Jelcz 300

Jelcz is not only a favorite spot for Lower Silesians to spend summer afternoons by the lake. Jelcz is also famous trucks, including the iconic 300 series produced from 1968 to 1992. However, before our Jelcz went into production, Jelcz Automotive Plants were manufacturing its predecessor, the Żubr A80. It was a flawed model, yet it boasted a load capacity of up to 8 tons – making it the only Polish-made truck with such a capacity at the time. The Jelcz plants began work on a new, better-designed truck model in 1966, aiming to produce a vehicle that could carry loads weighing between 10 and 12 tons.

Thus, in 1967, prototypes of the Jelcz "three hundreds" 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 Automotive Plants approached the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch with a proposal for cooperation. From then on, Austrian components were used in Polish trucks. Shortly after, due to technical difficulties, cooperation was discontinued, and the Jelcz plants returned to improving older designs, thus maintaining production until the 1990s. Now the famous "three hundreds" are not seen on the streets, but they can be seen on T-shirts – thanks to you, Jelcz will remain iconic.

The drawing was created by Wrocław artist Paweł Grabowski.