The Syrena 110 was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

prototype from the mid-1960s, manufactured by the ''

Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych ( en, Passenger Car Factory), commonly known as FSO, is a Polish automobile parts manufacturer, and formerly an automobile producer of historic significance, located in Warsaw. In 2011 the factory ceased production a ...

'' (FSO) in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. It was one of the first

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

s in the world.

History

In 1961 there started works in the Automotive Industry Construction Bureau (''Biuro Konstrukcyjne Przemysłu Motoryzacyjnego, BKPMot'') upon a new small family car to replace the

FSO Syrena The Syrena was a Polish automobile model first exhibited at the Poznań Trade Fair in 1955 and manufactured from 1957 to 1972 by the ''Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych'' (FSO) in Warsaw and from 1972 until 1983 by ''Fabryka Samochodów Małolitra� ...

, which was quite new at that time, but was not a modern design. There were built three prototypes, Alfa (rear drive), Beta and Delta (both front drive).Zakrzewski, Adam (2010). pp.42-43 At the same, the Construction Bureau of the FSO factory worked upon a new model. In 1964 both teams merged their efforts. The new car was supposed to enter production in 1968. The car was fitted with a most modern at that time angular-style three-door hatchback body (at the same time, as

Renault 16 The Renault 16 (R16) is a D-segment family hatchback produced by French automaker Renault between 1965 and 1980 in Le Havre, France. The Renault 16 was the first French winner of the European Car of the Year award. Market placement In the early 1 ...

). An interesting design feature was a partial frame in a forward part, enabling dismounting of the whole forward part with an engine. The engine was inherited from the newest Syrena 104 - S-31, 842 cc

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

straight-3 A straight-three engine (also called an inline-triple or inline-three) is a three-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Less common than straight-four engines, straight-three engines have nonethe ...

, but a four stroke engine was predicted in the future. A suspension was independent, with spiral springs. In spite of a generally successful design, only a test batch of less than 20 Syrena 110 was manufactured in 1965-1966. The Syrena 110, that could become a modern and practical popular car, fell victim to a communist

planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...

. In view of limited resources of the FSO factory, and neglecting needs for a popular mas-produced car, the Polish authorities decided to cease further works upon the Syrena 110, because of a license agreement to manufacture a mid-class

Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p is a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in Poland under a Fiat license by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych (FSO). It was a simplified and altered variation of the original, Italian-made Fiat ...

. Only in the 1970s, after a political change, there appeared a much smaller popular car

Polski Fiat 126p The Fiat 126 (Type 126) is a four-passenger, rear-engine, city car manufactured and marketed by Fiat over a twenty-eight year production run from 1972 until 2000, over a single generation. Introduced by Fiat in October 1972 at the Turin Auto Show ...

. A test batch of Syrena 110 were sold to private hands, and remained in use until the 1980s. At least two cars survived, one in the Motorization Museum in Warsaw (a division of

Museum of Technology, Warsaw Muzeum Techniki w Warszawie is a museum in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1955. It is located in the Palace of Culture & Science. Exhibits include motorbikes, aeroplanes, 19th century musical boxes, and historic cars. References Exter ...

References

*Zakrzewski, Adam (2010) . ''Auto-moto PRL: władcy dróg i poboczy'', Demart, Warsaw, {{ISBN, 978-83-7427-484-5

Syrena The Syrena was a Polish automobile model first exhibited at the Poznań Trade Fair in 1955 and manufactured from 1957 to 1972 by the ''Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych'' (FSO) in Warsaw and from 1972 until 1983 by ''Fabryka Samochodów Małolitra� ...

Science and technology in Poland 1960s cars