The Daewoo Lublin was a light commercial van built in Lublin, Poland, and renamed when Daewoo Motors took control of the FSC factory in 1995. Production had begun in 1993 to replace the ageing Żuk, and the van went on being built under different owners long after Daewoo itself had collapsed.
Daewoo Lublin at a glance
| Maker | FSC, Lublin, Poland; Daewoo from 1995 |
|---|---|
| Type | light commercial van |
| Production started | 1993, as the Lublin 33 |
| Intended replacement for | FSC Żuk, discontinued in 1998 |
| Renamed | Lublin II after the Daewoo takeover in 1995 |
| Lublin III | from 1999 |
| Sold in 2001 | to the British company Truck Alliance |
| Later owners | Intrall Polska, then DZT Tymińscy |
| Later names | Intrall Lublin, Pasagon, Honker Cargo |
| Daewoo joint venture | with LDV, which became the LDV Maxus in 2004 |
Based on one source.
History of the Daewoo Lublin
A Polish workhorse
The FSC Lublin was a light commercial van produced by the Polish firm FSC in the city of Lublin. Production started in 1993 and was meant to replace the ageing Żuk, which was finally dropped in 1998. The first version, the Lublin 33, was built until 1995.
The Daewoo years
In 1995 Daewoo Motors took control of FSC and renamed the van the Lublin II. In 1999 the Lublin III went into production. When the Daewoo group went bankrupt the future of the Lublin looked bleak, and in 2001 the brand was sold to a British company, Truck Alliance.
After Daewoo
The brand later belonged to Intrall Polska, a Russo-British company, and the van was sold as the Intrall Lublin. The rights then passed to DZT Tymińscy, which built a small batch as the Pasagon with a modernised frame and a slightly changed front to take a larger engine meeting the Euro 5 standard; a later attempt to sell it as the Honker Cargo failed. In the later 2000s Daewoo had also entered a joint venture with LDV to develop a new commercial vehicle replacing both the Lublin II and the LDV Convoy, but after General Motors bought Daewoo, LDV secured the exclusive rights, bought the tooling and moved it from Lublin to Birmingham, where the vehicle was launched as the LDV Maxus in 2004.
Design and features
- Polish design: developed by FSC to replace the long-serving Żuk van.
- Daewoo badge: the Lublin II of 1995 carried Daewoo’s name and backing.
- Survived its maker: built on as the Intrall Lublin, Pasagon and Honker Cargo.
- Link to LDV: the planned replacement became the LDV Maxus in Britain.
Daewoo Lublin versions
- Lublin 33 (1993–1995): the original FSC van.
- Lublin II (1995): the Daewoo-era version.
- Lublin III (1999): the last version built under Daewoo.
- Intrall Lublin, Pasagon, Honker Cargo: the later lives of the same van.
The Lublin was Daewoo’s larger van next to the Damas, and the Novus was its truck. More cars are in the Daewoo collection.
Sources
- FSC Lublin, English Wikipedia: production, Daewoo takeover, later owners
