Česká zbrojovka a.s. (ČZ a.s.) is a Czech company producing Desta

forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

s and components for the automobile industry, it is a former

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s manufacturer, also known for making ČZ

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

s. ČZ was established as a branch of the Škoda armament works in Strakonice,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in September 1919.

History

Work started on the construction of the first workshops of the arms factory originally called Jihočeská zbrojovka ("

South Bohemia The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part of the South Bohemian Reg ...

n Armament Works"). The company merged with an arms manufacturing plant in Vejprty and with a factory in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1922. This gave rise to the formation of a stock company whose name translates as "Czech Armament Works in Prague of the Manufacturing Plant in Strakonice". It produced

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

air gun An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

s, and automatic guns which all became successful products. In 1929 the growth of the Czech Armament Works reached a turning point. With the downturn in weapons sales after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the company acquired a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

parts manufacturing plant in

Kralupy nad Vltavou Kralupy nad Vltavou (; ) is a town in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It is known as a traffic hub and industrial agglomeration. Administrative division Kralupy nad Vltavou c ...

on the Vltava River. Bicycle exports destined for several countries in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

started to expand. Production of motor-driven bicycles started in 1932. Three years later the first motorcycles made in Strakonice entered the market. This marked the beginning of an era of great success for the ČZ brand. In a short time the company became the biggest manufacturer of motorcycles in Czechoslovakia. Consequently, business success resulted in a further extension of production activities by introducing chain and machine tool production. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the factory came under German occupation and was converted to the manufacture of war materials. Like most large industrial enterprises this stock company was nationalized in 1946. Due to the post-war political situation,

s production in the Strakonice plant was ended. The company changed after the motorcycle brand went out of production in the 1990s and started focusing on manufacturing car components, like

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

s, besides its traditional production of chains, tools, moulds, castings and machine tools. Since 1999, Desta

s have been manufactured in ČZ Strakonice.

Motorcycle development

Motorcycle development and production as well as competition victories in 1950s and 1960s enabled the ČZ brand to be among the world's most successful makers of competition and street motorcycles. After World War II, ČZ was the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in Europe. It was in this period that the company experienced its greatest racing successes. It began competing in the 250 cc and 350 cc classes of Grand Prix

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

. These bikes, although technically refined, were rarely very competitive with bikes from the powerful Italian factories such as

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is an Italian high end motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded by Domenico Agusta, Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of ...

, Gilera and Mondial. The ČZ 501 Čezeta (1957) scooter design has become iconic throughout

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. Čezeta thus became

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a ...

of these Republics. The ČZ factory recorded an historic victory in the 1963 FIM Motocross World Championship when factory rider Vlastimil Valek rode a 263cc ČZ motorcycle to win the first moto of the 500cc Czechoslovakian Motocross Grand Prix. His victory marked the first time that a two stroke powered motorcycle had won the premier division of the Motocross World Championships. In the 1969, ČZ made the technically advanced "Type-860" GP model with a 350 cc

V4 engine A V4 engine is a four-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V engine, V configuration. The V4 engine is less common compared to straight-four engines. However, V4 engines have been used in au ...

, developed by the engineer František Pudil. This advanced bike, with dual overhead

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition syst ...

, 16 valves, 8-speed gearbox, Ceriani forks and Dell'Orto SSI

carburetors A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Vent ...

, produced at 16,000 rpm with a maximum speed of 240 km/h. The V-4 achieved several good results: the best being in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, at the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix when Bohumil Stasa finished second behind Jarno Saarinen on his 350 cc Yamaha. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, the bike almost won the Austrian Grand Prix. With just few laps to go in the race the ČZ was leading Giacomo Agostini's

when it had to retire with mechanical problems. In 1972 ČZ abandoned Grand Prix road racing competitions in order to concentrate its efforts on

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

, a less expensive form of competition. ČZ proved to be much more successful with motocross and became well known for its powerful

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

motorcycles. They were the first company to use

expansion chamber On a two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the ...

s in their exhaust pipes. In the 1960s, they became the dominant force in off-road competition, winning seven Grand Prix

World Championships and dominating the International Six Day Trial. By the 1970s, with the advent of inexpensive and technically advanced Japanese motorcycles, ČZ lost an increasing share of the motorcycle market. Ironically, many of the innovations successfully pioneered by ČZ, were copied by the Japanese factories. In 1993 the motorcycle branch of ČZ was bought by the Italian motorcycle manufacturer

Cagiva Cagiva is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1950 by Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese, originally producing small metal components. Giovanni's sons, Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni, went into the motorcycle industry in 1978. ...

, who intended to use the Czech factories to build their own brand of motorcycles as well as new ČZ and Jawa models. The venture failed in 1997 due to Cagiva's financial difficulties and the ČZ motorcycle brand went out of production. Since 2018, the company Čezeta Motors is producing electric scooters Čezeta 506.

Competition history

Motocross World Championships

*1964 250 cc Motocross -

Joël Robert Joël Robert (26 November 1943 – 13 January 2021) was a Belgian professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1962 to 1976 when the sport experienced a surge in popularity worldwide. A six-time world champ ...

, Belgium *1965 250 cc Motocross - Victor Arbekov, Russia *1966 500 cc Motocross - Paul Friedrichs, East Germany *1967 500 cc Motocross - Paul Friedrichs, East Germany *1968 500 cc Motocross - Paul Friedrichs, East Germany *1968 250 cc Motocross -

, Belgium *1969 250 cc Motocross -

, Belgium

International Six Day Trials victories

*1947 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1952 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1954 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1956 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1958 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1959 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1962 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1970 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1971 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1972 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1973 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1974 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1977 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1978 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia *1982 Trophy - Team Czechoslovakia

References

External links

CZ HistoryJawa CZ Owners ClubJawa CZ Owners Club of Ireland
CZ-Strakonice in 1960s photo gallery
International Six Days Trial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceska Zbrojovka Strakonice Motorcycle manufacturers of Czechoslovakia Moped manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1919 1919 establishments in Czechoslovakia