From Stara to Lux-Sport
Poland has never been famous for a strong and modern car industry, but during the interwar period and during the Polish People's Republic, many interesting models and prototypes of cars were created. In this article, we will recall the most important achievements of the Polish automotive industry up to 1939.
When and where was the first passenger car built in Poland? Due to the small number of sources that have come down to us, it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to this question. In addition, from time to time, researchers find new materials in the archives describing previously unknown models. However, there are many indications that the palm can be used Warsaw Society for the Exploitation of Motor Vehicles small triple cabs. Unfortunately, little is known about them because the company went bankrupt after a few months of operation.
Therefore, the first documented original passenger car built in Poland is considered to be Oldbuilt in 1912 in Automobile and motor plant in Krakow. Most likely under the leadership of Nymburk, who was born in the Czech Republic Bogumila Behine At that time, two prototypes of "car trucks" were made - small two-seater cars of the type only 2,2 m long. Due to the poor condition of the roads in Galicia, the Krakow car had an impressive ground clearance of 25 cm. It was equipped with a 1385 cc four-cylinder engine.3 and 10-12 hp, air-cooled, which consumed 7-10 l / 100 km. In the brochure, the driving performance of the car was noted. The engine “was carefully balanced and had an extremely smooth ride without vibrations. Ignition took place with the help of a Ruthard magnet, which, even at a low number of revolutions, gives a long, strong spark, so that it is not the slightest difficulty to set the engine in motion. Speed change is possible thanks to a patented design that allows two forward speeds and one reverse speed. Power was transferred to the rear wheels via chains and a supporting shaft." The plans of the creators of the Star were ambitious - fifty cars were to be built in 1913, and XNUMX cars a year in subsequent years, but a lack of funds prevented this goal from being realized.
SCAF, Poland and Stetische
During the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, at least several prototypes of cars were produced that were in no way inferior to cars built in the West, and even significantly surpassed them in many elements. Domestic designs were created both in the 20s and 30s, although in the last decade the development of the Polish car industry was blocked by a license agreement signed in 1932 with the Italian Fiat, which excluded the construction and sale of completely domestic cars for ten years. . . . However, the Polish designers were not going to lay down their arms for this reason. And they had no shortage of ideas. During the interwar period, extremely interesting prototypes of cars were created - both intended for a wealthy buyer, and the Polish counterparts of the Volkswagen Beetle, i.e. car for the masses.
In 1920, two talented designers from Warsaw, Stefan Kozlowski i Anthony Fronczkowski, built a prototype with a somewhat cryptic name SCAF
“The cars of our company do not consist of separate parts made here and there abroad, but only selected here: the entire car and motorcycle, with the exception of tires, of course, are made in our workshops, all its parts are specially adapted to each other to create a slender and a harmonious design, a mathematically fine-tuned whole,” praise the creators of the car in an advertising brochure. The name of the car came from the initials of both designers, and the plant was located in Warsaw, on the street. Rakowiecka 23. The first SKAF model was a small two-seat vehicle with a wheelbase of 2,2 m, equipped with a single-cylinder engine with a displacement of 500 cmXNUMX.3, water cooled. The weight of the car was only 300 kg, which made the car very economical - 8 liter of pharmacy gasoline and 1 liters of oil are consumed for 100 km. Unfortunately, the car did not convince buyers and did not go into mass production.
The same fate befell him Polish community, a car built in 1924 English Mykola Karpovski, a well-known specialist in Warsaw in the field of modifications installed on cars driving around the capital - incl. popular “MK gasoline saving system” used in Ford cars, T. Karpovsky assembled his car from parts of popular Western brands, but at the same time used many solutions that were unique at that time, such as an oil consumption indicator or thin-walled bearing shells in connecting rods. Only one copy of the Polish diaspora was created, which eventually ended up in the window of the Franboli sweets shop on Marszałkowska Street, and then was sold as a charity lottery prize.
Two Polish Ralf-Stetysz cars on display at the International Salon in Paris in 1927 (NAC collection)
They are a little more fortunate. Jan Laski Oraz Count Stefan Tyshkevich. The first of them was created in Warsaw in 1927 on the street. Silver Automotive Construction Company AS, and the cars produced there in small series are designed Eng. Alexander Liberman, they served mainly taxis and minibuses. Tyszkiewicz, in turn, opened a small factory in Paris in 1924: Agricultural, automobile and aviation plant of Count Stefan Tyszkiewicz, and then moved production to Warsaw, on the street. Factory 3. The car of Count Tyshkevich - Ralph Stetish - began to conquer the market because he had good 1500 cc engines3 i 2760 cm3, and a suspension adapted to catastrophic Polish roads. A design curiosity was a locked differential, which made it possible, for example, to drive through swampy terrain. Stetishes successfully participated in domestic and foreign competitions. They are also shown as the first car from Poland, at the International Motor Show in Paris in 1926. Unfortunately, in 1929, a fire consumed a large batch of cars and all the machines needed for further production. Tyszkiewicz did not want to start all over again and that is why he was engaged in the distribution of Fiats and Mercedes.
Central auto repair shops
Luxurious and sporty
The two best pre-war cars were built in Central auto repair shops in Warsaw (since 1928 they changed their name to State Engineering Works). First CWS T-1 - the first large-scale Polish car. He designed it in 1922-1924. English Tadeusz Tanski. It became a world phenomenon that the car could be disassembled and reassembled with one key (only an additional tool was required to unscrew the candles)! The car aroused great interest both among private individuals and the army, so since 1927 it entered mass production. By 1932, when the aforementioned Fiat contract was signed, approximately eight hundred CWS T-1s had been built. It was also important that it was equipped with a completely new 3-cylinder power unit with a capacity of 61 liters and XNUMX hp, with valves in an aluminum head.
