Praga (company)

Last updated
Praga
Type Společnost s ručením omezeným
Industry Automotive
Founded1907
Headquarters,
Productscars, trucks, karts, planes
Parent PRAGA-Export s.r.o.
Website pragaglobal.com

Praga is a manufacturing company based in Prague, Czech Republic. The company produced automobiles, trucks and planes. The Praga V3S 5-ton truck was used by the Czechoslovak Army for more than half a century. [1] The current company produces karts, racing and road supersports and is involved in car racing. It produces up to 7,000 kart chassis every year, making it one of the most successful kart manufacturers in the world. [2]

Contents

History

Praga Mignon Automobilove klenoty 2019 C06. Praga Mignon.jpg
Praga Mignon
Praga Alfa Praga Kellner cabrio (1931).jpg
Praga Alfa

Praga was founded in 1907 to build motor cars as a venture between entrepreneur František Ringhoffer and the company 1. českomoravská továrna na stroje ("First Bohemian-Moravian Machine Works", later a founding part of the ČKD factories). Ringhoffer only stayed for one year and in 1909 the trade name Praga ("Prague" in Latin) was adopted. One of its early models was built under licence from the Italian company of Isotta Fraschini.

Besides building its own vehicles Praga later also supplied engines and gearboxes for other vehicles, like aircraft and tanks.

In 1929 Praga merged with ČKD, one of Czechoslovakia's largest engineering companies.

In 1929 ČKD's BD motorcycle was re-branded under the Praga marque. This was an advanced four-stroke single-cylinder unit construction double overhead camshaft model of 500cc designed in 1927 by JF Koch. The "BD" designation was retained as its model name.

In 1932 Praga added a second motorcycle model, the BC. This had a single overhead camshaft engine of 350cc, shaft drive and a pressed steel frame. Praga ended production of both motorcycle models in 1933.

The factory was largely destroyed by air raids in 1945. After the Second World War it was rebuilt and resumed truck and bus construction. The firm was nationalized in October 1945. Passenger cars (only the mid-sized Lady) were also manufactured in small numbers until 1947, for use by government officials.

The M53/59 Praga was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun developed in the late 1950s. It consists of a heavily modified Praga V3S 6 wheel drive truck chassis and twin 30 mm AA autocannon.

In June 2011 the company unveiled their new race car Praga R4 at the Dutch Supercar Challenge in Belgium. It has an eight-cylinder engine of 520 hp, and has not yet been homologated for normal road traffic. According to its owner Petr Ptáček, the company is taking gradual steps, so that Praga cars will not only be seen on racetracks, but also made road-legal. [3]

The Praga R1 from 2012 is a race car which competed in the Dutch Supercar Challenge and Britcar sports car racing. In 2016, the company delivered the first limited edition of the supersport road car Praga R1R, a derivative of the R1 race-car. This marks the first road-legal car under the Praga brand since 1947. [4]

Products

Praga Grand Praga Grand.JPG
Praga Grand
Praga Super Piccolo Praga Super Piccolo (1934).jpg
Praga Super Piccolo

Automobiles

All Praga automobile production stopped by 1947, but was restarted in 2011 when Praga constructed the R4S. It utilized a 3.2 liter V8 based on the Suzuki Hayabusa engine and produces 530 BHP, with a total weight of only 880 kilograms. A feature on the R4S are the markings for camber and toe, which eliminates the need of advanced tools, with a specific amount of "clicks" representing a certain degree of camber or toe.

Motorcycles

1929 Praga BD 500 DOHC motorcycle Praga 1929 DOHC 1.jpg
1929 Praga BD 500 DOHC motorcycle

Praga Trucks

Praga V3S was one of the best off-road trucks of its time Praha, Nove Mesto, Jindrisska, Praga V3S.jpg
Praga V3S was one of the best off-road trucks of its time

Buses

Bus Praga NDO PragaNDOVysokeMyto2009I.JPG
Bus Praga NDO

Trolleybuses

Light Tank

Tank Praga LT vz. 38 (Panzer 38t) in the German Tank Museum Panzer 38(t) Ausf. S.jpg
Tank Praga LT vz. 38 (Panzer 38t) in the German Tank Museum
Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun PLdvK vz. 53/59 (1959-1978). The chassis and motor was produced in Praga. 30 mm Pl Dvk vz 53-59 na podvozku Praga V3S.JPG
Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun PLdvK vz. 53/59 (1959–1978). The chassis and motor was produced in Praga.

