From Gdynia Taxi "Kasia" to Agraf's Flagship

It sounds like a dream of Warsaw, though every word of it is true. An ivory-colored Warszawa drives through the streets of Olsztyn with a distinctive, retro-styled lettering on the door reading "Przedsiębiorstwo reklamowe Agraf" (Agraf Advertising Enterprise). It belongs to Rafał Sadowski, who also owns Agraf. One might think it is a rolling billboard for the company. Indeed, it is that too. But Rafał treats this 40-plus-year-old Warszawa as a touring vehicle. Where hasn't he been with it? In total, he counted 13 countries he has visited with the help of his Warszawa. However, this story is not about travels, because just recently, during a casual conversation, it turned out that I knew a piece of this vehicle's past unknown to its current owner—a past from before it migrated to Olsztyn from Gdynia. At the time, I lived there as a novice journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza. Pushing my freshly acquired academic skill set to its limits, I rushed to produce my very first report about the supposedly legendary Mr. Janek, who waited for customers at the taxi stand by the Gdynia-Chylonia train station in no ordinary vehicle, but a grey-blue Warszawa. For a quarter of a century! Indeed, Mr. Janek was a reporter's dream. He poured out stories from the golden era when he drove sailors returning from sea voyages with pockets full of foreign currency to Tricity dance halls. Mr. Janek grew so attached to his Warszawa that he named her "Kasia." He also told me how Olaf Lubaszenko, who was directing his debut film "Sztos" in the Tricity at the time, spotted Mr. Janek at the Chylonia taxi stand and recruited him and his Warszawa for the film set, which was styled after the 1970s. Kasia played a cameo in "Sztos," though during the editing phase, her recorded scenes were left on the cutting room floor. Eight years ago, Rafał Sadowski bought the Warszawa from Mr. Janek. He tracked her down through an online portal among three other "Warszawa" specimens. However, the Gdynia car shared a special bond with Rafał: they were both born in the same year, so the choice was merely a formality. "I remember when I drove it onto the street, I immediately landed in the adjacent lane—the steering play was that bad. Mr. Janek also suggested not exceeding sixty kilometers per hour. No wonder, considering the wheels weren't balanced. It took me six hours to get back to Olsztyn," he recalls. Worn out by a million kilometers, the Warszawa had to undergo a complete, two-year restoration. Since the restoration, the Warszawa has traveled over 50,000 km, not only in Poland, but also in Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, and Russia. This year, it was in Vilnius. In the old town, surprised Poles enthusiastically shouted: "Look, our Polish Syrena in Lithuania!"