Love it or loathe it Fso Polonez . .

[Alexg]

Seriously Sir. Many people here have announced themselves at true Autoshite lunatics, but you Sir are something else. Well done, hats off etc.... I hope it works out for you

[Vinylseats]

It IS said "Polonezzzz" isn't it? My dad used to say "Polonay".

[cms206]

It IS said "Polonezzzz" isn't it? My dad used to say "Polonay".

 

The Polish fella I used to work with always says Poloh-nezz, so I'd say Polonez is as close as we'll get without starting another Daseeah/Datchia debate

[Negative Creep]

That is Batshit mental, even by this forum's standards! Hopefully it has a happy ending. As for the Polonez, I don't think I've ever seen one on the road. Spares must be non existent but I would imagine there must be a few in its native land

[ashmicro]

Cool As Fuck.

 

 

I think you can lob a Rover 1.8VVC in there, too.

[eddyramrod]

Well if you're going to start that game... you can slip almost anything designed for RWD in there, what do you fancy/have to hand? But if the old 1500 still works, then why mess about? It's quite adequate as long as you can actually drive, and I don't mean rev the bollocks off everything you step into while you try to get it sideways. Clarkson, I'm looking at you boy... Of course if you want to do some serious engineering, you might as well go straight for the ones with the carb in the centre. Essex V6, Rover V8, and all points north. Don't piss about with a fiddly little 300cc gain, do it properly.

[cms206]

Well if you're going to start that game... you can slip almost anything designed for RWD in there, what do you fancy/have to hand? But if the old 1500 still works, then why mess about? It's quite adequate as long as you can actually drive, and I don't mean rev the bollocks off everything you step into while you try to get it sideways. Clarkson, I'm looking at you boy... Of course if you want to do some serious engineering, you might as well go straight for the ones with the carb in the centre. Essex V6, Rover V8, and all points north. Don't piss about with a fiddly little 300cc gain, do it properly.

 

Or indeed go SMALLER for TEH ULTIM8 SHITE WEPPUN - The Caro was, after all, available with the 1.4 K-series...

[Richieg]

This is true guys!

I am a purist i have to say though to be honest and it has only covered 21,000 miles,so fingers crossed it hasn't seized or anything but would like to keep it original as possible but without rust more like what it was like new (a bit naff!) lol

cheers

 

Richie

[eddyramrod]

Cms, you can say that to a man with a 1098 A40???? No, no, either live with it or do a proper job with some real meat.

 

Richie, 21000 miles? Seriously? it isn't even run-in! Well found!

[Pillock]

Or indeed go SMALLER for TEH ULTIM8 SHITE WEPPUN - The Caro was, after all, available with the 1.4 K-series...

 

So then, there must be a gearbox and mountings suitable for a 1.8 K series which is fairly similar from an external point of view. Which means that the Lotus Elise lump should fit. Which is easily supercharged.

 

Do this.

[Marshall]

This is well cool. I love Polonez's.eses.ese's!

 

Hope this turns into a nice car that will be cherished. hats of to you sir!

 

[Richieg]

Thanks guys,

I thought it must have been round the clock but my eagle eyed anorac friend spotted it is still on original tyres!! lol

I have just received another 30 pics if you wanna see some more of this car ?

Will do that tomorrow though as it is well late!! lol

cheers

Richie

[Vinylseats]

I demand to see more of the rear and interior.

 

It does have to be said that the Polonez was a far more attractive and modern-looking car than the 125p, yet it was still considered old and unfashionable at the time.

[Richieg]

Ok vinyl here is a taster now

[Vinylseats]

Nice. And there's the famous angled gearstick.

[Richieg]

Here is the rear Vinyl . .

[RoadworkUK]

21,000 miles? Was it That Bad?

 

Undeniably awesome. My mates mum had one, I once got a lift to Clacton in it. It actually suited Clacton quite well. And it had white painted rally-style weller-y wheels. Quite a few did, come to think of it.

