Jelcz 300

Jelcz is not only a favorite place for people from Lower Silesia to spend summer afternoons by the lake. Jelcz is also famous for its trucks, with the iconic 300 series produced between 1968 and 1992. However, before our Jelcz went into production, Jelcz Automobile Works was manufacturing its predecessor, the Żubr A80. It was a flawed model, yet it had a load capacity of up to 8 tons – it was the only Polish-made truck of its kind until then. The Jelcz plant began work on a new, better-designed truck model in 1966, aiming to produce a vehicle that could carry loads weighing from 10 to 12 tons.

Thus, in 1967, prototypes of the Jelcz "300s" were created. In the early 1970s, the load capacity even exceeded the desired 12 tons, allowing for the transport of 18-ton loads. Despite increasingly better results, the vehicles from Jelcz did not satisfy the manufacturers. Therefore, in 1972, the Automobile Works turned to the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch with a cooperation proposal. From then on, Austrian components were used in Polish trucks. Soon after, due to technical difficulties, cooperation was discontinued, and the Jelcz plant returned to improving old designs, thereby maintaining production until the 1990s. Now, the famous "300s" are not seen on the streets, but they might be seen on T-shirts – thanks to you, Jelcz will remain iconic.

The drawing was made by Wrocław artist Paweł Grabowski.