It is well known that used cars from the Netherlands are often exported to the east. In 1991 this was still a new phenomenon. Techzle went home exactly 30 years ago with a Pole who bought an Opel Kadett here.
In 1991, the fall of the Berlin Wall was barely two years behind us, making it a lot easier for Eastern Europeans to come to the Netherlands. The visa requirement lapsed and thus even largely free movement could be initiated. It led to a new phenomenon: people came here to buy used Western cars. This got off to a good start, especially from Poland. People who were tired of driving around in an FSO or a Lada gathered their money together to make their way in the Netherlands and pick up a more modern car.
This is also the case with Zenon Drygalski, from Torun, which is centrally located in Poland. Techzle found him on the car market in Utrecht 30 years ago. There we noticed that the Poles were eagerly strolling between our ‘cast-offs’ to take home something beautiful for a ditto price. We also saw that the local traders made grateful use of the language barrier and the sometimes ignorant attitude of the gentlemen who came to take their chance. “You would think that the people of Utrecht should be able to show some compassion for the unsuspecting foreigners, but none of that. You pick them out easily: they walk around a bit uncomfortable, wear clothes of a-fashion cut and have a pale complexion, a result of poor nutrition. They like any car, which makes sense if you have nothing else all your life than Lada, Polski Fiat, FSO and Polonez have seen. “
Drygalski did not belong to that group of unkindly described fellow countrymen. The best man worked in Poland for the local equivalent of the ANWB and also had a past as a car mechanic. So he knew what to look out for. While strolling through the offer, his eye fell on an Opel Kadett. A ten-year-old copy, described by the editor as “an elderly Kadett.” Yes, at that time a car of ten years old was indeed almost finished in the Netherlands. Drygalski, who also looked at a Ford Escort and Volkswagen Golf, explained his choice: “I bought an Opel because it is technically simple. A Japanese car is considered a disposable car to us. Not because it is a bad car. but because the technology and electronics are too complicated. A broken part cannot be repaired, but must always be replaced, “says Drygalski.
For Drygalski, the Kadett was a bull’s eye. “Happy as a child,” was the young father. We drove with him to his home town in Poland in our Volvo 440 endurance tester. Probably the longest ride the Kadett had ever taken, towards a second chapter in his life. Drygalski had enjoyed the trip. Drygalski explained to two Polish officers who pulled him over after a speeding over that the car was “so comfortable that he didn’t realize he was speeding.” Once at home, Drygalski parked his latest addition next to his other car: a Polski Fiat 126. Compared to this, the Kadett seemed to come from the future.
In Torun, the entire village would see the Drygalski family driving their ‘new western car’. In addition to trips to family, Zenon’s wife would also take the children to and from school with it, while Zenon himself continued to use the 126 for commuting. After all, the Kadett was also partly paid with his mother-in-law’s pension money. Including all import costs, the Kadett cost 5,000 guilders, at the time the equivalent of over 16 modal monthly salaries in Poland. “We bought the car with savings and borrowed money and it is indeed quite an expense, but a ten-year-old Kadett is always better and lasts longer than a new Polish car,” said Drygalski. We are curious how long the Kadett has provided fun in its later days.