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FSO
If you have the sensation that you have already seen the car in the pic above...you have reason: the Fiat 124/125 was produced under license also in Spain (Seat 124), Russia (Lada "Zhighuli"), Argentina, India (Premier "118 NE", still in production, but with Nissan engine!), Turkey (Tofas "Serce"), and Poland. And the Polish version was produced by FSO, that subsequently produced, since the '70s, an own car: the FSO "Polonez".
The activity of FSO starts up in the 1951, with the "Warszawa" (in the first pic above, the hatchback version; in the second and third pics, the station-wagon and sedan version), a model strictly derivated from the Soviet GAZ "M-20 Pobjeda", with 2100 four-cylinder engine. But, during the following years, the GAZ project was modified by the Polish engineers with an OHV head (that replaced the side valves). The sedan version was produced only in Poland, the Russian version remained with hatchback coachwork.
From this car, also some prototype was obtained, unfortunately never entered in production: up (two pics), the elegant "Warzsawa 210", always with parts of Russian project, but with totally new design, realized by the Italian "Ghia" firm. But the assembling lines were occuped by the old "Warszawa" until 1973, year of the definitive end of the production of the cars produced under GAZ license.
The other model of the early production of FSO, was the "Syrena", realized in the '50s as popular car (first pic above). It was realized with a good sense of managing...the 2-stroke twin engine, not created for automotive use, was taken from the pumps of the firemen's vehicles! Subsequently, this engine was replaced with a 3-cylinders liquid cooled (always two stroke), taken from the German Wartburg cars. In the second pic, an evolution of this car, with plastic bumpers and grille, never entered in production.
The FSO realized other evolutions of the "Syrena", although these cars remained as prototypes. Above (first pic), a beautiful "Sport" prototype, with a flat-twin engine (800 cc) and fiberglass coachwork, and, in the second and third pics, another interesting prototype: the "Syrena 110", with a very advanced design (the car is dated 1964; the similar Renault 5 went in production only seven years after). The total production of the "Syrena" was of 117,000 units during 15 years: a very poor number for an Eastern factory.
The "Polski-Fiat 125" and the "Polonez": the national Polish cars
In the 1968, the Polski Fiat "125 P" enter in production. The "P" means "Polski" (=Polish). With this car, the massive production of FSO starts up (also the Lada begins his activity during these years). But the Polish version of the Fiat 125 is very different also from the Russian versions: instead of the original engine, the old Fiat "1500" unit was adopted (the "1500" was formerly produced under license), with side camshaft (not over-head camshaft!). The Polski Fiat "125-P" was, therefore, a patchwork (however working...) of various parts: there was a nostalgic of the old Italian sedan that, during the mid-eighties, bought the FSO thinking to buy a precise "replica" of the Fiat "125", but discovering that, under the cowl of the car, there was another engine, not the original 125's engine! ...In the first and second pics, above, the sedan and station-wagon versions (the SW, called "Kombi", has a rear part different from the same Fiat version: it seems almost "distorted"...), and, in the third and fourth pics, two prototypes: the cabrio and an unusual...limousine!
On the base of the "125-P", the FSO realized even sporty versions, sometime very interesting. The car in the first pic above is simply one of the various racing edition of the sedan version (equipped with a Fiat 2000 four-cylinder engine). In the second pic, instead, the FSO "125-P Coupè" (with the 1500 cc engine of the sedan, but boosted up to 90 hp, 170 km/h), and, in the third and fourth pics, another beautiful protoype, realized in the late '70s, very similar to the Lancia "Beta Montecarlo"! Obviously, the help of the Italian firm was decisive for the realizations of these cars, that were real dream-car for the poor Eastern people...and, effectively, the "125-P Coupè" and the "Lancia-style" prototype remained as a dream (never entered in production).
In the 1978, the production of the FSO "Polonez" starts up. The first "Polonez" (first and second pics, above) can be defined as a car enough modern for the late '70s: it's not strange to make a comparison (only about the design...) with cars like Lancia "Delta". But the mechanical part remained obsolete: the engine is the same of the old Polski-Fiat "125-P", derived from the Fiat "1500". Also the rear wheel drive transmission remains substantially the same; the rear suspensions were still with leaf springs! I remember a Tv transmission of the mid-'80s, where Lech Walesa, the leader of "Solidarnosc" (the first free Polish syndacate), exit from a blue "Polonez", with two-round headlights, like the red car in the third pic (this is a limited-production exemplar, with the Fiat 2000 cc. engine, 112 hp). Subsequently, a third side-glass was adopted (fourth pic).
The car in the first and second pics above, instead, is very special! It's called "Polonez Stratos"...yes, because it was an official factory rally car with the engine of the mythical Lancia "Stratos" (2418 cc, six cylinders central-placed, power between 230 and 285 hp)!! A very quiet and slow Eastern car was transformed in a real savage beast! In the third pic, instead, a coupè prototype derived from the serial production, with an enough pleasant '70s-style (except for the huge frame between the windows...). In the fourth pic, a strange version: the 7-seats limousine, photographed in front of an embassy in Warszaw...indeed, it's not a miracle of design!
The FSM, in spite of the name very similar, has in common with the FSO only a short period of production of the "Syrena". It produced, since 1975, the Fiat "126" under license (called "126-P" or "Maluch", that means "little" in Polish), and also exported this car, after the end of the production in Italy. In the 1987, the "126-P", initially equipped with an air-cooled 650 cc. twin cylinder, was revisited with a new 700 cc liquid cooled, with the cylinders placed horizontally, in order to obtain a "true" rear boot for the luggage with a third rear door ("even" a wiper-washer was fitted!). This car was called Fiat "126 Bis" (first pic, above), although it was never produced directly by Fiat. In the 1997, the "126" returns to the original technical solutions: air-cooled 650 engine (catalyzed), and the old rear cowl with the low-positioned hinges (up, second pic). But, previously, the FSO made also other versions, never realized in Italy! In the third, fourth and fifth pics, some prototype: the truck version, a little "station-wagon" and even a lenghtened version!
