- Olga Kokorina
- Translated by Olga Apetenok
- Ru He Fr Ar
Zibar. Military vehicles created by a self-taught genius
Zibar is a special brand of vehicles, a family of four-wheel drive SUVs and trucks that are used by the military and security services. All models have high cross-country ability, survivability and impressive capabilities. They were designed and manufactured by the Israeli company Ido Off Road Center Ltd (IORC).
Ido Off Road Center specializes in the design and manufacture of cross-country, off-road and rally racing vehicles. It manufactures and supplies specially prepared suspension kits and skid plates for extreme road conditions. They also change and improve the transmission components. Ido Off Road Center works with the following large Israeli companies: Elbit Systems, The Israeli Salt Company, Hydrofix, Soltam Systems Ltd, Colmobile - Mercedes Benz and Mitsubishi in Israel, Israel Railways, Israel Police and many others. This company is located in Pardes Hanna-Karkur (south of Haifa) and has been producing vehicles since 1989.
Ido Off Road Center was founded in 1982 by Israeli racer and self-taught inventor Ido Cohen, who over the years has overseen the creation of every mechanism and every vehicle. The amazing talent of this man manifested itself back in his childhood: at the age of 6, the father of the future designer game him a pedal-driven car, a metal SUV. It was the first step in the conquest of off-road, which later led the creations of the adult Ido to the most famous and most difficult competitions in the world: Paris-Dakar (2001, 2002, 2004), Pharos Rally in Egypt (2005), Top Track Challenge in California (2002), etc.
‘I’m not an engineer. I learned from my own experience. After dropping out of school at 11 years old, I started doing different types of mechanics, like welding. In the army, I served in a special forces detachment, and this helped me understand the needs in the field’.
The off-road models were provided with the newly developed chassis and frames, while other units were purchased from other companies. For example, the list of equipment included: a General Motors 6.2-liter LS3 V8 gasoline engine with 400 hp, a 6.0-liter LQ4 GM gasoline engine with 430 hp, a General Motors 4L80E transmission, Atlas II and General Motors Dynatrac transfer cases. Until 2012, only 40 vehicles were produced. In the future, production was also small-scale. Thus, in 2014, 30 Zibar MK2 vehicles were ordered by Colombia (Latin America). The cost of such a civil vehicle was 110-150 thousand dollars, depending on the modification.
The following vehicle versions have been created so far:
- Z-COM - short 4-seater version with the side-by-side layout (side-by-side UTV, UTV - utility terrain vehicle);
- Zibar Mk.1 - civilian model, discontinued;
- Zibar Mk.2 - the most produced civilian model;
- Zibar Mk.4 - new civilian model;
- Zibar M - military model;
- Z-Mag – open version prototype;
- Zibar Trooper - 2 or 4-door pickup in the Hardtop configuration;
- Zibar Zed (ZD) - armored version.
In July 2020, Israel Aerospace Industries bought Ido Cohen’s Zibar, Z-Mag and ZD military vehicles. IAI has praised these vehicles for their ability to operate in the harshest environments and for their outstanding off-road performance. The SUVs are supposed to be modernized for military purposes and border protection. They will be equipped with various systems of defense, attack, reconnaissance, radars, electro-optics, navigation and communication systems, which are produced in the aerospace industry.
Israel Aerospace Industries, IAI is an Israeli company, part of the Israeli defense industry. The company was founded in 1953. It is engaged in the production of aircraft and avionics, instruments and equipment for space satellites, communications and reconnaissance. This is one of the leading industrial companies in Israel. Annual sales amount to about $3.3 billion. The company has gained worldwide recognition in the military and civilian markets.
This means that Ido Cohen will no longer manufacture military equipment, but he can freely engage in civil projects.
