French cars living and dying in Poland

FRENCH CARS IN POLAND

To break up the monotony of the V.I.S.I.T. posts, and ignoring the fact you you Hoons simply did not send in much great stuff, today we will look at French cars which are currently living and dying in Poland. As we have previously, when we looked at the American cars living and dying in Poland, we will utilize Zlomnik.pl and its readers.

I previously introduced Zlomnik to Hooniverse; we looked at cars around my old neighborhood, the country as whole, and even a junk yard in Norway. Check out the website, they even have a handy translator now. 

Like anywhere else, French cars were imported to Poland more as a stylish alternative to boring square boxes than anything else. No one who wanted reliability and durability bought them. That says a lot when you compare these to much cheaper Eastern Bloc cars, which sure as heck were far from being as solid as a ’88 Hyundai Excel.

Even in the 1980’s, I remember owners of these car being somewhat different; they would dress differently, they would have flair, and they all smoked a lot. They were proud of their cars, the way a parent has to be proud of their underachieving child. They had style, they had grace, they looked great while performing minor repairs on the side of the road.

Enjoy the cars, identify as many of them as possible.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC SONY DSC

No sure if French, but interesting.

SONY DSC Citroen BX citroen van OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA k01 k04 k26 k73 k81 k84 Matra mc09_zps4732f283 mc17_zps1f7e44b0 mc21_zps79ee19cb mc29_zpsa764bf3d mc52_zps13edcf68 peugeot 203 Renault 4 renault 4F OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Renault fuego Renault r4 Renault radoid super 5 renault super 5

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20 responses to “French cars living and dying in Poland”

  1. Jay_Ramey Avatar
    Jay_Ramey

    So much weirdness/awesomeness: Visa camper and Renault 9 locomotive were perhaps the biggest surprises. Who builds a camper on a Visa platform anyway? That Visa itself could fit into the bed of some domestic pickup I'd bet. It's like a Fiat 500 camper or something…
    That Simca Matra Bagheera is pretty stylin' The Pug 305 we did not get in the states, cause it would have looked awful.
    That red Fuego rocks.

    1. duurtlang_ Avatar
      duurtlang_

      That's not a Visa though, it's a C15. Which does have a Visa front half, I'll give you that. It used to be quite a common van. It's like a Ford Transit Connect.
      <img src="http://www.motorstown.com/images/citroen-c15-e-02.jpg"&gt;

    2. Vavon Avatar
      Vavon

      Look at this video of the Citroën Roma Motorhome!
      [youtube p_Vsnx3aLlg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Vsnx3aLlg youtube]

      1. jjd241 Avatar

        Je suis en amour avec ce véhicule. Nous devrions aller dormir dehors en ce moment!

  2. dwegmull Avatar

    Here goes:
    The title picture, clockwise, starting top left:
    Citroen BX
    Citroen SM
    Citroen H van
    Renault 4 ("quatre L")
    Then, in order:
    Citroen XM
    Matra/Simca Baghera
    This might be a "voiture sans permi": a small car with a very limited top speed (25MPH?), that can be driven in France without a driver's license. Usually seen driven by drunks who lost their licenses…
    Peugoet 505 (and VW wagon in the background)
    Citroen BX
    Citroen H van
    Citroen XM
    Renault 16
    Renault 11 (it's a Diesel!)
    Citroen CX
    Renault 11
    Citroen SM
    NOT A FRENCH CAR: Autobianchi/Lancia Y10
    Citroen VISA
    Citroen XM stretch limousine
    Renault 21
    Renault 9 rail conversion (the coolest of the lot!)
    Citroen CX
    I admit defeat on this one. It does have French license plates from the Gard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gard
    Renault 4
    Renault 4 utilitaire (with custom exhaust)
    Renault 9
    Renault Fuego
    Renault 4
    Renault super 5 in utilitaire version, 5 doors and 3 doors.
    Renault 5

    1. mdharrell Avatar

      I have not lost my license!
      It's a Tasso Bingo.

      1. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar

        That's the one with the overbored Suzuki Hayabusa mill, isn't it? Or a Lombardini diesel? I forget which. Bound to be one or the other.

        1. mdharrell Avatar

          My understanding is there's a Lombardini version and an electric version.

          1. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar

            Shocking!

          2. mdharrell Avatar

            True, they're not just blowing smoke.

  3. Vavon Avatar
    Vavon

    Citroën XM
    Simca Matra Bagheera
    I have no idea what that little red thing is!
    Peugeot 305 (with VW Passat Variant).
    Citroën XM (next to a Polski Fiat 125)
    Renault 16
    Renault 11
    Citroën CX
    Renault 11
    Citroën C15 Roma Motorhome
    Citroën SM
    Lancia Y10 (not French 😉 but there is a red Peugeot Partner in the background.
    Citroën Visa Leader
    Citroën XM (Tissier?)
    Renault 21 Hatchback
    Renault 9
    Citroën CX
    Peugeot 203
    Renault 4 GTL
    Renault 4F6
    Renault 9
    Renault Fuego
    Renault 4 TL
    Renault Express and Renault 5 "Supercinq" (twice)
    Renault 5 "Supercinq" GT Turbo (with a Citroën ZX next to the Ford Sierra)

    1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      <img src="http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/2471/4cvf.jpg"&gt; You might know, cause it has a big French vibe going for me. It's from an old photo from Poland. It sort of looks like a 203, 4cv, or topolino but really not like any of those in all details.
      Also that Matra is lust worthy!

      1. Vavon Avatar
        Vavon

        As it is in Poland, my best guess would be Skoda 1102…
        <img src="http://www.imcdb.org/i291018.jpg&quot; width=670>

        1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
          mr. mzs zsm msz esq

          Definitely, you're the best, thanks! And another example of a car where minilites would not work which agrees with your rule.
          [youtube –LVpA5UdGM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–LVpA5UdGM youtube]

  4. eggsalad Avatar
    eggsalad

    I'd really like one of the miniature campers. I have half a mind to build one out of a Transit Connect.

  5. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    The most interesting thing I saw in the past week was a Silverado that was cobbled together from at least three different Silverados, and I didn't have my camera on me since I was going to get some groceries. Maybe everyone else has the same problem?

  6. nanonano Avatar
    nanonano

    That little red thing (not the HY) is a Tasso I think.

    1. mdharrell Avatar

      Bingo! (See my earlier comment above.)

  7. mauro Avatar
    mauro

    Why the Citroen Visa after the Autobianchi Y10 has an italian license plate ?

  8. TokoSenang Avatar
    TokoSenang

    The Blue Renault 16 was a TX version, the top range with a 1.6 liter motor