Piotr: G'day,
meet Beata.
Beata: My husband, Piotr, a Jelcz enthusiast.
He's just bought a Jelcz. He'll tell you how he got it.
We got it in 2012, in a state of decay,
it was 6 years of fun with my wife's full support.
He was sad so we bought him a trailer.
The restoration of the trailer took maybe half a year.
He's a well cared-for member of our family.
We all tended to this project.
We have 3 daughters who supported us in all this,
ordered parts and books for daddy.
We've always been with him.
Where did you get the idea for this model of Jelcz?
Dad worked as a driver. I grew up in this truck.
He'd drive across Poland with a truck and trailer like this one.
He took me to grade school in it all the time. Later not so much,
but it was in the back of my head to own one of these.
I think it stared in my 30s.
I saw it online, grabbed some cash, and came back after 3 days.
We had it transported.
We're happy now.
How did your husband explain not returning for 3 days?
It took him 3 days because August 15th was a holiday,
and trucks were not allowed on the road.
He left on Monday and came back on, I think, Thursday.
Tired, hungry, but with the truck on a transporter.
And happy, indeed.
It was truly worth it.
Any ideas for further projects?
We're thinking about another, right?
Which one?
There won't be another one!
We have plenty of time in the afternoons after work.
Maybe we'll find something to work on.
He wants a bus, too.
But I don't think so.
We'll live, we'll see! As long as everybody agrees.
What did the restoration entail?
We took it apart entirely.
Every wiper blade, every spring, to the last screw.
Sanded, painted with epoxy and polyurethane,
same with the engine.
Rings, clutch, everything one by one.
Cabin metalwork took me around a year:
stamping, tin plating, done everything ourselves.
Only the painting of the cabin we entrusted to the wonderful Zielinski brothers here,
they were getting it ready for us for one year.
We didn't want to screw up the paint job.
Exuse me! Mess up the paint job.
We trusted the pros and we're really happy.
Paint is still great after 6 years.
The woodwork, trunk, upholstery...
My wife sewed the whole thing: headliner, curtains, veneering the cabin.
We did everything on our own.
The costs aren't astronomical, but you need time and willingness,
some wit and skill.
What you take apart, you can put together again.
Something broken you can replace, weld, even lathe yourself.
I'm an electrician by trade. Car mechanics came on its own, after my father.
He is very patient and precise.
I started with the Komar (60s-80s moped), then Fiat 126,
ended up in the heavyweight!
The engine weighs 970kg.
Taking it out with a pallet truck took me 2 hours.
All is manageable, you just need the willingness.
What was the most troublesome?
Lots of odd situations.
Many parts were hard to find.
There was a lot of searching.
For tire holders, his ritual is to go online every morning.
He turns on the computer,
goes on ad websites, marketplaces,
and he just searches "tires" or "Jelcz parts", even to this day.
Yes, just rummage the web in various ways.
For example, the diagonal tires were impossible to find,
but we managed to find them for the trailer.
Granted, I had to go all the way to Zakopane without my family to get them.
But my wife forgave me. I promised I'll take her one day.
He told his friends he went to Zakopane,
so they asked: "Trip with family?"
and he said: "Nah, just getting tires!"
Or how I found the sideboards. I've got original Zubr ones.
It was a total accident.
I found two driving through a village. Noticed the color from a few dozen meters.
Bought them for 50 zloty. The other two,
the guy was selling the whole truck for 15 grand.
I noticed the trailer, the sideboards. I finally got him to sell at least the boards.
It's all about searching, persistence.
Blinkers, orignal lights. We had to look for everything.
Even screws. All had to be from the PRL period.
The nuts on the trailer had to be square. Details really matter.
How did Dear Wife feel about the whole idea of Jelcz restoration?
Great! I've always known it was his dream. He kept looking for it online.
6 years ago these things weren't easy to come across.
When he found it he was so amazed. Like we told you,
just got up and went to Bialystok.
I knew it was his dream.
We only have girls at home. Three daughters.
Many a boy wouldn't do as much for their father as our girls.
They washed it for me.
Yesterday they washed the tires.
They're always happy to help. We stick together.
Though he does have crazy ideas!
We'll see what's next.
What's your farthest trip in the Jelcz?
To Trzebnica. A bit shy of 100km. Dad's hometown.
Very nice trip, eh?
Every Sunday we go get ice cream, just to take it for a ride.
Somewhere near. Every Sunday, if the weather's good.
We check the forecast. If there's no storm or rain, we start up the truck and enjoy it.
What model of Jelcz is this?
