Polska droga Fiata

the Genovese designer of Centre Pompidou in Paris would have to overcome was to give Lingotto an updated modern look without sacrificing its historic character and to preserve its traditional image. So he set out to design a conference and commercial center, a theater, research and development units plus a large exhibition hall, which later housed the International Motor Show at its official 1984 opening ceremony. Before the centenary ceremonies commemorating 100 years of the Company commenced in 1999, Fiat Group offices had moved from Corso Marconi to the new headquarters in Lingotto. But for now, let us go back to 1939 and the official inauguration of the new Mirafiori plant which for many years to come would be identified with Fiat and lead the company to become a member of the elite group of major passenger car manufacturers. The new plant facilities covered an area of one million square meters, one-third of which was taken up by the new manufacturing shops. At the same time in Poland, more cars were rolling off the assembly lines at the PZIn˝ plant in Terespolska Street: thanks to the high quality, some of them were even sold for exports. But the first, experience-rich chapter of the Polish – Italian cooperation came to an abrupt end in September of 1939 when the first German bombs fell on the Polski Fiat plant causing much damage. Car production continued limping on until 1944 when the plant was destroyed entirely. It would take twenty years before Polski Fiat could return to the country on the Vistula River. Na razie jesteÊmy w 1939 roku na uroczystej inau- guracji fabryki w Mirafiori, która na dziesiàtki lat sta- nie si´ symbolem Fiata. Dzi´ki niej firma wkroczy do czołówki Êwiatowych producentów samochodów oso- bowych. Powierzchnia nowego kompleksu fabrycznego zajmowała milion metrów kwadratowych, z których prawie jednà trzecià stanowiły hale fabryczne. W Polsce w tym samym czasie fabryk´ PZIn˝ przy ul. Terespol- skiej opuÊciły kolejne samochody, których jakoÊç oce- niano wysoko, dzi´ki czemu pewna ich cz´Êç mogła byç przeznaczona na eksport. Pierwszy, bogaty w do- Êwiadczenia rozdział współpracy Polski z Fiatem, skoƒ- czył si´ we wrzeÊniu 1939 r. Niemieckie bomby spadły na zakłady Polskiego Fiata. Szkody były znaczne. Sa- mochody produkowano jeszcze na małà skal´ do 1944 roku, kiedy doszło do całkowitego zniszczenia fabryki. Upłyn´ło dwadzieÊcia lat zanim Polski Fiat powró- cił nad Wisł´. Salon Polskiego Fiata, koniec lat 30. Polish Fiat dealership, late 1930’s Fiat 508 C podczas rajdu Fiat 508 at a rally 18