The Nysa was based on the same chassis as the angular shaped Żuk van, but had rounded body lines, especially the two-part rounded windshield, and was considered more comfortable and a better fit for carrying people.

At the rear, most variants had a single door opening to the left side.

Most customers, including the Police, chose more modern, faster and safer vans of Western manufacturers, that became widely imported instead.

Both Nysa and its sibling Żuk van were heavily based on the Warszawa, itself a licensed version of the Soviet GAZ-M20 Pobeda.

Early variants of the Nysa were powered by the M20 petrol engine (R4 flathead, 2.12 L, 36.8 kW), most common was the newer S21 petrol engine (R4 OHV, 2.12l, 51.5 kW), used from 1964 onward.