Fiat 125p

1987 Polski Fiat ("Polish Fiat") 125p. Years of production: 1967-1991. This car was manufactured in the People's Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych ("FSO") under a license agreement with Fiat.

In the 1960s, the only passenger car manufacturer in socialist Poland was the FSO in Warsaw, which manufactured the dated Syrena small car and the Warszawa, a larger model whose roots could be traced back to 1940s. Even within the realities of a centrally planned, socialist economy, the need for a replacement was felt. Although Warszawa-based replacements had been under development within the FSO, the authorities decided to pursue talks with the Italian Fiat. On the 22 December 1965, a license agreement was signed. The automobile concerned was a model specially devised for production in Poland - combining the body and braking system of the newly-launched Fiat 125 with the driveline and other chassis elements from the retired Fiat 1300/1500. The FSO had to be refurbished to be able to handle the assembly of a modern car, so world-class machinery was ordered from Western companies. The production preparation process took almost two years. Mass production was started in 1967.

The vehicle was not only very popular in Poland, it was also exported. In the UK & Ireland (where it had been available in right-hand-drive version since 1975). Polski Fiat was well known there for its 1960s styling, it was also the cheapest car on the market for some time – just over £3000 in 1991. The car was produced until 26 June 1991 (to fulfill factory preproduction sales obligation - the communist prepayments system); in total, 1,445,689 were manufactured. By that time the design was 24 years old and used mechanicals which were essentially 30 years old, with only minor improvements.