A Russian car to put Poland on wheels
Actualitzat: Nov 3
I think the GAZ Pobeda became my favourite Russian car the moment I first laid eyes on one. Caught between the enormous limousines built for the highest-ranking Soviet officials and the quirky, slightly grotesque Zaporozhets, the Pobeda strikes a perfect balance. It has pleasing lines, well-proportioned styling and a spacious interior.
The Pobeda was not only Russia’s first post-war car, but Poland’s as well. It seems that, around 1946, the communist authorities began considering the creation of a domestic motor industry. Negotiations with FIAT soon got under way, with a view to producing the FIAT 1100 in Poland.
However, Stalin was not at all keen on entrusting the development of a strategic industry in a satellite state to a company from a capitalist country. He decided that the Pobeda was the right car for the project.
CInterestingly, two decades later, mass motorisation in the Soviet Union would be made possible by an agreement to manufacture the FIAT 124 — known in the country as the Lada Zhiguli. But that is another story.
The Pobeda was built by Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych (FSO) under the name Warszawa M-20, with production beginning in 1951. In the link below, you can watch a newsreel from the period, the Polish equivalent of Spain’s NO-DO, in which the regime uses the launch of the Warszawa for propaganda purposes. (http://bit.ly/2vwdxlw) Initially, the Polish car was identical to its Russian counterpart. In the photographs, you can see a taxi-version Pobeda from the collection of the Moscow Transport Museum.
Over the years, the Warszawa gradually evolved. It retained its unitary construction and rear-wheel drive throughout its production run, which lasted for more than two decades. During that time, the original three-speed gearbox was replaced by a four-speed unit. The original side-valve engine was notoriously thirsty, so in 1962 it was modified to feature overhead valves.
Successive versions were designated 201, 202, 203 and 204, until Peugeot objected to FSO’s use of the three-digit model numbers, prompting the manufacturer to rename them 223 and 224.
The bodywork also evolved. A pick-up version appeared in 1955, but the most significant changes came in 1964 with the introduction of the 203 and 204. From the rear doors onwards, these models abandoned the original silhouette in favour of a more conventional three-box design, with a much larger rear window.
At the front, the grille was simplified, giving the car a closer resemblance to contemporary Morris Minor models. As with the British car, the split windscreen was replaced by a single panoramic screen.
A year later, an estate version appeared, such as this cream-coloured example I photographed at the Museum of Engineering and Technology in Kraków.
In 1967, FSO launched the 125 — this time, indeed, under an agreement with FIAT. Production of the Warszawa finally came to an end in 1973, by which time close to a quarter of a million examples had been built.
FSO’s story continued for another three decades. The 125 proved a success, remaining in production until 1991, long outliving the model that had been intended to replace it in 1978. That successor was the FSO Polonez. Although its bodywork bore little resemblance to the 125, it was based on the Italian model’s platform.
When production of the Polonez ended in 2002, it became the last car to be manufactured under the Polish marque. FSO continued for a few more years, producing Daewoo-based models, but the company finally disappeared in 2011, bringing an end to a significant chapter in Poland’s automotive history.
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