The "Maluch" Car - Fiat 126p

The Fiat 126p appeared on the Polish market in 1973 and soon earned the nickname "Maluch" (meaning "little one"), due to its small size. Its width, not exceeding 1.5 m, and length of 3.05 m, comparable to the dimensions of the original English Mini, did not prevent thousands of Poles from fitting their entire 6-person family and luggage inside when going on holiday from their workplace. In Poland, the production of the Maluch was carried out by the Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych "Polmo" Bielsko-Biała in Bielsko-Biała and Tychy. The progenitor of this PRL-era icon was the Italian Fiat 500, which, although comparably iconic – and sleeker than the Maluch – could never take the place that our hero occupies in the cultural consciousness of Poles.

The Polski Fiat, whose peak popularity in Poland was in the 1980s, also found a group of users in Australia between 1989 and 1992, becoming the cheapest car on the smallest continent. Maluchs relentlessly increased their mileage, also traversing Hungarian and even Cuban roads.

The author of the drawing is the Wrocław artist Paweł Grabowski.