Tour of Warsaw aboard a historic Jelcz Berliet bus

The first Berliets appeared on the streets of Warsaw in January 1973 and immediately became a sensation. The bus introduced entirely new, highly progressive design standards: angular body lines, large windows, wide doors, a lowered floor, a distinctive skylight, and an unusual rounded lower edge of the front windshield. A breath of the wider world reached the Polish capital, making the Berliet one of the symbols of the Gierek-era “decade of success.” It is no surprise that during the early years, the few French-made Berliets were used on prestigious express lines.

Between 1973 and 1977, a total of 832 of these vehicles were delivered to Warsaw’s MZK. They were prone to wear and not well-suited to the climatic conditions along the Vistula, which led to their withdrawal from the streets by 1983.