Polska droga Fiata

we Włoszech i postawione na ˚eraniu hale fabryczne, pozostały. Nowy partner był ju˝ ideologicznie bez za- rzutu. W styczniu 1950 r. podpisano umow´ licencyj- nà na produkcj´ samochodu M-20 Pobieda, czyli ra- dzieckà wersj´ amerykaƒskiego Forda z lat 20., produkowanà w Zakładach Samochodowych w Gorki. Słowo „pobieda” znaczy po rosyjsku – zwyci´stwo. Mamma Fiat W 1957 r. we Włoszech weszła na rynek nowa wersja „pi´çsetki” – Nuova 500 – wyjàtkowo ekonomicznego samochodu nap´dzanego dwucylindrowym, chłodzonym powietrzem silnikiem, zastosowanym po raz pierwszy przez Fiata. Długo trzeba wyliczaç wszystkie modele, które rozsławiały fabryk´ w Mirafiori. Nie sposób pomi- nàç nap´dzanej umieszczonym z tyłu silnikiem „szeÊçset- ki”. Z kolei 600 Multipla – stała si´ przedmiotem po˝àdania wszystkich włoskich taksówkarzy. Nie the contract. Poland gave notice of termination in 1949, the main reason being growing political tension and the cold war. Poland was about to experience a period of errors and distortions which led to the events of October 1956 and put an end to the Polish version of the Stalin cult. Some retired Fiat employees maintain, though, that Marshall Rokossowski personally intervened ordering the contract broken soon after his arrival from Moscow to become the Polish Defense Minister in Warsaw. Regardless of who stood behind the decision to sever ties with Fiat, it seemed highly unlikely for such a relationship to survive in a country which smelled a rat and decried “American imperialists” in everything that came from the other side of the iron curtain. A passenger car manufactured with the assistance of “capitalists” did not fit any official political mindset at the time. Allegedly, Poland paid liquidated damages with coal; luckily for the country, coal was abundant and Italy needed fuel for its power plants. Thus ended the short- lived (slightly longer than one year) relationship with the Turin Corporation but the manufacturing facilities designed in Italy and constructed in ˚eraƒ continued operating. A new partner appeared, ideally filling all ideological requirements. In January 1950, Poland signed a license agreement for M-20 Pobyeda cars, i. e. a Soviet version of the 1920’s American Ford, manufactured by an automotive plant in Gorki. By the way, Pobyeda means “victory” in Russian. 24