But the most surprising evolution was the version with front wheel drive, in the four pics above! These prototypes were realized in the period 1978-81, with the same 650 cc engine of the normal version, but turned of 180 degrees, and placed frontally. The plastic bumpers and the front air intake are similar to the following Fiat "Panda". Unfortunately, this interesting evolution never entered in production: probably, it requested too many modifications to the original project. In the September, 2000 the production of the "126" has been stopped definitively, after 28 years of honorated career!
But that's not all! In fact, the Poles realized also an amphibious six-wheels version of the Polish "126". The "LPT" (four pics above; LPT stands for "Lekki Pojazd Terenowy", Light All-terrain Vehicle), produced by the "Zaklady Motoryzacyjne 5" in the city of Poznan, was based on parts from the Fiat 126; engine, clutch, (modified) gearbox, axles, wheels, tires, suspension, brakes, steering mechanism, electric system. Not all the prototypes can swim; the amphibious exemplars had a folding propeller at the rear of vehicle, connected to the gearbox by an electomagnetic clutch. It is a 6x4, the middle and the rear axles are driven. It does 80 km/h on land and 8 km/h in water.
Another car created and produced in Poland, is the Tarpan "Honker 4x4" (that means "strong horse" in Polish), produced by the FSR (another name similar to FSO; in all these names, FS means Fabryka Samochodow, "car factory"). The "Honker", born in the late '70s, was also utilized by the Polish army, and has also several parts in common with the "Lublin", a light-truck very diffused in Poland: the engine is the same, a 2400 diesel with 75 hp. Up, some image of this car, that was was recently improved by the new owner Daewoo (in the third, fourth and fifth pics, the year-2000 model, with a 2400 cc. turbodiesel engine, 90 hp, utilized also on some version of the Aro "240"). Unforunately, the production of this interesting off-road vehicle was interrupted, for the crisis of the Daewoo group. A shame!
Up, instead, three Polish prototypes never entered in production. In the first pic above, there is simply a modified version of the well-known Fiat "Ritmo", but the car in the second pic was a totally new project. It was called "Beskid 106-L" (click here to see other images), and it had a look very similar to the Renault "Twingo"...but it was realized in the 1982, 11 years before the French car! It had a very good style (realized in Poland) and aerodynamic (Cx=0,29); the engine was an evolution of the Fiat "126", 700 cc. liquid cooled, subsequently adopted on the Fiat "126 Bis" and "Cinquecento", but also another Fiat engine (1116 cc. four cylinder) was used. The developement of this car, originally destined to replace the Polski Fiat "126-P" in the FSM production, was stopped by the Italian project of the Fiat "Cinquecento"...today, the Italian car seems more outdated than the "Beskid" (realized almost ten years before the Cinquecento!). In the third pic, another mysterious car: the Wars "1.3 S" (1986), with a totally new Polish four-cylinders engine (not derived from Italian units) and front wheel drive. "Wars" was a new brand from that means "Warszawa" (from the city of the new plant); also this car, engineered also by FSO, never entered in production (click here to see other pics of the Wars, included a van version).
In the 1991, the car was improved with new interiors, new front and back lights, new bumpers ("Polonez Caro", first pic above). The engine was increased to 1600 cc, 87 hp. This version of the "Polonez" was also exported in Countries like France and Italy, but with few success (only 1000 exemplars in France), although the very cheap price and a good equipment ("even" the power windows...that were defectous). Also others engines, a Peugeot 1.9 diesel and a Rover 1.4 with 103 hp (!) were available. During the late '90s, the FSO was bought by Daewoo. The old "Polonez" was improved and mainteined in production for the internal market, that is still not good for the more expensive Western cars. In the second pic, the new "Plus" version, that has even the power steering...this is a luxe for an old Eastern car! In the third pic, instead, the "new" sedan version (called "Polonez Atu"), entered in production in the 1997, and, in the fourth pic, the station-wagon version ("Polonez Kombi", up), entered in production over 20 years after the hatchback version! Unfortunately, the consideration of the Communist regimes about the non-military vehicles was less than nothing, and the resources given to the car factories were very poor. This is the cause of so long time to produce a new car.
![POLONEZ_ANALOG4[1].JPG (37619 byte)](POLONEZ_ANALOG4[1].JPG)
Up (first and second pics), a special version of the old Polish car: the "Polonez Analog 4x4" (obtained from the 4-places pick-up version). I don't know if this car was realized directly by the FSO or by a tuner...anyway, it's much more actrattive tha the normal version! In the third pic, a tuned exemplar...now, it's near similar to a Saab (obviously not about the performances)!
...and these are the firemen version, the police version, the ambulance and the pick-up. Recently, the "Polonez" pick-up has been exported again to the Western countries, and called Daewoo-FSO "Truck 1.9 D" (with Peugeot diesel engine); but, this time, it has a good success...perhaps, because the rear part of the car has been cutted off...
...probably, the traditional Christian faith of the Polish people (which a good part has the image of Karol Wojtyla on the dashboard) allows the good working of the old and defectous national cars; but now, with the crisis of Daewoo, the polish workers must pray the national pope to not lose the salary...
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Some pic taken from http://www.clearlight.com/~brawicz/fso/polonez.html, http://www.auta.b7.pl/ , http://www.ds2.pg.gda.pl/~adamus/samochod.html , Beskid prototype Page , http://www.benzyna.hg.pl/ciekawe/pf126lpt.htm , http://www.amphibiousvehicle.net/
