In Poland during the 1980s, it was an indicator of success. “It is still very nice to drive – soft and comfortable – and only lacks power steering. “I bought it from the guy who had it from brand new, and I still have an invoice from when he bought it and left his old Polonez as part-exchange,” he says. Rabiej vividly remembers acquiring his example last year. Twenty years later, Rabiej’s G-registered example is one of the few surviving right-hand drive models still on the road, mainly due to the factory’s limited protection against corrosion. The range was facelifted in 1991 as the Caro, with UK sales ending six years later, although production continued until 1 March 2002. By the late 1980s, the Polonez could be sighted on suburban driveways or in taxi ranks outside provincial railway stations. The sales campaigns wisely focused on value for money, tempting the budget-conscious with the promise of “The Sierra-Sized Hatchback For The Price Of A Fiesta”. The licence agreement with Fiat ended in 1983, with the cars now badged as FSOs. It also looked more up to date than a Fiat 124-based Lada 1200 and, unlike the Ford Fiesta supermini, it had five doors. What mattered more was that the latest Polski-Fiat had all-disc brakes, twin headlights and even an adjustable steering column as standard, while a contemporary Mini 850 lacked a temperature gauge and fresh air vents. Nor were they overly concerned about the very noisy 1,481cc pushrod engine and worm and roller steering that harked back to the heyday of Billy Fury. However, many potential buyers cared less for dynamic ability and more for the fact that for just £2,999 they could trade in their ageing Ford Escort Mk1 or Hillman Avenger for their first new car. Furthermore, it regarded the likes of the Morris Marina and the Chrysler Sunbeam as “20 years ahead” of the Polski-Fiat. If the former claim was slightly overambitious, the latter conveniently overlooked that the car lacked a folding rear seat.Īutocar thought the Polonez had “obviously tried hard in many ways, so that there are some good ideas” but concluded it was a “very cheap, dynamically inadequate vehicle”. The publicity stated the new model was “built for the motorist who likes the look of a modern sporting saloon but needs the versatility of today’s modern hatchback concept”. Right-hand drive imports began in early 1979. The Polonez retained the 125p’s engine three years later but featured hatchback bodywork designed by Fiat in Turin. The company used the “Polski-Fiat” brand for overseas markets, and British sales commenced in 1975. The result was the 125p of 1968, which combined the bodywork and brakes of its Italian parent model with the older 1300/1500 saloon’s running gear. In 1965, FSO (Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych ‘Factory of Passenger Cars’) of Warsaw signed an agreement with Fiat. Today Maciej Rabiej’s 1989 1.5 SLE is one of only 11 roadworthy survivors. The punchlines usually revolved around a Russian Lada or a Czech Skoda but rarely the Polish-built FSO, despite it not being an uncommon sight. During the 1980s, jokes about Eastern European cars were almost as widespread as tedious “witticisms” about British Leyland cars during the previous decade.
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