Wanna Race?



Poland's luxury spots car

See that slick looking black car with the scissor doors? I bet most of you think it’s a Lamborghini because it kinda resembles the $380,000 Italian car.

Actually, it’s an exotic supercar made in Poland by a Polish company and it’s debuting this summer.

During the communist era cheap junky cars were the most you could expect to see on the impoverished looking highways throughout Poland.

Designed by committee under the socialist economy to keep prices low for the workers who barely made enough money to keep the family fed and clothed, tiny low powered vehicles were more common than not. Using cheap steel and parts turned them into rust buckets a short time after leaving the showroom floor. Wait a minute; most dealerships in socialist Poland didn’t actually have showrooms. The cars must have started rusting right there on government owned new car sales lots.

But, hey after Solidarity’s victory over tyranny and the introduction of free markets and capitalism things have been changing and the standard of living certainly has taken off. GDP per capital is up by 300% since free elections in 1989.

First of all, the world-class sports car built by Arrinera won’t have to worry about rust. Body panels are made of space age materials consisting of carbon fiber and Kevlar.

The tough lightweight skin in combination with a high tech tubular frame makes for spectacular performance. Powered by a Corvette supercharged LS9 6.2-liter V8, its 650 horsepower engine can reach 60mph in 3 seconds, which is about the time it takes to pronounce a multi syllable Polish last name.

Performance aside there are a whole lot more goodies available on the Arrinera.

It has a thermal-imaging camera to scan the road several hundred feet ahead so that if anything hotter than the environment (i.e. human, animal or exhaust of another vehicle) is ahead the driver is immediately alerted, even in dense fog.

Other equipment includes ceramic brakes, light alloy wheels, roll bar, four-point seat harness, navigation system, xenon and LED lighting, and a leather, aluminum and carbon fiber interior. They will outfit the interior with the same leather Maybach (the most expensive production car in the world) uses.

It is not surprising Poland has entered the luxury car market. In earlier columns I covered the economic progress Poland has made over the last two decades. Besides being the only EU country not to have a down year during the economic crisis, in the past five years alone the luxury goods market has more than doubled in sales with high-end shops like Armani, Louis Vuitton and Oleg Casini springing up in major cities.

Now that Poland is the yacht construction capital of Europe and has super highways branching out across the country, why not build extravagant cars that can top 211 mph at a cost of less than half that of a Lamborghini?

While this stealth looking sports car with the angular lines and eye catching doors will be for sale in America, Asia, and the rest of Europe, you better get your order in early.


There’ll be more than a few millionaires in Poland willing to show national pride, trade in their Ferraris and put their names on the waiting list for this sleek roadster with a leather wrapped dashboard and a body that will never rust.

I think James Bond just fell in love again. This time with the Polish beauty, Arrinera.

Poland immune to EU woes

Poland' Economy still growing

Poland’s economy remains robust with a prediction of 2.7% growth in 2012 while the Eurozone falls into a double dip recession of negative growth.

France and Spain have received economic warnings from the European Commission and Greece appears to be headed for financial ruin shunning their obligations under the bailout agreement that required austerity measures being implemented. Italy and Portugal also show signs of debt-laden hardships stressing their economies toward the breaking point. Even the U.K. is having a difficult time treading water in the financial vortex.

The EU’s largest eastern member is weathering the recession due in large part to domestic demand and public investment in preparations for the Euro 2012 soccer championship to be held in Poland this summer.

The commission also estimates the Polish government will narrow the budget deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product this year from 5.1 percent in 2011.

Domestic demand is projected to remain the main driver of growth, but the focus is expected to continue to shift from consumption to investment. Companies are set to benefit from the currency depreciation and use their profits to renew their machinery in preparation for an expected upturn in the business cycle.

To keep the powerful Polish engine of economic growth moving forward the lower house of Parliament has past legislation as of this writing to increase the official retirement age to 67, which has met with some protest by workers.

But, to live in a society with much higher standards of living compared to the socialist structure under communist domination, some sacrifices in government programs will have to be made for Poland to remain the one bright spot on the Continent.

Financial crisis 2009 - Poland only EU member to increase GDP