Polish pre-war minicars

Almost from the very beginning of the history of an automobile, attempts to create a popular car for the customers with the limited budget were undertaken. In America, due to standardisation and mass production methods, Ford managed to introduce his legendary Model T. Since the mass production methods were hardly known in Europe then, a dozen of a simplified small vehicles, commonly named "cyclecars" appeared locally within the years 1910 - 1915. While Ford offered maximum of a car for the minimum of money, the European cyclecar promoters tried to sell the acceptable minimum: the mean of transport for two persons (often a tricar), equipped with the motorcycle engine and wooden or fabric body. The more sophisticated constructions appeared later in the twenties and fifties, when the idea of a minicar was reborn twice in Europe.

The first known Polish motor car ever built was in fact a cyclecar. As early as in 1921 Stefan Kozlowski and Antoni Fraczkowski advertised their light (300 kg) vehicle for two persons, named the SKAF . It was powered by a 500 cc water cooled engine and equipped with the mysterious friction transmission. Its wheelbase was 2.2 meters and the maximum speed, according to the ads., was 40 km/h. Impressive about this car was its... oil consumption quoted as one litre per 100 km. Although the firm Fabryka Malych Samochodow SKAF (The SKAF Light Automobile Company) was established in Warsaw at 22 Rakowiecka Street, this robust minicar didn't attract the public attention and only 3 prototypes were made. Unfortunately, neither photos nor detailed data of the SKAF are available.

In 1927 Wladyslaw Mrajski undertook a prospective initiative of designing a light, economical and reliable popular vehicle. As a professional related to Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe - CWS (Central Automobile Works) he began this task in a clever way. Through the press advertisement and his own business connections he arranged the group of sponsors (mainly the private owners of mechanical factories) willing to participate financially in the prototype construction and its later mass production. The chassis was ready on 28th October 1928. The 733 cc air-cooled four-stroke two cylinder opposed-piston engine was applied, with the cooling fan located directly on the crankshaft. The torque was transmitted via single plate clutch, four speed gearbox, propeller-shaft without swivels and the warm gear to the solid rear axle. The propeller-shaft tubular housing was the part of the chassis frame, and the rear axle could swing slightly around it. The suspension consisted of a quarter-elliptic leaf springs in front and double transverse semi-elliptic leaf springs in the rear. The car named the WM was equipped with the open wooden body for two persons with the extra rear seat for children. The wheelbase was 2.4 meters, the ground clearance 0.2 m. and the highest point of the open body (excluding the windscreen height) was 0.84 m. The WM weighted 350 kg and performed the maximum speed of 75 km/h, while the fuel consumption remained below 6 litres per 100 kilometres - a quite reasonable figures then. The second prototype was equipped with the saloon body for two persons with the folding seats and the bigger fuel tank, especially for long tours. The WM did well in rallying with its creator behind the wheel. For instance in 1928 the 1041 km distance was covered within 24 hours during the Starlike Rallye to Bydgoszcz. Despite of the obvious advantages of the WM, its mass production has never begun since the private industry was disorganised by the World Crisis.

The WM car with low and elegant open body The WM chassis front view.Note the cooling fan placed directly on the crankshaft The WM chassis general view. Note the tubular propellershaft housing which was the part of the chassis frame.

Adam Gluck-Gluchowski, an engineer from Cracov, began his conceptual work on construction of the minicars about 1920. He was of the opinion that a cyclecar couldn't be created by a mere reducing of the size of regular car, but should incorporate its own original technical solutions adequate for its size and purpose. The drawings of such a vehicle were published for the first time in 1926 by the Auto - the most popular pre-war Polish automotive magazine. The first prototype, built on constructor's own expense in 1927, was shown at The International Communication and Tourism Exhibition in 1930 at Poznan. Both the drawings and the ready car, named the Iradam (a combination of the constructor wife's name Irena and his own name Adam) were enthusiastically received and highly evaluated by the specialists for their originality. In fact the Iradam was exceptional in many aspects. The single cylinder air cooled engine was combined with the clutch and gearbox into a monobloc, and fitted in the rear. The rear wheels were powered by the flexible shafts (probably for the first time in the world). The independent suspension of all the wheels incorporated double transverse leaf springs. The chassis frame was composed partly of a metal plate, and partly of metal tubes. This car had an open body for 3 persons (one seat in front, two in the rear). The prototypes were further tested with different engines: Total 500 cc, JAP 600 cc and JAP 980 cc. Despite of the successful test drives, Gluchowski couldn't attract the attention of any of the potential manufacturers. The rear-engined cars weren't in fashion yet, and the World Crisis once again put an end to the attempts of a talented constructor. The mass production of the Iradam had never begun. Gluchowski however, continued his work and in 1935 presented another prototype of a vehicle for 4 persons powered by the original 1000 cc two cylinder opposed-piston engine with the fuel injection and hydraulic torque converter. The car was named the Adam Gluck and it shared the fate of its predecessor. It was rather the experimental automobile and it was too modern to be a cyclecar for the masses.

The Iradam collage-advertise, the only one which showed the bodied car plus some views of the chassis and the portrait of its creator.

The first successful project of manufacturing the minicars in Poland took place in the late fifties, when the several hundreds of the Mikrus cars appeared on the market.

Acknowledgements: I am not the official representative of any of the parties mentioned in the entire text. Despite of my highest attention paid on accuracy of the historical facts, some miss-statements are possible due to the limitations of the available sources. The archival photos were copied from selected Polish pre-war magazines.

© October, 1996

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