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Description
FSO Warszawa was a Polish passenger car produced by FSO (Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych - Passenger Car Factory) in Warsaw from 1951 to 1973.

The vehicle was largely based on the Soviet GAZ M20 Pobeda, the first Soviet car that was not based on a foreign machine. Initially, Poland seeked to acquire a licence from one of its pre-war partners, Fiat, for one of its designs, Fiat 1100. However, construction of the factory was cut short in 1949, after Joseph Stalin's decision that the socialist countries should support each other and not seek help from capitalist countries (esp. that during the war, Italy was a fascist country and took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union).

Instead, the Soviets sold Poland blueprints and machinery to produce their own car, the Pobeda (Victory). Interestingly, Poland didn't have to receive a licence, due to the afforementioned "mutual assistance" among socialist countries. The first car - named after Warsaw, as a symbol of its rise from ruin - rolled off the production line on 6 November 1951, and it was planned that the production would reach 25 000 vehicles per year - something that was never achieved. Aside from domestic market, it was also exported, intially to China, Romania, Albania and Bulgaria, then to many other countries.

Warszawa was never ment to be a "people's car": it was very expensive to buy, and because many elements, carried over from Pobeda, were already obsolete when it entered production, it was also costly to maintain (high fuel consumption, high components failure rate etc.). On the other hand, the M-20 engine, despite archaic design, was able to run on low-quality fuel, and was very durable. Later on, it was gradually replaced by Fiat-licenced designs (e.g. Fiat 125p and 126p), or ones imported from other socialist countries (Zaporozhets, Trabant etc.). Today, it remains a popular vintage car.

Three more Polish cars were based on Warszawa: the FSC Żuk and ZSD Nysa light commercial vehicles and the FSR Tarpan pick-up truck. It was also used as a basis for a motorised draisine.

Exhibited in Szczecin Technical and Communication Museum (Muzeum Techniki i Komunikacji) in Polish Civil Militia's livery.

Description
FSO Warszawa was a Polish passenger car produced by FSO (Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych - Passenger Car Factory) in Warsaw from 1951 to 1973.

The vehicle was largely based on the Soviet GAZ M20 Pobeda, the first Soviet car that was not based on a foreign machine. Initially, Poland seeked to acquire a licence from one of its pre-war partners, Fiat, for one of its designs, Fiat 1100. However, construction of the factory was cut short in 1949, after Joseph Stalin's decision that the socialist countries should support each other and not seek help from capitalist countries (esp. that during the war, Italy was a fascist country and took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union).

Instead, the Soviets sold Poland blueprints and machinery to produce their own car, the Pobeda (Victory). Interestingly, Poland didn't have to receive a licence, due to the afforementioned "mutual assistance" among socialist countries. The first car - named after Warsaw, as a symbol of its rise from ruin - rolled off the production line on 6 November 1951, and it was planned that the production would reach 25 000 vehicles per year - something that was never achieved. Aside from domestic market, it was also exported, intially to China, Romania, Albania and Bulgaria, then to many other countries.

Warszawa was never ment to be a "people's car": it was very expensive to buy, and because many elements, carried over from Pobeda, were already obsolete when it entered production, it was also costly to maintain (high fuel consumption, high components failure rate etc.). On the other hand, the M-20 engine, despite archaic design, was able to run on low-quality fuel, and was very durable. Later on, it was gradually replaced by Fiat-licenced designs (e.g. Fiat 125p and 126p), or ones imported from other socialist countries (Zaporozhets, Trabant etc.). Today, it remains a popular vintage car.

Three more Polish cars were based on Warszawa: the FSC Żuk and ZSD Nysa light commercial vehicles and the FSR Tarpan pick-up truck. It was also used as a basis for a motorised draisine.

Exhibited in Szczecin Technical and Communication Museum (Muzeum Techniki i Komunikacji) in Polish Civil Militia's livery.