Jelcz 043: the ogorek that carried intercity Poland

The Jelcz 043 was a Polish intercity bus produced from 1959 to 1986 by the Jelczańskie Zakłady Samochodowe. It was the licensed Polish version of the Czechoslovak Škoda 706 RTO and, because of its rounded shape, was commonly known as the ogorek, the cucumber.

Jelcz 043 at a glance

This page is based on a single source, the Polish Wikipedia article on the Jelcz 043. Jelcz 041, a former separate entry, was the suburban variant of this family and is covered here.

History of the Jelcz 043

Passenger traffic between Polish cities grew quickly after the war, and the state operators needed high-capacity intercity buses that the only Polish bus maker, the Sanok factory, did not offer. Design work on the Odra A81, based on the Żubr A80 truck, was stopped in favour of cooperation with the Czechoslovak company Škoda. The licence agreement was signed on 6 December 1958: Škoda supplied complete chassis of the Škoda 706 RTO with bodies designed by Karosa of Vysoké Mýto, and Jelcz built the bodies under licence. At the end of 1959 the first trial series of 20 buses was assembled, although some sources mention only four, and about 200 were built the following year.

The body sat on a riveted longeron frame of pressed steel sheet and was made of closed and open steel profiles welded together, with steel sheets riveted to the skeleton. On the right-hand side there were two single 900 mm doors between the axles and on the rear overhang, and on the left a door for the driver only. The 1,900 mm high interior carried 41 passengers on fixed seats and 10 more on folding straponten seats, and was finished in lacquered fibreboard with a pine floor covered in rubber. Heating came from a heater fed from the vehicle fuel tank together with a water heater. The underfloor lockers were small, so luggage went on shelves above the side windows and on a roof rack, which later series no longer carried.

Power came from the imported Škoda 706RT, a six-cylinder inline diesel of 11,781 cm³ with direct injection and 117.6 kW (160 hp), coupled to a five-speed non-synchronized gearbox. The engine sat at the front over the front axle and drove the rear wheels through a two-part tubular shaft. The front axle was a rigid I-beam on semi-elliptic leaf springs with hydraulic lever dampers, the rear axle used leaf springs with lever dampers and a final drive of 5.62, or 4.87 in the few long-distance examples, and the worm-and-nut steering had an AB 125 hydraulic pump. Despite the new PR110IL of 1979 and its PR110D successor of 1984, the 043 stayed in production until 1986. Its derivatives included the city buses 272 MEX, AP-02 and 021, the coaches 014 Lux and 015 Lux and the suburban 041, and the modernised Jelcz 044 used a 200 hp SW 680/55 engine under Leyland licence, a ZF S6-90 gearbox and a Rába rear axle with a 7.07 ratio.

Design and features

• Licensed Škoda 706 RTO: Czechoslovak chassis and a Karosa-designed body built at Jelcz.
• Room for 51: 41 fixed seats plus 10 folding straponten seats.
• Škoda 706RT engine: 11,781 cm³, 160 hp, five-speed gearbox and a 5.62 rear axle.
• Long career: built until 1986, outliving the newer PR110IL and PR110D.

Jelcz 043 versions

• Jelcz 043: the standard intercity bus.
• Jelcz 041: the suburban version of the family.
• Jelcz 044: the modernised version with a 200 hp SW 680/55 engine, ZF S6-90 gearbox and Rába axle.
• Derivatives: the city buses 272 MEX, AP-02 and 021 and the coaches 014 Lux and 015 Lux.

The 043 was the basis of the city bus Jelcz 272 MEX and of the coach Jelcz 014 Lux. More buses are in the Jelcz collection.

Sources

• Jelcz 043, Polish Wikipedia: licence, production, body, interior, engine, derivatives and the 044