A cool Polski Fiat 126P, seen in Beijing in 2016. The Fiat was painted in a shiny shade of pink and fitted with black wheels. The bumpers and mirrors were removed, and that actually looks pretty good, especially up front.
The Polski Fiat 126P was based on the Fiat 126. Polski Fiat was a Polish car maker, making Fiat cars under a license agreement with Fiat of Italy. Polski Fiat was a subsidiary of FSO, Poland’s largest automotive company. Production of the 126P (P for Polski) started in 1973 and continued all the way until 2000.
I saw the Poliski Fiat in an area with some small art galleries and car shops, a somewhat off combination of businesses, but handy I guessif you want to turn a perfectly fine Fiat into an art farty ‘Barbie Queen’ car.
Export of the Polski Fiat 126P to China started in the late 1970’s. At the time, the Chinese central government was directly responsible for all car imports.
The government bough the Fiats in large batches, typically a few thousand cars per transaction. This kind of deal was typical was typical for trade between communist countries. There was usually no money involved, it was all barter trade.
Most were distributed to taxi companies, which were all government owned. Later on in the 1980’s private buyers could get one too, if they were prepared to wait very long and pay very much.
The Polski Fiat 126P was powered by a 0.65 liter two-cylinder petrol engine with 22hp and 77nm. Not that much power but the engine was located in the back, powering the rear wheels, so at least it was fun to drive.
The interior was completely stripped out with an engine block on the passenger side. This old Polish Fiat it seems, won’t ride many miles anymore.
The rear lights were out as well. Barbie probably don’t need any, as she is a flashy chick.
Most Polski Fiat 126P’s are gone from the streets of Beijing nowadays so it is nice to see at least one surviving, albeit dressed down in pink,