FSC Żuk

Polish roads have seen many "beetles." However, we are not referring to the popular Volkswagen Beetle but to the Polish "delivery van" - Żuk. This name encompasses an entire series of Polish delivery vans, produced by the Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych (Truck Factory) in Lublin between 1959 and 1998. The Żuk was a favorite of farmers, served mailmen from Poczta Polska, and sometimes even acted as a fire engine. Like the iconic Maluch, the Żuk was an everyday hero for many Poles.

The T-shirt features a Żuk from 1967, which was a version with a wooden cargo bed that gave it a payload of 950 kg. Other variants of the Żuk were mainly used for transporting food products or clothing, but passenger models, i.e., minibusses, were also produced. In 1970, Żuks even began to be assembled in Egypt, and despite the obvious analogy, they were not called "Scarab" but Ramzes. The Egyptian ELTRAMCO factories assembled their Żuk-Ramzes until the 1990s, with many modifications introduced along the way.

The production of the Żuk ceased in 1998, when the number of units released reached 587,818. And although, in terms of numbers and sales, it lagged far behind the "beetle" Garbus, this does not mean that it was not a car that particularly served the common person. Its sharply defined rectangular silhouette and the sad expression of its front bumper became iconic and will be remembered for many years by working Poles of the Polish People's Republic era.

The author of the drawing is Wrocław artist Paweł Grabowski.