Aircraft

Artillery tractors

Racing

During the 2013 and 2014 season the Praga R1 was part of the Supercar Challenge. Praga R1 cars participated in the Dutch GT & Prototype Challenge in 2017 and 2018. Praga R1 participated in the Britcar Endurance Championships in 2019-2021. The first-ever running of a dedicated Praga class took at the Silverstone Circuit in April 2021 in the Britcar Endurance Championship, with seven Praga R1 racing cars. [12]

F4 Spanish Championship results

Team Fórmula de Campeones – Praga F4 compete at the F4 Spanish Championship, a FIA Formula 4 racing championship.

YearCarDriversRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPointsD.C.T.C.
2018 Tatuus F4-T014 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Petr Ptáček 9121857th4th
Flag of Spain.svg Kilian Meyer8000688th
Flag of Spain.svg Rafael Villanueva Jr.17000916th
2019 Tatuus F4-T014 Flag of Spain.svg Nerea Martí 210003516th3rd
Flag of Spain.svg Carles Martinez210001115th
Flag of Spain.svg Kilian Meyer211222272nd
2020 Tatuus F4-T014 Flag of Spain.svg Carles Martinez21000569th3rd
Flag of Spain.svg Quique Bordas21000828th

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatra (company)</span> Czech vehicle manufacturer based in Kopřivnice

Tatra is a Czech vehicle manufacturer from Kopřivnice. It is owned by the TATRA TRUCKS a.s. company, and it is the third oldest company in the world producing motor vehicles with an unbroken history. The company was founded in 1850 as Ignatz Schustala & Cie. In 1890 the company became a joint-stock company and was renamed the Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft. In 1897, the Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft produced the Präsident, which was the first factory-produced automobile with a petrol engine to be made in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1918, the company was renamed Kopřivnická vozovka a.s., and in 1919 it changed from the Nesselsdorfer marque to the Tatra badge, named after the nearby Tatra Mountains on the Czechoslovak-Polish border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avia</span> Czech vehicle manufacturer

Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, and diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ceased aircraft production in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ČKD</span> Defunct Czech company

ČKD was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of the interwar period</span>

Tanks were initially deployed in World War I, engineered to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare. Between the two world wars, tanks were further developed. Although they had demonstrated their battlefield effectiveness, only a few nations had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after World War I, Britain and France pioneered tank technology, with their models generally serving as a blueprint for other countries. However, this initial advantage would slowly diminish during the 1930s, shifting in favor of the Soviet Union and, to a lesser degree, Nazi Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodolfo González (racing driver)</span> Venezuelan racing driver

Rodolfo González is a Venezuelan racing driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britcar</span> Endurance motor racing series in the United Kingdom

Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ČKD-Praga</span>

ČKD-Praga was a Czechoslovakian aircraft manufacturer. The company was founded in 1915 as an engine manufacturing company, under the designation Praga. The company started designing aircraft in 1930–31 when the designers Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn came to ČKD-Praga from Avia. Their first aircraft was the Praga E-39 from 1931. It was a military trainer, with a production run of 139 aircraft. ČKD-Praga developed several aircraft over the following years, but none exceeded prototype stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AH-IV</span> Chechoslovak tankette/light tank

The AH-IV was a Czechoslovak-designed export armored fighting vehicle, classed as either a tankette or light tank, used by Romania during World War II, but having also been acquired by neutral Sweden and Iran. Modified AH-IV versions were built under license by Romania (R-1) and Sweden. The Romanian vehicles saw action on the Eastern Front from Operation Barbarossa to the Vienna offensive. Twenty vehicles were sold after the war to Ethiopia, who used them until the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatra 810</span> Motor vehicle

The Tatra T 810 (Tactic) is a medium truck made by Czech company Tatra; it replaced the popular Praga V3S which was introduced in the 1950s and served in the Army of the Czech Republic until 2008. Unlike other Tatra trucks, it does not use classic Tatra air-cooled engine and the traditional Tatra conception of backbone chassis and swinging half-axles, but the customary truck architecture with conventional frame. It is mainly intended for difficult terrain conditions. The civilian version T 810-C was introduced in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praga BH-44</span> Type of aircraft

