FSC Żuk

Żuk A15 serving as a fire engine

FSC Żuk A-07

Żuk A-11 B pickup-truck

The Żuk (pl. beetle) is a van and light truck produced in Lublin, Poland, between 1958 and 1998 by FSC. It was based on FSO Warszawa, which in turn was licensed from the Soviet passenger car GAZ-M20 Pobeda. The chassis, suspension and engine from FSO Warszawa formed the basis of the Żuk and the Nysa light vans designed in the late 1950s. About 587818 were manufactured.

The Żuk was mainly sold to state organizations, but also to individuals. After 1989, with the liberalization of the Polish economy, the Żuk was able to maintain sales to the traditional markets and expand the number sold to individual consumers. The final few years of production was in parallel to its successor, the Lublin van, as a cheaper alternative.

The Żuk came in a range of body styles. The most common were van and light 1.1-ton pickup truck. Rarer variants were minibus and a long-cab truck. Rare for a van, it had independent front suspension. It was very angular, with a number of wide channels running along the side of the body and a completely flat windscreen/windshield. After about ten years in production the front of the cab was restyled, from then on the distinctive side channels no longer continued around onto the front to meet the grille. No further changes were made, except a minor change to the number of vents located above the headlights.

The Żuk was a favourite of farmers, and a common place to find groups of them was at any local market when they were used to transport crops from the fields to the farmers’ own stalls. The Polish postal service (Poczta Polska) used large numbers of Żuks painted in a dull orange colour, and local fire services used them as personnel carriers or even as mini fire engines in country districts.

The Żuk was shipped to the Soviet Union in the panel van form. From the 1970's to about 1990, it was also manufactured in Egypt under licence as ELTRAMCO RAMZES.

Variants

There were two main types of Żuk trucks, the ones with the original slightly "rounded" front and the more angular improved version. The change was made at the end of 1960s. Other modifications were indicated with suffixes M, B and C (for example A11M, A15B or A151C).

A03: older version pickup with optional tarpaulin cover

A05: older version van, rear compartment has only rear window, no side windows

A06: newer version van, similar to A05 except the nose

A07: van for cargo or passengers ("tow-os"), similar to A06, the rear compartment has side windows

A09: older version flatbed truck with optional tarpaulin covered box

A11: newer version of the A09 flatbed truck

A13: newer version pickup, similar to A03

A15: firefighter truck, first based on the A05 then later on the A06 van, with reinforced roof structure, added ladder and firefighting equipment storage on the roof, with a portable fire pump and additional equipment (hoses, pickaxe, etc.) in the rear compartment. Also added rotating emergency lights above the cab and a siren (electronic or electromechanical).

A151: firefighter truck similar to A15, with a front-mounted fire pump. The pump was powered by the crankshaft of the truck's engine via an electromagnetically actuated clutch

A16: "crew cab" version of the A11, with shorter bed