This van was build in thr German Democratic Republic or East German from 1961 - 1990. When it was released in 1961 compared to its western counterparts like VW Typ 2, Ford Taunus Transit or Tempo Viking , it was state of the art. In regard of roominess and suspension layout it was better the than the western counternparts.. The big drawback was the high fuel consumption of the 3 cylinder two stroke engine. Over its long production times it falls back behind its competiors, because the lack of improvements, as usual for cars from eastern europe during that era.
I had driven this van in a comparision of different van concepts for a german classic car magazine. This 1963 Barkas B1000 competes against 1970 VW Typ 2 and my 1969 Ford Transit. There was no winner in this comparision, but the suspension of the Brakes was better than the one in the VW and Ford. It had a car like driving . The engine sound was annoying and the seating position for a 6'2" tall guy like me wasn't that cumfortable.