It was made in multiple body styles: a van, a minibus seating eight, and a pickup truck.

It is powered by a 1-litre liquid-cooled two-stroke straight-three engine coupled to a four-speed synchromesh manual transmission and mounted ahead of the front axle, between the driver and passenger seats.

[1] The B 1000's independent suspension is of a diagonal link design[clarification needed] in both the front and rear, with torsion bars and hydraulic shock absorbers.

[citation needed] The B 1000 received some minor updates in 1963 and 1972: There were no major design alterations across the B 1000's 27-year production period.

The succeeding Barkas B 1000-1, introduced in autumn 1989, carried over the B 1000's underlying design, but was fitted with a different engine.