This is the last release, year '71. Jelcz 315, with the post-Zubr cabin.
180-200 horsepower, no turbo. Figures vary.
I think there are 2 restored, and at lest 3 in restoration in Poland.
I know because they call me sometimes, even a guy from the US, Grzegorz.
His family is preparing one for him.
It's a rare model.
Not many were manufactured.
They made them for less than 2 years. A dozen or so in '68, and then in '71.
This one is from '71. Then, they also came with panoramic windshields.
Manufactured just during those two years, but we're not sure how many units.
There are only a few left.
I keep saying this, but I grew up in this cab.
In the same model. I spent my childhood in it.
So it brings a lot of joy.
What is your Jelcz to you?
A throwback to childhood.
His dad is very proud of him, too. He'll actually be here soon.
He's happy that his son was infected with his interests.
Grandpa helped us a big deal. Remembered many technical detals.
He did lie to me though. We were replacing the head gasket, and he said:
"Son, keep turning. Ain't nobody's ever ripped out a head bolt in a Jelcz,"
but I did. Right in front of him.
He has a torque wrench built into his arm. I don't.
There's a lot of valves, stuff to adjust.
He gives me his two words, I fill in the rest.
We also have a friedly carpenter who helps us.
Many acquaintances have helped us here.
This about enough?
Enough?
Of course
Of course not
Time for the interior
Upholsterer wanted 15 hundred or so. So we bought fabric for one hundred,
and my wife sewed three tunnels accross.
...and we bought the sewing machine!
This is why we got the sewing machine.
This is why I learned sewing.
That's how we saved lots of money.
I sewed these beautful curtains.
We veneered this OSB, too.
And the dashboard, the engine tunnel. You can save a lot of money doing it yourself.
Beata: The seats were in awful condition. The upholsterer did those.
One seat is not done yet.
It's registered for 4 people. Fits almost the entire family.
The bunk here, too.
I got a new pipe and scrapped the old, rotten one,
and replaced the rubber belt. It's all authentic, by the book.
This one we got online, it's an original cover.
Have I told you about the wheel?
When I was a kid, 40 years ago, I'd sit right here.
Dad would pass me a ball of kedra and pull tight,
and I helped weave it.
40 years later, I was doing the same, just this time
my daugther was handing me the kedra, and I was pulling it over the wheel.
You honestly can experience the same thing twice.
Tell them about the blinker.
The old one did not light up.
We stick to the instructions, the schematics.
This light here has to be built into the switch, not dashboard.
We had to find it somehow. I'm grateful there was a preserved original.
The truck was appraised at 100% true to original.
The guy said it's the second car in his career to score so high.
How does it feel to travel in the Jelcz?
Very pleasant. When we go on a trip,
one of them travels in the front one way, and they switch places the way back.
Every one of my lovely ladies wants the spot in the front.
It's a bit loud though, isn't it Lena?
But it's music to your ears.
Are you an example of how passion unites?
Definitely. A lot.
I don't make her do anything. She'll always come and help.
People say doing things together makes a huge difference.
We have a friend who has to fight for his time, with wife and kids. They have separate worlds.
Us, sure, I don't always stay long hours, but
when necessary, I'd go and help.
I remember our hands completely covered in butapren. It was lots of fun.
Watching the progress day-by-day is very satisfying.
When we were putting in the sideboards,
she had this 5 kg hammer. She was so done.
The board wouldn't come into place.
She took a big swing and it finally popped right in.
It was 30°C degrees, I was drenched.
Either the sideboard was finished, or I'd have enough.
We spent a whole summer doing repairs.
He'd work on it on some Sundays.
Hush, the pastor will hear you!
Always in the garage, smashing or painting, right Lena?
Same with the trailer, the past 6 months.
We were rushing to finish before the car show. But we made it!
No need to rush next year.
When we went to our first car show in Olawa, we were back home at 9 PM,
and the next morning we left for holidays at the sea side.
It all was aligned with the show. The appraisal was in June,
the show at the end of June, and then our vacation. We needed a rest.
Right. We totally decompressed.
Just locked up the truck after the show, and off we went to the sea.
What else apart from the Jelcz?
It's always been about the Jelcz.
If not a cake, then these t-shirts.
We had them designed.
T-shirts for the whole family.
He got his for Christmas. Just one, in a big box.
While he was trying it on, we snuck out and we put on ours.
He had no idea there'd be more.
We came out and he was so surprised!
Now we have t-shirts for the car show.
They're designed for us, license plate and all.
Ryszard Szymanski designed these.
