Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych

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Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych, commonly known as FSO, was a Polish automobile manufacturer, located in Warsaw. The company ceased to exist in March 2011. By November 2011 the former assembly buildings were dismantled and the factory test track was sold for other use.Early historyThe FSO plant was established in 1951 by the Communist Polish government in Żerań on Warsaw's eastern bank of the river Vistula, to produce automobiles for post World War II Poland. The first FSO car was the Warszawa, manufactured under the Soviet GAZ-M20 Pobeda licence.In 1953, an in-house team started development of a smaller, popular car, resulting in the second FSO model, a two-stroke Syrena, introduced in 1957. The Syrena was a proprietary design of FSO; its production was next moved to FSM car factory (Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych).Polski Fiat and Polonez eraIn 1965, the Polish government signed license agreements with the Italian auto manufacturer Fiat to manufacture selected Fiat models in Poland, under the brand Polski Fiat. In particular, the Fiat 125 was to be manufactured at FSO to replace the outdated Warszawa. The resulting model, called Polski Fiat 125p, was in fact a simplified model with Fiat 1300/1500 mechanicals, and was exported for some time under the names Fiat 125p and later, after the license agreement ended, FSO 1300/1500. It was also produced in estate car and pick-up variants. Meanwhile, the Warszawa was manufactured concurrently until 1973.