Fotograf Magazine

The year is 1976. Poland is ruled by Edward Gierek, a propagator of the idea of socialist consumerist society. The Fiat 126p cars have been leaving production lines of Polish factories massively for the last three years and, even over this short span of time, they have already managed to reach the status of a significant official propaganda tool. Despite some extremely poor construction of this car make, it has now literally become an object of desire for most Poles. Regardless of the bad qualities, many owners of the vehicle are ready to set for a holiday journey, driving their “maluch” [the car’s popular nickname in Polish – “the small one”] all the way down to Bulgaria. Up until this day, road stories connected with the car count as emblematic memories of the communist era in Poland.