 

Also, shame to see that DS420 limo in the scrappy.

[Vinylseats]

Great pics. I've only once knowingly seen the newer Polonez with the revised rear in real life, about 16 years ago. The older sort seemed to be more common round here.

 

 

And it had white painted rally-style weller-y wheels. Quite a few did, come to think of it.

 

Some Polonez'z'z'z did look quite sporty - mud flaps n all.

[CreepingJesus]

21,000 miles? Was it That Bad?

 

They weren't usually bought by the kind of drivers who did major motorway jaunts. So most of them were treated as disposable, and never got huge mileages on. I wonder how many got repatriated for parts, in the post Berlin Wall era?

The last one I saw (a Caro) would have been about 5 years ago, in Leven. I wouldn't even have noticed it, as it was hidden behind a wall in a side street off the prom; but I was delivering a bulk load of kitchen worktop to a house redevelopment up said narrow side street, and the cab was plenty high enough to peer into the yard. Clean and tidy it was too!

All I can say is: Richie - you've got some kind of bravery award coming! Maybe an OBE for 'Services To Shite Cars'? How do you nominate someone for the New Year Honours List again?

[gricer]

Polonez = Fiat 129

 

Never taken up because of change from Polski Fiat to FSO.

 

I once drove a K-series Polonez across Poland from Warsaw to Poznan. Four-up with luggage. Utterly gutless. Stick with the Fiat lump.

 

One fabulous feature - infinitely variable blower fan. The control was a kind of rotary rheostat with no intermediate settings.

 

Never seen that on any other car!

[gricer]

Oh, and it's definitely pronounced Poh-loh-nezz.

[Vinylseats]

From Wikipedia:

 

The car name comes from the Polish dance, polonaise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FSO_Polonez

[Vinylseats]

Oh wow - the Polish Wikipedia Polonez page has about a million photos!

 

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/FSO_Polonez

[Vinylseats]

[Barry Cade]

The last one I saw (a Caro) would have been about 5 years ago, in Leven. I wouldn't even have noticed it, as it was hidden behind a wall in a side street off the prom; but I was delivering a bulk load of kitchen worktop to a house redevelopment up said narrow side street, and the cab was plenty high enough to peer into the yard. Clean and tidy it was too!

 

There was an FSO dealer on Leven prom years back- across from the car park next to Kwik Fit. Cant remember the name though..

 

There is a nice old Ice cream van there in the summer though!!

 

 

 

[Richard]

One fabulous feature - infinitely variable blower fan. The control was a kind of rotary rheostat with no intermediate settings.

 

Never seen that on any other car!

 

Peugeot 305.

 

 

Also, shame to see that DS420 limo in the scrappy.

 

It's a banger racer's yard. You can see a prepped car in the same picture as the limo, and there are various Jaguars, Granadas and Farinas around too.

[Guest]

Nice one Richie, saw you had picked it up on the club forum and replied to your posts but the forums gone down for now unfortunately.

 

Good work posting on here so we can see how you get on with it.

 

Good luck on getting it back on the road.

 

Pure polly class!

[Shep Shepherd]

Good save! Pity about the Granada, though

[Danblez]

Hahaha, you read a lot of '"I'm crazy me" stories on t'internet but I honestly doff my cap to you.

 

Amazing save of a truly shite car! Brilliant!

[HillmanImp]

Great save. Hats off to you sir.

 

I remember getting in these when i used to go to the motor shows at Earls Court and the NEC as a kid. They were proper horrid inside in comarison to the other cars at the time. But they were also half the price. Still, I could never understand why anyone bought one. I would have much rather had a 2nd hand car for 4k rather than spending 4k on one of these. Even though it was brand new, there was no 'new car' staus about them at the time. Now though due to the sheer rarity of them its proper cool.

 

This is probably one of the top 10 best FSO's in the country.....