounding rocky terrain, 30,000 more Allied forces died than the defending Germans; in total, approximately 70,000 souls perished.

If the Honker really is named in tribute to Nazi-fighting Allied forces, sign me up.

No telling if there’s a direct connection between this SUV and that Phyrric victory, but in the late 1980s, a farming vehicle manufacturer in Poland named FSR Tarpan was building prototypes of what would become the Honker. 

I’d love it if someone, anyone, took to the comments and enlightened us as to its use of Polish Andoria engines, a name I’d never heard of (despite its company history stretching back to 1945).

When Daewoo took over production in 1996, Honkers were being produced with mainly Iveco diesel engines — keep in mind that, for much of its life, only a few hundred were being built each year.

After Daewoo went under, the new owners kept it going — smart, for it was able to supply mining operations, as well as the Polish military, who used Honkers extensively in Iraq (the ‘Second Gulf War’). Appropriately, 2004 was peak production of the Honker, with 495 built.

All of the above is window dressing for what I think you’re wondering: how do I become that guy in the brochure, the one with the camera?

First, you’ll need to scour European used vehicle and auction websites, narrowing your parameters to between 1996 and 2002-ish. With the onslaught of new marques from Asia, some may have already delisted ‘Daewoo’ as a manufacturer, which may make an ‘Other’ search your best bet.

Chances are, if you’re lucky, you’ll end up with plenty of Tarpan Honkers, but no Daewoo versions, as if they had all been disassembled and neatly listed as component parts on eBay. More believable? That many disintegrated into piles of rust.