Czech Republic

The motorcycle in the foreground appears to be a Jawa Type 353 motorcycle. I don't know a lot about motorcycles, but Wikipedia will indicate that (if this is a Type 353), it would have been built between 1954 and 1962. Wikipedia claims that the displacement of the single-cylinder engine visible in this photo would have been 249.5cc. These motorcycles actually remain fairly common in everyday use in the Czech Republic, although the Jawa Moto company has long since moved on to more modern designs. About 10 or 15 years ago, I saw a much newer Jawa (I have no memory of the model) on sale in a Tesco supermarket for around 10,000Kc, or roughly $442 U.S., so their popularity may be down to their being spectacularly inexpensive, even if it could be presumed that a new Jawa today would be more than 10,000Kc. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawa_353

This car was one of the easier ones to date at the Josefuv dul show, as it had spotting features distinct to 1973, namely the 5-m.p.h. bumpers combined with the older pre-1974 grille. It wasn't entirely clear how stock it was, as it appeared to have aftermarket dual exhausts. It was restored to look stock, at least. Given the Cold War, these Fords were never exported to Czechoslovakia (or Europe generally), so it's clear that, in spite of its Czech registration, this one would have been imported later. They were very popular in the United States, and have often been preserved, so they can't be said to be rare, although they are desirable, to be sure. In general, American cars predating 1975 are much more popular than those built after, largely due to much lower performance between 1975 and 1993 or so, as well as much lower build quality in those years. There also is the perception that pre-1975 American cars look better, although that's entirely subjective. I prefer them myself, having said that. Built between 1965 and 1986 as a full-size sedan (with the exception of the 1983-1986 models, which are mid-size), the LTD was never really intended as a performance car, although it did see extensive use in police departments, and were occassionally raced. The LTD name lived on from 1986 to 1991 as the LTD Crown Victoria, which had already split off from the regular in LTD in 1983, using the platform of the 1979-82 LTD. The 1973 LTD could be had with a number of engines, all of them OHV V-8's. The most powerful engine, the 460cid C-code with the 4-barrel carburetor, could put out about 260 net horsepower, and could give the LTD 0-60 m.p.h. times in the 8 second range, with a top speed of around 133 m.p.h. (214 km/h). Most LTD's had the smaller and less powerful 351cid "Cleveland" or the 302cid "Windsor," which was famous for being used in the Mustang and the GT40, albeit at higher horsepower ratings. As I've already said, I have no idea which engine was in this LTD, if it was even stock. In all, there were 7 different models of V-8 offered between 1968 and 1978, most of them with variants within the model. To this can be added the detail that pre-1975 engines could run on leaded gasoline (petrol) while engines built from 1975 onward had to be unleaded-only due to the introduction of catalytic converters (often called "catalyzers" outside of the United States). The transmissions in 1968-82 LTD's were more predictable, being one of three models of 3-speed automatic. A 1973 LTD could have been equipped with either the FMX model, which was based on the original 2-speed Ford-O-Matic from 1951, the newer C4, introduced in 1964, or the even newer C6, introduced in 1966. The C6 was generally used for the higher-powered engines, as it was the heavy-duty model, while the C4 eventually came with overdrive, being more common from 1981 onward. Some LTD's also had 3 or 4-speed manual "Toploader" transmissions, but it has to be assumed that these were race cars, as full-size American sedans of the 1960's and 1970's were almost always automatic. Finally, there is the detail of body styles. Ford have long offered more than one body style for the same model of car, as have many American (and foreign) companies. The LTD was usually offered as a 4-door sedan, but 2-door sedans, 2-door convertibles, and even 4-door wagons were offered (sometimes given fake wooden paneling and branded as the LTD Country Squire). This 1973 LTD was a 2-door with the distinctive 1970's-style "opera windows" over the back deck.

I wasn't originally going to post this photo, but I changed my mind when I realized it gives a much better representation of what the 1973 Ford LTD looks like. Here you can see the distinctive "opera windows" over the back deck, behind the back seat. Most of the car, as I've said before, looks stock, with the exception (I think) of the fake wire wheel hubcaps and the dual exhausts (which protruded from the rear in a way that OEM ones wouldn't). I'll post a rear view next.

