Cool buses

I have seen many vehicles here which I never saw in real before. Especially the Polish built cars and buses were totally new to me since arriving in Warsaw. This blog post will be about buses of which I made photos on Warsaw's streets. 

Hype
In the Netherlands there was and still is a hype going on owning an old VolksWagen bus. A nice one fetches around 30,000 Euros nowadays. An awful lot of money but it is a good investment. Rust free nice ones only increase in value if you treat them with love.

In Warsaw they love buses. Really nice to see these old school buses still being used for either tourism/commercial purposes or just private use.

My personal favorite is the Jelcz.

A true Polish icon as these were public transport buses for a long time. People call this bus 'ogórek' (cucumber) because of its rounded lines and shape.

Nysa 

The Nysa buses are smaller than the Jelcz, maybe van is a better word for them.

They always seem to have this typical pastel painted color. I like them but always associate them with hipsters for some reason.

The Nysa van was produced in the town of Nysa, Poland, from 1958 until 1994. In the past, the Nysa was practically the only van-size ambulance used in Poland. Many vans were sold to the Milicja (Militia, military police) which was the only form of police during the Communist era in Poland; blue Nysa vans became a kind of "trademark" of the Milicja.

In the 1980s the production decreased. When Poland became a democracy again in 1989 the future was bleak for the Nysa. Development work had been minimal for the past 20 years. Most customers, including the Police, chose more modern, faster and safer vans of Western manufacturers, that became widely imported instead. The production was closed in 1994 after manufacturing 380,575 vehicles.

Żuk  

You could call the Żuk Nysa's sibling, as they share the same base. The Żuk (polish for beetle) was a van and light truck produced in Lublin, Poland, between 1958 and 1998 by FSC. It was based on FSO Warszawa which in turn was a copy of a Soviet passenger car GAZ-M20 Pobeda. The chassis, suspension and engine from FSO Warszawa formed the basis of the Żuk and the Nysa light vans designed in the late 1950s. 

The Żuk was mainly sold to state organizations and also to individuals. After 1989, with the liberalization of the Polish economy, the Żuk was able to maintain sales to the traditional markets and expand the number sold into private hands. The final few years of production was in parallel to its successor, the Lublin van, as a cheaper alternative.

The Żuk was a favourite of farmers. The Polish postal service (Poczta Polska, orange) and local fire brigades (Straż Pożarna, red) used them as personnel carriers or even as mini fire engines in country districts. End of production - 13.02.1998

Jelcz 

My favorite! Trucks, buses and trolley buses which were produced by Zakłady Samochodowe Jelcz, Jelczańskie Zakłady Samochodowe. 

This is the Jelcz 043, a bus which is famous as it served many many passengers of public transport. Back then, the buses were red (not really a surprise). Also the long trolley version was being used a lot. 

My wife and I had the pleasure to join a tour with it through the old Praga district, 

a fantastic experience. 

The sound of the engine, the nostalgia inside, the driver constantly performing trickery with all kinds of handles and switches, the smell, just fantasic.

STAR

More a truck than a bus, but I would like to include this brand. Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych "Star" was a Polish truck manufacturer. The name comes from the City of Starachowice, where the factory is located. Their first vehicle was the Star 20 in 1948. 

The most popular type was the Star 266. Robust, reliable and powerful engines for a low price. For many years FSC Star was a state-owned company. Star is now owned by MAN AG who eliminated the brand in January 2009.

I took the above picture at the Polish Army museum (Jerusalem avenue), where you can admire dozens of vehicles which were used by the Polish army (also airplanes helicopters and tanks). They are displayed outside and this section of the museum is free of charge. I might show you in some time!