VEB Robur Werke Zittau, which received its name in 1957, was formerly known as Phänomen-Werke Gustav Hiller AG. Founded in Zittau (Zittau) at the end of the 19th century, it initially produced bicycles, motorcycles, and Phänomobil tricycles. Before World War I, the company also included cars. In the 1930s, the Granit 25 and 30 trucks were built (with payload capacities of 1.5 and 2.5 tons, respectively), followed by one of the company’s most famous and most widely produced vehicles, the Phänomen Granit 1500A (Granit 27, payload capacity of 1.5 tons), widely used by the German army. After the end of World War II, the plant found itself in the Soviet occupation zone. After the devastation of war, the company reopened after nationalisation in 1946 under the new name VEB Kraftfahrzeugwerk Phänomen Zittau, and after the establishment of the German Democratic Republic, it finally became VEB Robur Werke Zittau in 1957. Post-war production began with the reintroduction of the successful Granit 27 model, in a modernized two-ton version called the Granat, with a variety of body types: with a flatbed, isothermal, ambulance, etc. In 1961, at the Leipzig Trade Fair, the factory presented a completely new, modern truck – the Robur LO 2500, with a 2.5-tonne payload and powered by a 3345cc, 70-horsepower air-cooled gasoline engine. This entered mass production, including trucks with various engines and intended for various applications, including passenger transport. Roburs were also continually modified, leading to the introduction of the Robur LO 3000 model with a 3-tonne payload in a rear-wheel drive version, and its off-road 4×4 variant, the Robur LO 2002A, in 1973. The new Robur, in its on-road version, became the basis for a bus – the LO 3000FR2 M/B21 version, designed to carry 20 passengers and powered by a 75-horsepower gasoline engine. The bus was widely exported to the so-called people’s democracies of the Eastern Bloc, including Poland, where it was used by travel agencies like Orbis, workplaces, and the Polish Television.
Robur LO 3000 bus technical specifications:
Seat capacity: 21 – driver and 20 passengers
Length / width / height: 6.18 m / 2.38 m / 3.03 m
Unladen weight: 3600 kg
Payload: 1.65 t
Drivetrain: 4-cylinder, air-cooled, in-line petrol engine
Displacement: 3.345 l
Power: 75 hp
Maximum speed: 85 km/h