Here's the promised rear view of the 1973 Ford LTD, showing the dual exhausts. As I've said elsewhere, I'm more than 90% certain these are aftermarket, firstly because they're stainless steel (a great idea, but not one that Ford had adopted in 1973), and secondly becuse their tips protrude to a degree that OEM Ford exhausts generally didn't. Still, they did improve the sound of the Ford, to be sure. The Tatra 603 seen out of frame on the left also had a similar mod, with similar results, although the exhausts were much less visible. There is a big difference between the needs of a 2.5L V-8 and a V-8 that's 5.0L (the smallest possible engine that this LTD could have had), so the Tatra's exhausts were so small that they're hard to see in my photos. In hindsight, I should have taken photos from much closer, but I didn't think of it at the time.

Over the years, Skoda have produced at least four generations of the Octavia, which has also been available as a 4-door sedan (in its post-1996 incarnation), as a 2-door sedan, seen here, and as a 2-door or 4-door wagon. The first generation of the Octavia was produced from 1959 until 1971, surviving after 1964 despite the introduction of the 1000MB. This survival was likely because the Octavia was slightly larger, and was available as a wagon, making it more appropriate for users (private and government) who needed a bigger car. The Octavia weighed 1270Kg, compared to the 1000MB's 700Kg. The Octavia sedan was discontinued after the introduction of the 1000MB, however. Weirdly enough, the 1959-1971 Octavia was not available as a 4-door, but only as a 2-door sedan or a 2-door wagon. Whenever Octavias have been in production, it has been common to see them as fleet vehicles, so this meant that the Czechoslovak Verejna Bezpecnost or "public safety" force used them as patrol cars. Under Communist Party doctrine, it was generally not allowed to call them "the police," as police were said to only exist under capitalism. In earlier years, the full words "Verejna bezpecnost" were spelled out on on the patrol cars, but later this was appreviated to large "VB" lettering, which coincided with the VB adopting a orange-yellow and white livery for their vehicles, which had been preceded by a blue and white livery. Therefore, I assumed, when the extra lights on the front bumper are taken into account, that this Skoda Octavia is a retired VB cruiser. 1959-1971 Skoda Octavias generally came with either a 1089cc I-4 engine as standard, in a front/rear layout, while a 1221cc I-4 was optional. The wagon came with the 1221cc engine as standard. The 1221cc engine put out about 53 horsepower, which could give the Octavia a top speed of about 115 Km/h. I haven't found in my research whether the VB cars had more powerful "interceptor" engines of any kind, but as I've said in my captions on the Tatra 603, the Czechoslovak Communist Party had access to more powerful cars than the Octavia if they were needed. Skoda have basically disowned the earlier 1959-1971 generation, so sometimes it can be confusing tracing the history of the brand. Skoda normally start with the 1996-2010 Octavia in their official chronology.

When I first spotted this car, I thought that it was a Chevy Master, as I know that at least one Master is based in the Czech Republic. However, this is actually an Opel Super 6, and the resemblence to a Chevy is probably down to the fact that Opel were owned by General Motors from 1931 to 2017. The Opel Super 6, as the name implies, was an upgraded Opel 6, referring to the car's I-6 engine. The earlier 6 was also sometimes called an Opel 2.0L as a result. The Super 6 came with a 2.5L I-6 as standard, and could be order as a 4-door sedan, a 2-door sedan, or as a 2-door cabriolet, seen here. It was also possible to order it as a sort of pseudo-sports car, as a number of coachbuilders such as Kuhn made sports car bodies for the Opel Super 6 chassis. At the time, Opel were experimenting with early unibody (monocoque) construction with the Opel Olympia, but the continued use of body-on-frame construction in the Super 6 enabled custom bodies to be fitted. Although the Opel Super 6 wasn't horribly slow for the 1930's, it also wasn't comparable to a Mercedes, a BMW, or even a V-8 Ford, as even with its upgraded 2.5L, 54 horsepower engine, it was only capable of 115 Km/h. It also only remained in production for two model years, 1937 and 1938, before being replaced by the much longer-lived Opel Kapitan, which stayed in production with various facelifts until 1970.

