Praga is a manufacturing company based in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The company produced

automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

, karts and

plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * Planes (gen ...

s. The

Praga V3S 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 aro ...

5-ton truck was used by the

Czechoslovak Army The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: Československá armáda) was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary. History In the fi ...

for more than half a century.

History

Praga was founded in 1907 to build

motor car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

s 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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) 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

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

s and

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

es for other vehicles, like

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

and

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

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

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

was re-branded under the Praga marque. This was an advanced

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

single-

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

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 A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

and a pressed

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

. Praga ended production of both motorcycle models in 1933. The factory was largely destroyed by air raids in 1945. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was rebuilt and resumed

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

and bus construction. The firm was nationalized in October 1945. Passenger cars (only the mid-sized

Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

) were also manufactured in small numbers until 1947, for use by government officials. The

M53/59 Praga The M53/59 Praga is a Czechoslovak self-propelled anti-aircraft gun developed in the late 1950s. It consists of a heavily modified Praga V3S six-wheel drive truck chassis, armed with a twin 30 mm AA autocannon mounted on the rear for which t ...

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 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 ...

at the Dutch Supercar Challenge in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. 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. The Praga R1 from 2012 is a race car which competed in the Dutch Supercar Challenge and

Britcar Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1997, as a result of a discussion in a Nürburgring bar between Willie Moore and James Tucker. Folklore has it that James Tucker and J ...

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.

Products

Automobiles

Praga Mignon 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 ...

(1911–1929) *

Praga Grand The Praga Grand was a luxury automobile manufactured by Praga in Libeň, Prague. Production of the first Grand, equipped with a four-cylinder engine, started in the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1912 and continued after the dissolution of Austro-Hungary i ...

(1912–1932) -

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...

Praga Alfa The Praga Alfa was the name used by Praga in Czechoslovakia 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 ...

(1913–1942) * Praga Baby (1934–1937) *

Praga Piccolo The Praga Super Piccolo was a car produced by Praga in Czechoslovakia between 1934 and 1936. Design Launched at the 1934 Prague Motor Show, the Super Piccolo was designed as a mid-range replacement to the smaller Piccolo which would suit people w ...

(1924–1941) *

Praga Super Piccolo The Praga Super Piccolo was a car produced by Praga in Czechoslovakia between 1934 and 1936. Design Launched at the 1934 Prague Motor Show, the Super Piccolo was designed as a mid-range replacement to the smaller Piccolo which would suit people w ...

(1934–1936) *

Praga Golden 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 ...

(1934–1935) *

Praga Lady The mid-sized Praga Lady car was built in eight series and replaced the Piccolo 307. First introduced in 1935, it continued to be built until 1947. It was most common as a four-door saloon but also available with two doors or as a convertible and ...

(1935–1947) * Praga R4S (2011) - racing car * Praga R1 (2012–) - racing car *

Praga R1R 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. The car is based on the Praga R ...

(2016–) - sports car * Praga Bohema (2022–) - sports car 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

* Praga BD 500 DOHC (cs) (1929-1933) * Praga BC 350 OHC (cs) (1932-1933) * Praga ED 250 (1999-2003) - enduro * Praga ED 610 (2000-2003) - enduro

Praga Trucks

* Praga N (1915-1931) - 4 ton truck (4x2) ** Praga TN - a base for Romanian ČKD TN SPE armoured car (8 built) * Praga A150 (1947-1951) - 1.5 ton light truck (4x2) * Praga RN (1933-1953) - 3 ton truck (4x2) **

Praga RND 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 ...

(1934-1955) - modification of RN with diesel engine *

Praga RV The Praga RV was an army off-road truck model made by Czech manufacturer Praga (company), Praga between 1935 and 1939. It was mainly used for transporting military cargo, personnel, as ambulance and for towing artillery pieces in Czech and later G ...

