The Praga Alfa was the name used by

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

for one of its principal car ranges. Production started in 1913 and finished in 1942.

Overview

The Alfa was initially conceived as a cheaper and smaller complement to the Praga Grand and

Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. The ...

. The car was first produced in 1913 as a "people's car" for the mass market, combining affordability with reasonable levels of comfort and practicality. The design, developed under the leadership of Frantisek Kec, was traditional, combining a backbone frame with all-independent suspension and a side valve engine. Sales were successful, with all the vehicles produced in the first year sold within the year. Production was halted due to the mobilisation that led up to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

but resumed in 1923. In September 1927, an Alfa with a larger 6 cylinder engine was introduced, followed by a completely new model in October 1937. A total of 9257 vehicles were produced.

Alfa 5/15HP

The first Alfa was launched in 1913. The design was traditional with a front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels through a four speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...

. The wheelbase was and front and rear track were each . Equipped with a

inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

, which weighed and developed , the car was capable of a top speed of . Fuel consumption was . The engine had a bore of and stroke . Each cylinder had two side valves. A phaeton body was fitted with three doors and four seats, which was long and wide. The total weight of the vehicle was . Production lasted one year before mobilisation for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

halted activity on civilian cars. After the war, Praga found itself in a new country, Czechoslovakia, and a new economic reality, with imports of critical components like tyres proving expensive. Although the company had survived the war, production focused on vehicles like plows and roadrollers rather than cars. Production of the Alfa resumed in 1923, with the design unchanged. The cost of a car at the factory gate was 50,000 CSK. The car was slightly improved in 1925, with the addition of brakes to the front wheels and a statuette of a runner holding a laurel wreath in outstretched arms mounted on a new nickel-plated radiator.

Alfa 8/25HP

1927 saw the first radical redesign of the Alfa. The new car was a "small six", a car for the popular market powered by a 6-cylinder engine. Introduced in September 1927, the Alfa 8/25HP was a more powerful development of the pre-war Alfa. The car introduced a water-cooled 6-cylinder engine with a removable head incorporating

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combustion units. It was the smallest 6-cylinder engine produced in Czechoslovakia at the time. It had rigid axles, drum brakes and a front-mounted fuel tank. Top speed was and fuel consumption was . The wheelbase was extended to and a new four door phaeton body was introduced which was long and wide, and weighed . A closed sedan was added with six windows which was high and weighed . Cost of the car was 64,000 CSK. 2500 cars were produced between 1927 and 1929. In 1929, an uprated version was introduced with a engine rated at . This was increased further to in 1932. Top speed increased to and fuel consumption increased to

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* * * * {{refend Cars introduced in 1913 Cars of the Czech Republic Praga vehicles