During the reign of Fiat, CWS/PZInż engineers did not give up on the idea of creating a Polish luxury limousine. In 1935, design work began, as a result of which the machine was named luxury sport. Team under management English Mieczyslaw Dembicki in five months he developed a very modern chassis, which after some time was equipped with an economical 8-cylinder engine of his own design, with a displacement of 3888 cc.3 and 96 hp However, the most impressive was the body - a work of art. engl. Stanislav Panchakevich.
Aerodynamic, streamlined body with headlights hidden in the fenders made Lux-Sport a modern car. Many of the innovative solutions used in this car were ahead of their time. The results of the work of Polish designers were, among other things: a frame chassis structure, an independent double wishbone suspension used on all four wheels, double-acting hydraulic shock absorbers, automatic lubrication of the relevant chassis elements, suspension with torsion bars, the tension of which could be adjusted inside the cabin, self-cleaning oil filter, pneumatic wipers and vacuum ignition control. The maximum speed of the car was about 135 km / h.
One of those who had the opportunity to drive a prototype car was the editor of the pre-war "Avtomobil" Tadeusz Grabowski. His report on this trip perfectly captures the advantages of the Polish limousine:
“First of all, I am struck by the ease of operation: the clutch is used only when pulling away, and then the gear shift using the lever under the steering wheel, without using any other controls. They can be shifted without gas, with gas, fast or slow - the Cotala electric gearbox works completely automatically and does not allow mistakes. (...) Suddenly I add gas: the car jumps forward, as if from a slingshot, immediately reaching 118 km / h. (…) I notice that the car, unlike conventional cars with a body, does not encounter much air resistance. (...) We continue on our way, I see a distinct line of cobblestones made of field stones. I predictably slow down to XNUMX and hit the bumps expecting a hard roll like an average car. I am pleasantly disappointed, the car drives great.
At that time, it was one of the most modern passenger cars in the world, as evidenced by the fact that the Germans copied the Polish solutions in the letters Hanomag 1,3 and Adler 2,5 liter cars. 58 The outbreak of war frustrated these plans.
Cheap and good
capable Polish designer English Adam Gluck-Gluchowski was to create a small, easy to assemble and cheap car "for the people." The idea itself was not original. large Western companies worked on such cars, but they realized it by reducing large luxury cars, while Iradam (the name is derived from a combination of the names of the engineer and his wife, Irena), introduced in 1926, was a structure created from scratch on completely new assumptions. The three-seater was originally equipped with 500, 600 and 980 cc single and twin cylinder engines.3. Glukhovsky also planned to use a 1-litre boxer unit and also build a four-seater version. Unfortunately, only three copies of this innovative car were made.
Other interesting attempts to create a cheap car were models AW, Antoni Ventskovski or VM Vladislav Mrajski. However, the most interesting car prototypes for the masses were works of art. English Stefan Praglovsky, an employee of the Galician-Carpathian Oil Joint Stock Company in Lviv. We are talking about vehicles named by him Galkar i Radwan.
Stefan Praglovsky started the first project in the early 30s. Since the car had to be cheap, the engineer assumed that the technology for its production should allow the production of all components on simple and easily accessible machines. Pragłowski used several of his own and modern design solutions in Galkar, incl. torque converter that provides stepless gear shifting (no clutch) and independent suspension of all wheels. The prototype was completed in autumn 1932, but the global economic downturn and the signing by the Polish government of the already mentioned agreement with Fiat stopped further work on the Galcar.
However, Stefan Praglovsky was a stubborn and determined man. Using the experience gained during the construction of his first prototype, in 1933 he began work on a new machine - Radwan, whose name referred to the Praglowski family coat of arms. The new car was a four-door, four-seater two-stroke, equipped with an SS-25 engine, made in Poland (Steinhagen and Stransky). To reduce production costs, the roof is made of dermatoid, a plastic that mimics the skin. All the innovative solutions known from Galkar also appeared in Radwan. The new car, however, had a completely new bodywork, which struck with its modern style and gave the car a slightly sporty look. The car, which was presented to the public, aroused wide interest (just like Galkar and WM, it cost only 4 zł), and the first Radwan units were supposed to roll off the assembly line in the early 40s.
Polish Fiat
Advertisement for Polish Fiat 508
At the end of the road trip through the times of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, we will also mention Polish Fiat 508 Junak (as the model produced in our country was officially called), the most important "child" of the license agreement with Italy. The car was based on the Italian prototype, but a number of improvements were made in Poland - the frame was reinforced, the front axle, rear axle, springs and cardan shafts were reinforced, the three-speed gearbox was replaced with a four-speed one. , engine power has been increased to 24 hp, and suspension characteristics have also been changed. The body shape is also more rounded. At the end of production, the car was almost entirely made in Poland from Polish components; only less than 5% of the items were imported. They were advertised under the catchy slogan "the most economical of the comfortable and the most convenient of the economical." The Fiat 508 was undoubtedly the most popular car in pre-war Poland. Before the start of the war, about 7 thousand cars were produced. copies. In addition to the 508 model, we have also created: a larger model 518 Mazuria, trucks 618 Thunder i 621 L and military versions of the 508, called Jeep.
The list of interesting pre-war prototypes and models is, of course, longer. It seemed that we would enter the 40s with very modern and original designs. Unfortunately, with the outbreak of World War II and its tragic consequences, we had to start from scratch. But more on that in the next article.
