Home » Business » The most expensive Maluch in the world. Polish Fiat Tom Hanks sold for almost two million

The most expensive Maluch in the world. Polish Fiat Tom Hanks sold for almost two million

The story of the white Maluch, which was given to the American actor Tom Hanks five years ago, is well known. After all, how many times will you see a Hollywood celebrity behind the wheel of a car from the former Eastern bloc, especially the famous Polish Fiat 126p. Now Hanks’ car has reappeared in the headlines. The actor decided to sell it for charity and made him probably the most expensive Maluch in the world.

$ 83,500, in terms of about 1.915 million crowns, paid by the applicant under the nickname yulzherrera10 last week for Maluch alias Polski Fiat 126p American actor Tom Hanks. Quite possibly, he made the white Fiat the most expensive car of its kind in the world, because it is generally not a rare car. After all, over 3.3 million of them were created in Poland in 27 years of production, the last on September 22, 2000. However, the white car had one more ace up its sleeve in addition to the famous owner: Elizabeth Dole, as part of the Hidden Heroes project.

It helps people – parents, partners and others – who care for war veterans or wounded soldiers. It is this project that Tom Hanks chairs, so it is not surprising that the proceeds from the auction go to her. This is not the first American actor’s car to appear in the auction recently. Last year, it was possible to auction its Airstream trailer, Ford F-450 Super Duty, Tesla Model S and Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40.

The connection between Hanks and Fiat 126p from Bílsko-Bělá dates back to 2016. At that time, the actor published on the social networks a photo of him posing next to a car with the nickname “maluch”, ie translated as a child. The film reached as far as Polka Monica Jaskolská, who decided to establish a collection for Maluch for Tom Hanks. He then received a car from 1974 after a complete renovation of the exterior and interior. The specialized companies BB Oldtimer Garage and Carlex Design took care of that. The car was finished during the holidays of 2017, transported to America, where Hanks also took it over.

It had been in Hanks’ possession ever since, until that time, when it changed hands. The website of the auction portal then states that last November the car underwent a complete maintenance, its battery was replaced and its fuel system, brakes and axles were checked. The three-meter car itself has a white body paint, which is matched by, among other things, 12-inch steel wheels with tires with a white rim. Of course, there is also a plaque commemorating the famous owner.

More changes took place in the cabin, which is upholstered in green leather. There are also seats with three-point seat belts or a dashboard plaque with the famous quote from Hanks’ film Forrest Gump “My mom always said: Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll taste” and a dedication from the original initiator to the car collection. There are also unique pockets on the back of the front seat backrests, details referring to the typewriters the actor collects, or his signature on the driver’s door. Hanks also added Malucha driving gloves to the car.

According to the odometer, Fiat has only driven 483 kilometers, but this is probably the value since the renovation. It is not clear how many kilometers the car in front of her has traveled. In any case, under the rear hood there is an air-cooled two-cylinder with a volume of 594 cm3 with an output of 17 kW, which is connected to a four-speed manual transmission. The rear wheels are driven. Even the power unit underwent a complete service in November 2021 before the sale.

Recall that the Polski Fiat 126p alias Maluch began production of FSM in Bielsko-Biała under an Italian license in the summer of 1973. First from parts imported from Italy, but later the production was located. There was a huge interest in the car not only in Poland, so the opening of additional production facilities in Tychy came in handy. In 1981, the Poles celebrated the millionth unit produced, a year earlier the production of the Fiat 126 in its home Italy and the Socialist state cars were offered for some time by the Turin carmaker under its own brand and through its own dealers as a more affordable alternative to the new Panda.

During production, the three-meter car underwent a number of improvements, a more powerful engine or better equipment. It also survived the transformation of Polish politics and economy after 1989 and was established until September 2000. At that time, its nickname Maluch was already an official designation.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.