Jelcz

Jelcz (pronounced like Yelch after the town of the same name) is a Polish brand of trucks, military vehicles, buses and trolleybuses produced by Zakłady Samochodowe Jelcz/Jelczańskie Zakłady Samochodowe, with both names roughly translating as Automotive Works of [town] Jelcz.

Currently, the company operates as Jelcz with a focus on manufacturing offroad military trucks.

History
In 1952, a decision was made to use a former German armaments factory in Jelcz-Laskowice near Wrocław for production in western Poland. A company called Zakłady Budowy Nadwozi Samochodowych (Automobile Chassis Works) was established. After the reconstruction of the factory, the company started to develop and build bus bodies for Lublin and Star trucks. The company built buses such as the Jelcz PR110D.

In 1974, the Polish expedition to Lhotse used a Jelcz 316 car to travel from Warsaw to Nepal. In 1975, the expedition of the Wrocław Mountain Club to Broad Peak Central, in Pakistan, used a Jelcz 315-M car to travel from Wrocław to Islamabad, driving up to 9,000 km between 2–21 May.

Since 2004, Jelcz Sp. z o.o. has concentrated on producing military trucks, mainly for Polish Armed Forces (for example, the WR-40 Langusta platform).

Since 2012, the sole owner of Jelcz sp. z o.o. is Huta Stalowa Wola, which is a part of Polish Armaments Group.



In the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Jelcz 8x8 chassis was selected by the Polish government to transport the Chunmoo-2A missile launcher.