(1935-1939) - 2 ton army truck (6x4) * Praga ND (1938-?) - 7 ton heavy truck (4x2) *

(1953-1990) - 3 ton all-terrain truck (6x6), produced around 130,000 units * Praga S5T (cs) (1956-1974) - 5 ton truck (4x2) * Praga UV100 (prototype 1985) * Praga UV120 (prototype 1985) * Praga UV80 (1992-2001) - multi-purpose medium truck (4x4)

Buses

Praga NDO The Praga NDO was a front-engined bonneted bus made by the Czech automaker Praga from 1938 to 1948. Development The Praga NDO bus chassis was developed in the late 1930s in Czechoslovakia. The first buses manufactured by Praga in Brno were being u ...

(1938-1948) * Praga RN and RND *

Praga A150 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 ...

- autobus version of the A150 truck

Trolleybuses

Praga TOT 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 ...

* Unrealized projects:

Praga TNT 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 ...

and

Praga TB 2 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 ...

Light Tank

30 mm Pl Dvk vz 53-59 na podvozku Praga V3S

* Praga LT vz. 38 (od 1938) light tank in service with the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

Panzer 38(t) The 38(t), originally known as the ČKD LT vz. 38, was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia by ČKD, the type was adopted by Nazi Germany following the annexation of Cze ...

* export version of the LT to Switzerland where it was called the Panzerwagen 39.

Aircraft

Praga BH-41 The Praga BH-41, later redesignated E-41, was a military advanced trainer aircraft produced in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s.Taylor 1989, p.751''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' p.2777 Design and development Designed in response to ...

(E-41) *

Praga BH-44 The Praga BH-44 (designated E-44 by the Czechoslovak Air Force) was a prototype Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak Fighter aircraft, fighter biplane of the early 1930s. Only two were built, the rival Avia B-34 being ordered instead. Design and develop ...

(E-44) *

Praga BH-111 The Praga BH-111 was a sportsplane of Czechoslovakia, designed and built specifically to compete in Challenge 1932, the European touring plane championships. It was a two-seater low-wing monoplane. Design and development The plane was designe ...

* Praga E-36 *

Praga E-39 Praga E-39/BH-39 was a Czechoslovak trainer aircraft. History This aircraft was designed by Pavel Beneš and Miroslav Hajn, engineers at the Czech aviation company ČKD-Praga in 1931. It flew for the first time in June of that year. The biplan ...

(BH-39) *

Praga E-40 The Praga E-40 was a single engine, two seat, biplane basic training aircraft, trainer, built in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1930s. Design and development The E-40, one of several Praga trainer designs, was a Wing configuration#Wing support, sing ...

Praga E-45 The Praga E-45 was a single-engined, single-seat biplane fighter built in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1930s. It appeared a little too late to compete with the similar Avia B-534 and failed to get a production order. Design and development The Pra ...

* Praga E-51 *

Praga E-55 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 ...

Praga E-112 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 ...

* Praga E-114 * Praga E-115 * Praga E-117 * Praga E-141 * Praga E-180 *

Praga E-210 The Praga E-210 was a four-seat, twin-engined touring aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s. It had an unusual pusher configuration . Its tail unit and undercarriage were modified significantly before World War II and after the war ...

Praga E-211 The Praga E-210 was a four-seat, twin-engined touring aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s. It had an unusual pusher configuration . Its tail unit and undercarriage were modified significantly before World War II and after the war ...

* Praga E-212 * Praga E-214 * Praga E-241

Artillery tractors

* (1935-1941) * (1935-1939) * (1937-1944) * (1937-?) * (1937-1943)

Racing

Team ''Fórmula de Campeones – Praga F4'' compete at the

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship ( es, Campeonato de España de Fórmula 4) is an FIA Formula 4 racing series. The championship was planned to launch in 2015, though the inaugural season was cancelled and delayed until 2016. Koiranen GP was the promot ...

, a FIA

Formula 4 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...

racing championship. The first-ever running of a dedicated Praga class took at the

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...

in April 2021 in the

Endurance Championship, with seven Praga R1 racing cars.

F4 Spanish Championship results

References

External links

Praga Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Praga Hostivar Automotive transmission makers Manufacturing companies based in Prague Aircraft engine manufacturers of the Czech Republic Czech brands Companies of Czechoslovakia Car manufacturers of the Czech Republic Bus manufacturers of the Czech Republic Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1907 Motor vehicle manufacturers of Czechoslovakia Motorcycle manufacturers of Czechoslovakia