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Modern myths and legends about communist past in Poland


jon357 74 | 21,770
2 Nov 2020 #211
jokes about the name

As far as I know, people did sometimes used to joke about the name. If there was a dearth of jokes however, that was probably because Poles knew that Skodas (crap though they were) were much better (or far less bad) than Polski-Fiat.
Dirk diggler 10 | 4,585
2 Nov 2020 #212
I don't think you can even register maluchy anymore... I was under the impression that the government wasn't allowing new registrations to phase them out because they're so unsafe..

At least the Polonez is somewhat safer. My cousin had one before he upgraded to a Corvette - quite a big jump. At the time (late 90's) he was one of only 3 people in Poland to apparently own a Corvette. Was probably the nicest car around especially in a **** hole like Walbrzych of all places.
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
2 Nov 2020 #213
probably were a cinkciarz, corrupt PRL official, smuggler, gangster, and/or had people sending you USD's.

Yes, I always wondered where one of my neighbours got his Fiat Mirafiori car from. :):)

But you omitted some groups: e.g. my classmate`s parents were dentists and they bought a brand new Polonez in late 1970s. An owner of a car service near my house drove another Mirafiori. And so on.

Those used to be imported to the UK back in the 80s as a cheap alternative

Cheap but with rich equipment - e.,g it had a rev counter, not so obvious in compact cars then.
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
2 Nov 2020 #214
Q. How do you double the value of a Skoda?

Yes, my elder sister had a Skoda 125 in early 1980s and they sold it after a year coz the rust damage and mechanical repairs cost them a fortune. That was a wedding present from my parents.

so didn't make the connection of škoda = szkoda

I made it only as a boy. Later it disappeared.

I don't think you can even register maluchy anymore.

Of course, you can register anything as a vintage car. Then you get yellow plates.



jon357 74 | 21,770
2 Nov 2020 #215
a Skoda 125 in early 1980s and they sold it after a year

As I remember, they had steering problems.

Cheap but with rich equipment

That was often why people bought them. A typical FSO Polonez driver in the UK would be a university lecturer or public administrator, not looking for a car as a status symbol. not wanting to get into debt, but wanting something big enough for passengers and reasonably economical on fuel.
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
2 Nov 2020 #216
reasonably economical on fuel.

Plus thick steel. One of my former school mates refused to buy foreign cars for a few years in 1990s, he only bought Polonezes one after another, claiming they were the safest cars available.
jon357 74 | 21,770
2 Nov 2020 #217
Plus thick steel.

Ladas (and the earlier Polski-Fiats, though they were rarer) used to be built like tanks. They were popular with elderly drivers who appreciated coming off better in a minor accident.
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
2 Nov 2020 #218
used to be built like tanks.

hahaha exactly. Of course, it wasn`t intentional. Accidentally, the technological backwardness of communist steel plants contributed to better safety in cars..
Vlad1234 17 | 894
3 Nov 2020 #219
Of course, you can register anything as a vintage car. Then you get yellow plates.

I don"t see the grille. Looks like all-electric car.
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
3 Nov 2020 #220
The hood with the grill is in the rear.
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
3 Nov 2020 #222
Actually, it wasn`t Poland`s. Communists didn`t have such car stylists and designers. It was an Italian design. Communists later filled it with the engine and other components from old FIAT 125 and so Polonez was born. A hybrid of old and new.
Vlad1234 17 | 894
3 Nov 2020 #223
Communists later filled it with the engine and other components

Does system which existed in Poland more than 30 years ago really requires such an exotic name as "communism" or it can easily fit under definition of a "monopolistic governmental capitalism"?
Lenka 5 | 3,417
3 Nov 2020 #224
monopolistic governmental capitalism

That is an oxymoron if I ever saw one
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
3 Nov 2020 #225
monopolistic governmental capitalism"?

It wasn`t capitalism coz most industry was owned by the state. There were some private enterprises, and veg and fruit market were largely in private hands, but 95% of economy was controlled by the state.
Vlad1234 17 | 894
3 Nov 2020 #226
State capitalism is an economic system in which the state undertakes business and commercial economic activity (i.e. for-profit) and where the means of production are organized and managed as state-owned enterprises.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capitalism

In my understanding a "communism" is something utopic, which never existed yet. Some hypothetical system under which "everyone contributes according to abilities and receives a share of a total product according to her needs".
OP pawian 221 | 23,991
3 Nov 2020 #227
the state undertakes business and commercial economic activity

Yes, but you are talking in theory now while I thought we were talking about a real system which was/is popular and widespread. So, communist Poland wasn`t a capitalist country neither in theory nor in practice, whether state or nonstate.


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