The Praga BH-44 was a prototype Czechoslovak fighter biplane of the early 1930s. Only two were built, the rival Avia B-34 being ordered instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praga R1</span> Race car

The Praga R1 is a racing and sports car made by Czech car manufacturer Praga. The cars raced on the Supercar Challenge and the Britcar Endurance Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of Czechoslovakia</span>

This article deals with the history of tanks employed by military forces in Czechoslovakia from the interwar period, and the more conventional tanks designed for the Czechoslovak Army before World War II, and the tanks that ended up as Panzers of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, or in the use of other countries who purchased them before the war began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praga V3S</span> Czechoslovak multi-purpose truck

The Praga V3S is an all-terrain multi-purpose truck, produced between 1953 and 1990 in Czechoslovakia. It was designed for the armed forces and was also exported to 72 countries. Praga produced the truck until 1964, then the Avia company till around 1986, after which the Bratislava company BAZ rolled out these vehicles till 1990. Around 130,000 units were manufactured. The truck was among the best off-road cargo vehicles of its time and the Czechoslovak Army used it for more than half a century. It was the longest produced Czechoslovak truck and it still serves in Czech Army for more than 70 years, despite being slowly replaced by Tatra 810 and Tatra 815.

Bulgaria's production strongly depended on auto imports from the Soviet block earlier and currently depends on other European and Asian countries. Presently, Bulgaria introduced its own domestic supercar company, SIN Cars and armed automobiles SAMARM.

The Praga R1R is a mid-engined sports car produced by Praga. The R1R represents the first road car made by Praga in 68 years. Because of the 68-year long term hiatus, Praga decided to only make 68 units of the car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Škoda Favorit (1936–1941)</span> Motor vehicle

The Škoda Favorit is a mid-size car that was made in Czechoslovakia by Škoda from 1936 to 1941. The original Favorit Type 904 has an 1,802 cc sidevalve engine and was built 1936–39. It was succeeded by the Favorit 2000 OHV which has a 2,091 cc overhead valve engine and was built 1938–41.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praga E-51</span> Type of aircraft

The Praga E-51 is a Czechoslovakian reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber built by Praga in the 1930s. Development was halted by the annexation of Czechoslovakia by Germany, after only one prototype had been built. The appearance of the construction is very reminiscent of the contemporary twin engined fighter, the Fokker G.I from Holland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Britcar Endurance Championship</span>

The 2021 Britcar Endurance Championship was a motor racing championship for GT cars, touring cars and sportscars held across England. The championship's field consisted of varying types of cars from sportscar to GT and touring cars that competed in four classes, depending on horsepower, momentum, etc. It was the 20th season of a Britcar championship, the 10th run as the Britcar Endurance Championship, and the 1st run as the Goodyear Britcar Endurance Championship. The season began on 24 April at Silverstone Circuit and ended on 14 November at Brands Hatch. This was the first season with the new Praga category, open to all Praga racing cars, which paved the way for a new one-make Praga series in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praga Bohema</span> High-performance sports car by Praga

The Praga Bohema is an upcoming high-performance limited-production sports car manufactured by Czech marque Praga.

References

  1. Nesmrtelná babička vejtřaska slaví šedesátiny
  2. "Praga Bohema: Česká automobilka uvede na trh nový supersport". E15.cz (in Czech).
  3. "Praga se vrací na silnice". Byznys.ihned.cz. 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  4. "Praga R1R". Pragaglobal.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. Apral, K. "PRAGA 1930". www.classiccarcatalogue.com. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. "Praga R1 review: the featherweight racer that packs a big punch". Topgear.com.
  7. "The Praga R1R Is An Epic Road-Going Race Car". HotCars. 5 June 2022.
  8. "Praga Bohema review: GT-R-powered Czech supercar prototype driven". Topgear.com.
  9. "Nesmrtelná babička vejtřaska slaví šedesátiny". iDNES.cz. 2 April 2013.
  10. VZ.53/59 JEŠTĚRKA (in Czech)
  11. PV3S PldvK vz. 53/59 - JEŠTĚRKA (in Czech)
  12. "First ever Praga one-make category takes to the grid at Silverstone". Praga Global. 25 April 2021.