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Over a hundred Mermaids in Września, including impressive agricultural versions

Ponad sto Syren we Wrześni, w tym efektowne wersje rolnicze

June 30 was the 41st anniversary of the end of production of Syrena. It's hard to believe that such a backward vehicle was produced until 1983. However, this is not the fault of the Polish car, but rather the backwardness of the Polish People's Republic and various political decisions. In any case, Syrena is one of two passenger cars built exclusively in Poland, without the use of licenses or external help. It was supposed to be a temporary product, but it lasted 26 years in production. The second Polish car was the Mikrus MR-300, which unfortunately was not as durable as the Syrena and was a very niche product.

On June 29, the Club of Mermaids and Warsaw Lovers from Nekla organized a rally in Września, at which as many Mermaids as possible were to appear. As a result, Polish car enthusiasts from Greater Poland managed to set the Polish Record for the number of Syrens in one place – with 139 Syrens.

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Mermaids from all over Poland arrived

Of course, the September meeting of Polish car enthusiasts is not the only one, because Mermaid rallies have been taking place regularly since the late 1990s. And perhaps the National Mermaid Rally organized in 2000-2004 near the Wola Museum in Warsaw gathered similar numbers of cars, but no one counted them then.

Relaxation at Syrena 105B Bosto, photo: K.Pawłowski Relaxing at Syrena 105B Bosto, photo by K.Pawłowski Now it has finally been done and the number of 139 pieces in one place is impressive, because such large meetings of Syrena have not been organized recently. Motoring enthusiasts from all over Poland responded to the appeal of the club from Nekla – there was a Syrena 100 from 1960 from Ruda Śląska, a replica of Syrena Sport from the Automotive Museum in Topacz near Wrocław, we saw vehicles from the vicinity of Krakow, Warsaw and Gdańsk.

R-20 for farmers, 105B Bosto for craftsmen

We were most interested in agricultural vehicles, and it must be admitted that Syrens had a lot to offer in this respect. Produced since 1957, the car was intended from the very beginning to be a small sedan for working leaders and people of good work. Unfortunately, working versions were only offered in the last series of these vehicles, when production was transferred from FSO to FSM (this happened in 1972).

Syrena R20 - a small box at a high loading level is its biggest practical disadvantage, photo: K.Pawłowski Syrena R20 – a small bed with a high loading level is its biggest practical disadvantage, photo: K.Pawłowski In the early 1970s, it was decided to create several cars especially for agriculture. This time, without the help of foreign licenses, the cars were to be created based on what we have. It was supposed to be simple, practical and cheap. Based on these concepts, the following were implemented into production: Tarpan, Żuk brygadowy, Polski Fiat 125p pickup or the Syrena R20, which was created in a very interesting way and we will definitely talk about it someday – the first versions built on the Syrena 104 were called Syrena R-3 and did not have the classic doors and roof, which were replaced with a tarpaulin. Fortunately, the presentations and tests of these machines took place in winter. Tractors worth millions in sauce from the 1990s. How much did Ursus tractors cost in 1990 and 1991?

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The finished cars were shown in 1972 at the Central Harvest Festival in the Myślicinek Forest Park of Culture and Recreation in Bydgoszcz. In addition to the cars mentioned above, some were also presented that ultimately did not enter production, such as the successor of Żuk and Nysa, type "42". The entire exhibition was titled "Motorization in agriculture".

Syrena 105B Bosto with a trailer made from another Bosto, photo: K.Pawłowski Syrena 105B Bosto with a trailer made of another Bosto, photo by K.Pawłowski The second working Syrena, the Syrena 105B Bosto, also appeared at the show in Bydgoszcz, which also went into production in 1972. It was a vehicle built in Bielsko-Biała by future OBR operating within the Small Car Factory. Until 1971, the "Polmo" Mechanical Equipment Factory operated here, building engines for motor pumps and (from the late 1960s) for Syrena.

