Miguel Sánchez
Strictly speaking, Gianni Agnelli was a businessman. In other words, regardless of who held political power, it was his business to do. Obviously, this was not an obstacle for him to have his own opinions about him. In fact, he openly defended them from his seat as a senator of the Italian republic representing the Christian Democracy party. ideology that It did not deprive him of generating profits with states as different as the Franco dictatorship or the Soviet Union. In this sense, Agnelli was the person most responsible for the internationalization of the FIAT Group using the licensing system. Thus, while in Spain he reached agreements with SEAT, in communist Russia he did the same with VAZ.
What's more, their cars even reached other countries belonging to the Warsaw Pact. In this way, the state-owned Polski began to successfully assemble local versions of FIAT models in the mid-XNUMXs. Thanks to this, beyond the sales experienced in Italy and Spain the 124 was also very successful in Poland. Of course, shared with the smaller and more modest 126. Perfect to adapt to the austere standard of living experienced under the government of the United Workers' Party of Poland.
However, in the early XNUMXs the Poland 126 it was already getting old. Therefore, the competent authorities decided to design their own model with which to give relief. This is how the WSF Beskid was born. An autonomously designed prototype. Without the support of FIAT. All this to demonstrate the technological level reached by this country which, in just four decades, had managed to double its population. anyway, jJust as the Beskid was to go into production, Poland slid into a rising tide of political and economic conflict.. At this point, that innovative urban utility slept in the ditch of history until it was rescued by Renault in the late eighties.
Taken as inspiration for the Twingo, its design maximized interior space in the same way that the Mini already did: placing the wheels at the ends of the body. As a result, the overhangs were significantly reduced, leaving the passenger compartment as diaphanous as possible without being thus invaded by the wheel arches. In addition, the Beskid had had arduous aerodynamic studies later used by the diamond house. With all this, the Twingo can be traced in its genesis to communist Poland. Something that, on the other hand, seemed to reproduce the obvious relationship between the Iso Isetta and the SFM Smyk of 1957 in reverse. Exactly what, in flamenco, would come to be one of the so-called Cantes de Ida y Vuelta.
SFM SMYK, THE POLISH REFLECTION OF THE ISETTA
In the mid-fifties, Poland had already laid the foundations to overcome the destruction caused by the Second World War. In fact, under the protection of Moscow, the production of consumer goods as well as the development of cities and industry recovered. With all this -and as in Spain or Japan- it was necessary to motorize the population. In this way, the government opened a contest of ideas in order to find a simple, economical and easily producible automobile design.
In addition, it had to accommodate four people with a sale price not exceeding 30% of a touring motorcycle. Under these coordinates, in 1957 the first prototypes of the SFM Smyk were presented. A rear-engine utility clearly inspired by the 1953 Iso Isetta. What's more, its tilting front door towards a clear nod to the Italian model which, by the way, also It was made in the Madrid neighborhood of Carabanchel in the mid fifties. In relation to the rear seats, access to them was somewhat difficult due to having to lower the back of the front seats in order to pass over them. However, this pirouette was not entirely difficult for a pair of agile pre-adolescent raptors.
In short, the SFM Smyk had enough ballots to have been an option similar to that represented by the Isetta, the Vespa 400 or even the FIAT 500. Also, its mechanics were completely reliable when taken from the successful Junak M07 motorcycle. One of the most prestigious tourism on the other side of the Iron Curtain, powered by a single-cylinder four-stroke with 349cc and 19CV at 6.000 revolutions per minute. Of course, perhaps the great failure of this little Pole was the absence of a trunk. Something very troublesome. Especially when you want to use it as the only vehicle for the whole family.
However, the reasons why the SFM Smyk did not make it to series have little to do with its lack of space for packages. Far from it, they are due to the appearance in 1957 of the Mikrus MR-300. A WSC-produced microcar that, curiously similar in appearance to the Goggomobil, came to cover the individual transport of the Polish population. However, its manufacturing costs skyrocketed and, therefore, also the sale price. Something that made it prohibitive for the social majority, paradoxically sentencing the one who came to end the SFM Smyk. In any case, this echo of the Isetta beyond the Iron Curtain has gone down in history as the first song whose return was the reflection of the Beskid in the Twingo. What a party.
