A passenger car produced by the Passenger Car Factory in Warsaw from 1978 to 2002. It was created as a successor to the Polish Fiat 125p, from which it inherited many components and technical solutions, including suspension, drivetrain and a modified engine. The Polonez was designed by Italian designers from the Fiat concern, but according to Polish guidelines, taking into account safety standards (controlled crumple zones, side door reinforcements, belts with tensioners), functionality and exhaust emissions. The first prototypes of the marked car as 125PN (Polacco Nuova – Polish New) was constructed already in 1975, but mass production began 3 years later on a new, automated assembly line. Initially called FSO Polski 1300/1500, soon, however, as a result of a plebiscite of “Życie Warszawy” readers, a new name was chosen – POLONEZ.
The car was relatively modern and richly equipped in the standard version, including: velvet upholstery, tachometer, clock, rear window heating with a wiper, fog lights, cigarette lighter, adjustable steering column and front inertia seat belts. Unfortunately, the crisis of the 1980s brought an impoverished variety called Popular. The Polonez underwent the largest modernization in its history in 1991, with the introduction of the Caro model. In total, over a million copies were produced over 24 years. Polonez in the MTW GRYF collection is a car from the first years of production, colloquially called after the hero of the series “07 zgłoś się” – “Borewicz”.
Technical data of FSO Polonez:
Length: 4.27 m
Width: 1.65 m
Height: 1.42 m
Curb weight: 1140 kg
Maximum speed: 145 km/h
Drive: four-cylinder OHV inline petrol engine
Displacement: 1481 cm3
Power: 75 hp