We contacted him on Facebook in secret. Our daughter did.
My husband never picked up on it.
Now we have matching outfits.
And now she doesn't need to worry about what to wear to the show.
Now she has this shirt every year, like it or not.
Lena, do you like it?
Yeah!
Do you like getting ice cream with daddy?
We like it when we stop at the KFC parking lot on Sundays, and go out the truck.
Lena, do you share the passion for the Jelcz?
Yeah, sure. I will even more if we keep going for rides every week.
When my big sister visits us, she always complains we didn't take her along.
When we send her pictures, she always says
"How could you go without me!"
We are addicted to it!
They are so proud. We have an 18, and a 25 year old.
When they have friends over, she drags them and shows them dad's work.
Everyone is very interested. They are coming to visit us here today.
In retrospect, how do you feel about the decision to restore the Jelcz?
Wonderful. During those 6 years we had to make many sacrifices,
but I never felt that other things were neglected.
Sometimes we just had to catch up on stuff.
How many years has it been? From 2012 to 2023. Eleven years?
I, and I bet you too, can't imagine life differently now.
Hadn't we started with the purchase of the not-so-appealing truck back then...
Time flows the same for everybody, but our time was spent achieving what we have now,
and we're now getting to appreciate it.
Let me show you this.
Interviewer: No way!
This guy is me. I lost some weight with all the physical work.
Worked out well for his health!
It was so worth it. I can't imagine any other scenario.
What would we be doing all those years?
How would we spend our money?
Whatever would we do!
When we got the Jelcz, she was one, beginning to walk.
Now she's 12.
Interviewer: So this Jelcz has been present your entire life.
I don't remember the beginnings very much.
I remember the first car show, installing the sideboards.
You were so proud, weren't you? You sat here and waved at the crowd.
At the car show in Olawa,
we have a picture of tiny Lena waving through the window.
Many friends go to car shows with us.
On the first show, as a surprise, each of us, 10 women, baked a cake.
He didn't even know so many people were coming!
We had a picnic with all the cake.
Everybody admires him. Of course everybody says he's crazy,
to devote so much time to this, but we admire him a lot.
Some go fishing, foraging, some have pigeons...
I coudn't live without this passion.
I like car mechanics: to take things apart, weld, fix, reassemble.
I don't sleep at night, I analyze in my head,
then in the morning the solution finally hits me.
Things dad or others couldn't remember, stuff not mentioned in the books.
Like, why didn't the engine start after replacing the injection pump?
Gotta figure it out yourself.
Someone says it's about the clutch, but he knows its not that.
He'll spend a week or two figuring it out.
The clutch was a real pain, right?
This here is a transitional mechanical clutch,
needs 38kg of force to disengage.
I didn't have the original pressure plate, but I kept looking.
I found something odd online: it was listed as "Skoda RTO clutch"
I compared it to the books, the diagrams, called the guy. An employee picked up.
I said "I think what you have is not for Skoda RTO. Might be for my Jelcz"
He didn't want to sell it. Said it was troublesome if I wanted to return it.
I asked to speak to the boss, and luckily he measured the dimensions,
and called me back saying I was right, those are the same dimensions.
So send it over man, I want to buy it! That's how how I found the original pressure plate.
Gotta to be persistent.
He looks at many pictures, zooms in, assesses visually. Then he knows this is it.
You just have to go through a lot. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Interviewer: People say that when there's a problem,
put it on the back burner, the solution will come on its own.
True.
You often come across a solution by chance,
while doing something else.
Same goes with the tires.
We had old non-Jelcz tires for the trailer,
but one Friday, he looked online and found originals in Zakopane.
How long was it, 7 hours?
I was supposed to pick up one on Saturday, in Silesia,
but then I also found 7 tires in Zakopane.
So I drove 730km in 9 hours.
I picked up the one first, and then the others. I was so happy.
We couldn't go with him, not enough room.
Frankly, my girls haven't been to Zakopane yet.
Gotta make it up to them.
He ended up leaving 3 tires in Zakopane!
They wouldn't fit in the car.
He needs to go get them, maybe next time we'll go together.
After the car show, for sure.
Your story with the Jelcz is about passion, determination, and?
And how it's worth to have dreams.
Everything will come true. You need a goal. Don't talk about the money.
We didn't have money either. Take it step by step.
Patience and preserverence.
You really don't need a lot of money.
Life without dreams, without a goal, that's not life.
We're all happy, aren't we Lena?
Interviewer: I'm a bit on the fly here, but I'm with you too. High-five!
Thanks a lot.
Until next time!
Next year, for sure.