The differences between both cars are visible to the naked eye. The R20 is a small pickup truck with a load capacity of 500 kg (two people + 350 kg of cargo or 1 person + 430 kg). Its disadvantage was a small box that did not have opening sides, so loading was at a very high level. Why couldn't it be made lower? The designers left the transverse spring, the same as in the passenger version. The 105B Bosto version (name from Bielski Osobowo-Towarowy) was designed much better, because the engineers used two longitudinal springs, the wheelbase was increased by 200 mm, and the suspension was mounted on trailing arms, which cooperated with torsion bars with adjustable stiffness. A larger fuel tank from the Polish Fiat 125p was also used. As a result, the box was deep and the loading sill was as low as possible. This rear suspension solution was not new in the Syrena, as work on such a change had been ongoing from the very beginning of production, and the result of this research were well-known prototypes, such as the early Syrena 104, Syrena Sport, Kombi and Mikrobus.

Syrena R20, photo: K.Pawłowski Syrena R20, photo: K.Pawłowski Both versions of Syren delivery vehicles have become very popular in the countryside. The Bosto seemed more practical, but the R20 had an open trunk, which allowed for greater imagination in the case of unusual loads.

The R20 model in particular was only a production margin, so the demand for both cars continued, because there were still too few of them in relation to the needs of Polish agriculture and the needs of craftsmen. Throughout the entire period of Syrena's production, it was not exported. Even quite successful agricultural and craft versions (especially the one drawn by Cezary Nawrot Bosto) were not sent even to friendly Comecon countries.

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R20 and Bosto at the rally

A lot of agricultural Mermaids appeared at the rally in Września. One of the most interesting was certainly the Syrena R20 presented by the Motorization Museum "Motonostalgia" in Nieborów, which belongs to Wojciech Bury, a well-known manufacturer of agricultural machinery from Kutno. The white, very nice and renovated "ER-20" has just over 70 km on the clock.

– The car was picked up from Polmozosta, drove to the farm, was parked in a shed and stayed there for several dozen years. At one point, the shed collapsed on the "mermaid". That's why we had to refresh it with paint, because there was no other way – says Wojciech Bury from the Automotive Museum in Nieborów.

A fan of older designs drew attention to the specification of his vehicle, which was left in the original. Classic R20 models, without the letter L, had black bumpers, black borders around the lamps and grill, and rims without hubcaps.

The second vehicle presented by the Automotive Museum in Nieborów was Syrena Laminate. The history of this series of vehicles is very interesting. In the 1960s, it was planned to end the production of the Syrena, but the regulations required the production of spare parts, including bodies, for another 7 years. It was found that this element could be produced from laminate and several prototypes were created based on various Syren series. In the following years, it turned out that the Syrena would continue to be produced, so the idea of new bodies died and the equipment was sold to craftsmen. Over the next 10-15 years, a dozen or even more bodies of this type were built in private plants. The laminate from Nieborów dates back to this period, and may be familiar to lovers of vintage vehicles from Warsaw, as this example decorated the roof of one of the scrapyards in Wola for years. In 2014, the car underwent renovation, in which Wojciech Bury tried to return to the original color and specifications.

Wojciech Bury with the museum team and Syrena R20 in the background during the rally in Września, photo: K.Pawlowski Wojciech Bury with the museum team and the Syrena R20 in the background during the rally in Września, photo: K.Pawlowski Our attention was also drawn to the Bosto Syrenas, which were shown in Wielkopolska in various versions – they were original, all glazed, painted in a military camouflage pattern and converted to sleeping as a camper.

– My Bosto only has 20,000. km mileage. For many years, it was used only a few times a year, when picking strawberries, transporting the fruit to a collection point or to the market to sell them. Then the car was hidden and they waited for more strawberries. That's why the car was preserved in such condition, I didn't have to do anything to the paint – said Grzegorz Karczewski, a collector of KDL vehicles from Toruń.

As you can see, many Mermaids have a history of serving farms. And you also had Mermaids? How do you remember them?

More photos from the meeting in Września in the photo gallery.

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