FSC Żuk A11

Polish roads have seen many a "Żuk". In this case, however, we are not talking about the popular Volkswagen Beetle, but about the Polish "delivery van" - Żuk. The name covers an entire series of Polish delivery vehicles, produced by the Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych in Lublin between 1959 and 1998. The Żuk was a favourite of farmers, served postmen from Poczta Polska, and sometimes even played the role of a fire truck. Like the iconic Maluch, the Żuk was a hero of everyday life for many Poles.

The T-shirt features a 1967 Żuk, which is a version with a wooden cargo bed, giving it a payload capacity of 950 kg. Other variants of the Żuk were mainly used for transporting food products or clothing, but passenger models, i.e., minibuses, 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. Egyptian ELTRAMCO plants assembled their Żuk-Ramzes until the 1990s, with many modifications introduced along the way.

The production of Żuk was stopped in 1998, when the number of units released reached 587,818. And although in terms of numbers and sales it was far behind the "beetle" Garbus, it does not mean that it was not a car particularly serving the common man. Its sharply outlined rectangular silhouette and the sad expression of its front bumper became iconic, and will be remembered for many years by working Poles of the communist era.

The author of the drawing is Wrocław artist Paweł Grabowski.