#TBT to car shows past today and 2009. It looks like a car of the 1950s, but this particular car was produced from 1972-1983. It’s a 1974 FSM #Syrena105 - built in the Silesian city of Bielsko-Biała, Poland. Of course, it looks like the 50s because the Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych (FSO) Syrena (Polish for “Siren,” as in the mermaid in Warsaw’s coat of arms) was designed in 1953, first shown to the public two years later, and entered production in Warsaw in 1957. - FSO’s first product, the Warszawa, was a licensed version of the Russian GAZ Pobeda. That car long outlived it’s Russian ancestor but was a very expensive car in Poland. Wanting to put more people on wheels, the Zawadzki Gov’t approved a project for a mass-market car, the Syrena. - The original Syrena 100 was a fairly advanced car for the mid-1950s - a front-driver powered by a punchy 744-cc 2-stroke twin designed by Fryderyk Bleumke mated to a 4-speeder, it wasn’t so different from a DKW or Saab of that time and the styling, by Stanislaw Panczakiewicz and Stanislaw Lucaszewicz, was very contemporary. The only catch was that to save costs, the Syrena had to use some pieces from the big Warszawa, which made it heavy. - In the 1960s the car was refined and given 3-cyl engines, first rom the East German Wartburg and later an in-house design mated to an all-synchro 4-speed, made for more power, and there were handling, styling, and electrical upgrades too. Then came Fiat. - With no replacements for the Warszawa or Syrena on the horizon, FSO began building licensed Fiats in 1967, starting with the 125P (later the basis of the Polonez) and, famously, the Fiat 126. Increased 125P volume saw the Syrena move to Bielsko-Biała in 1973, where it shared the floor with the 126P “Maluch.” The new factory was called Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych - FSM. - The 105 was the final version, with all of the 1960s refinements and the 843-cc 2-stroke triple; and it continued more or less unchanged into April 1983. Though mostly unwanted in the 1990s, the Syrena is an icon in Poland and a classic now. It was not exported (FSO/FSM preferred to export Fiat-based designs) and over 500,000 were made during its long run. (at Carlisle, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/oldmotors/p/Bvjy2AqF6Mz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hvlmiafh9rxi