FSO 125p MR’83 (Kultowe Auta PRL-u)

1st January 1983 – this is when the license for the Polski Fiat 125p expired. Despite previous premises, this didn’t mean an end of production of the car. After placing the FSO badge and removing the “Fiat License” plate, the car continued to be sold. Even though it was an archaic design, it was still exported to demanding Western markets. There, it was praised for a roomy and comfortable cabin. Unfortunately, that’s where the praising ended. Its flaws, visible even in the less developed countries, were all to clear in the West. Dated design, hard to operate switches, poor build quality, noisy and slow engine were enough to make the clients disinterested in the car, despite its near-bargain price. As a matter of fact, the “big Fiat” as it was colloquially called in Poland, was struggling even on home soil. The economic crisis of the early 1980s that hit Poland, meant problems with access to materials and parts vital to manufacturing the car. Many cars left the assembly lines uncompleted and had to wait for missing parts on the car lot. This of course had a negative impact on the car’s quality. As a general rule, the younger the car was the poorer its build quality. The production decreased year on year until it was finally stopped in June 1991.

FSO 125p was released in the 77th issue of “Kultowe Auta PRL-u” partwork series, in 2011. This was a time when I was only beginning serious die-cast collecting and I wasn’t really interested in this series. I warmed to it a few years later. That’s also when I came across the collection of KAP models of kolekcjoner87, a well-known collector in the Polish die-cast community. I was amazed at the amount and level of extra detail he added to the models. I thought innocently that it would be great to have similarly worked-on models. As I found out a few years on, that thought wasn’t as innocent as one would expect. At the end of last year I logged on to motoshowminiatura.pl (which I don’t usually do) and largely by co-incidence clicked the “Buy, sell, swap” tab. To my disbelief, I noticed that kolekcjoner87 is selling his whole collection of KAP models! The collection that I admired and that made me want to improve diecast models myself. The vast majority was already sold, but there were still some cars which were not yet in my collection. In total I bought 7 models from kolekcjoner87 and the presented FSO is one of them. As some may know, the models done by him are of a really high standard. They all have wipers made from wire, beautifully coloured interior, matte-finish wheels, improved registration plates and window frames. The yellow FSO is no exception. Thanks to these changes it looks much better than the original model released by KAP. The much discussed in Poland hump in the middle of the bonnet is pretty much the only factual fault of the model. Thankfully. I’m inviting you to look at the photos.

History
After the license for Polski Fiat 125p has expired on the 1st January 1983, FSO has decided to continue production of the car under its own brand. The FSO 125p (sold also as FSO 1300/1500 and FSO Berlina in internal export in Poland) received its first update in April ’83. Its bodywork was simplified; side indicators and small black hub caps were introduced. On the inside the lighting in the boot and glovebox, the cigarette lighter and the rear armrest were removed. From 1984 cloth upholstery and engines from the Polonez were being used in the 125p. A year later a 5-gear transmission was introduced and in 1986 the rear fog light. In the same year a small volume of vehicles was produced with the 1.6 D diesel from Volkswagen. The last upgrade took place in 1988. The new FSO logo designed by Tytus Walczak was used then and new, round gauges adapted from the Polonez. The last 125p (a cherry red estate) was made on the 29th June 1991. Between 1967 and 1991 a total of 1 445 699 units were made. 586 376 of them were exported to about 80 different countries.

FSO 125p MR’83 (1:43) by IST Models Partwork series – Kultowe Auta PRL-u (deAgostini)