Polska droga Fiata

Unfortunately, the second stage of the project, i. e. re- engineering the Polonez, never got off the ground; instead, Fiat and Pol-Mot signed a framework agreement to replace the old 1500 engine with a family of gas engines ranging from 1600 cc to 1800 cc to 2000 cc, and a 1700 cc diesel engine. The political events of the early 80’s gave birth to the independent trade union Solidarity; martial law declared on December 13, 1981, effectively nipped the Polish dreams of independence in the bud for several years to come. FSO saw a chance of survival, its very own “to be or not to be”, in substituting the cars manufactured so far with something entirely new. So they set out in search of a suitable partner who would help them upgrade the plant and make their plans happen; a tall task, since in answer to the martial law in Poland, the free world imposed economic sanctions and froze credits. Deprived of hard currency credits FSO could not even dream of launching a new car. Thus, they turned their eyes to Turin but offers of Uno and Ritmo models were unacceptable to the Polish partner. The search continued until a proposal put forth by the French for a Renault R-5 model and another offer submitted by the Japanese for a Daihatsu Charade caught their attention. After years of negotiating with other car makers, it was back to Turin again. This time Turin tabled a quote for licensing a Uno model, complete with modifications Poland insisted on. A new contract between Pol-Mot and Fiat Auto was initialed on December 1, 1988, offering a kiwanie partnera, z pomocà którego mo˝na by przystà- piç do modernizacji fabryki i realizowaç plany jej roz- woju. Sytuacja była jednak o tyle niesprzyjajàca, ˝e na wprowadzenie w Polsce stanu wojennego paƒstwa zachodnie odpowiedziały sankcjami gospodarczymi, w tym równie˝ blokadà kredytów. Tymczasem bez kre- dytów dewizowych uruchomienie produkcji nowego sa- mochodu było czystà fantazjà. Spoglàdano wi´c w stron´ tradycyjnego partnera z Turynu, lecz otrzymywane stamtàd propozycje doty- czàce modeli Uno i Ritmo nie były mo˝liwe do zaak- ceptowania przez stron´ polskà. Szukano wi´c innych ofert. Za najbardziej interesujàce uznano propozycj´ francuskà – Renault model R-5 oraz japoƒskà – Da- ihatsu Charade. Lata negocjacji z innymi producenta- 37