Skoda produced the 1200 from 1952 to 1956 as either a 4-door sedan (seen here), a 2-door wagon (sometimes classified as a van), or a 4-door wagon. Although originally intended as a family car, it was also used as a fleet vehicle, most famously as an ambulance. The ambulances were obviously based on the wagon, with both the 2-door and the 4-door variants being used. These ambulances appeared in numerous Czech movies and TV shows, most notably the medical/paramedic show "Sanitka." www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/sites/default/files/styles/scale_1180/public/images/1446937-125810.jpg?itok=Rk_84aSq The 1200 wasn't blazing fast, being available only with a very conservative water-cooled 1213cc I-4 engine, in a front/rear layout, that produced only 35 horsepower. This made the Skoda 1200 less powerful than a Ford Model A. Having said this, it matched the Model A's top speed of 105Km/h (65 m.p.h.). Czech roads in the 1950's were allegedly so bad, though, that it's unlikely this lack of performance was much of a problem, even for an ambulance. The 1200 was replaced for the 1957 model year with the 1201, which was so similar that it's easy to confuse the two models. The 1201 survived until 1961, when it was effectively replaced by the Octavia and the 1202, which only came as a wagon. Speaking of the close resemblence between the 1200 and 1201, if someone can determine that this is a 1201, I can correct the title and caption. I'm assuming that this is a 1200 because of the large divider on the split windshield (which also appears to include a radio antenna on this specific car), which was downsized on the 1201 (by appearances), and not usually chromed.

One could easily get the impression that the Josefuv dul car show was focused on rear-engine cars in the year that I attended, as there were more rear-engined cars (beyond Skodas) than I've ever seen in one place before. Oddly, I don't recall seeing the two most famous rear-engined models, namely the Volkswagen Beetle and the Porsche 911, represented, but I did get to see a lot of cars that were more obscure (to me, anyway). The Renault Dauphine, seen here, wasn't so obscure outside of the United States. In spite of its obscurity in America, it was a very commercially successful car worldwide. Renault claim that they produced 2,150,738 Dauphines between 1956 and 1967, and actually managed some initial success in the U.S., with U.S. sales peaking in 1959 at 102,000 units. Renault were so puzzled by the car's sudden drop in U.S. popularity after 1959 that they commissioned an internal study, which was subsequently misplaced for several years, and ultimately irrelevant by the time it was located. An honest assessment, from an American perspective, would be that the Dauphine's obscenely slow acceleration, at 37 seconds 0-60 would have been the kiss of death in a market in which the Volkswagen Beetle was considered a slow car, with 0-60 m.p.h. times in the 17-28 second range, depending on the engine. For that matter, even the East German Trabant 601 was claimed to be capable of 32-second 0-60 times, and pre-war V-8 Fords could also beat the Dauphine very easily. By the 1960's, most American cars could get from 0 to 60 in well under 15 seconds, and a number of completely mainstream cars like the Chevy Impala and Ford Galaxie could achieve under 9 seconds. This is without muscle cars being taken into account. In spite of the Dauphine being a very light car, at only 650kg (for comparison, the VW Beetle was around 800-840kg), the reason for its terrible performance was probably the 845cc "Ventour" I-4 engine, which only put out 27-36 horsepower. The optional 36 horsepower variant could achieve a 0-60 time of 30 seconds, which still wouldn't be competitive in the U.S. market. The fact that the Dauphine could top out at normal highway speeds of 112Km/h and 130Km/h, respectively, simply wasn't relevant if it was too hard to accelerate in U.S. traffic, in spite of a bizarre Road & Track article that claimed the opposite. The bottom line is that 37 seconds 0-60 is too slow. Having said this, the Dauphine was quite successful in other markets, so much so that Renault ended up producing it at branch plants in 13 countries outside of France. As stated above, total production was 2,150,738, so in the end Renault didn't really need the U.S. market.

This is another rare vehicle that, in this case, I had never heard of before. This is a 1922 Martinsyde Quick Six motorbike. These were very fast for any road vehicles of the time, capable of 130Km/h (80 m.p.h.). The 738cc V-twin engine could produce 22 horsepower, which was actually more than the Ford Model T's of the time, so it was mostly down to the power-to-weight ratio. The Martinsyde company was originally founded in 1908 in Woking, Surrey, England to produce aircraft, but from 1919 they began producing motorbikes as well. This business turned out to be very short-lived, as although the motorbikes sold reasonably well, the factory in Woking burnt down in 1922. Bat Motor Manufacturing ended up buying Martinsyde, and ended up producing the last Martinsydes in 1924 and 1925 before focusing entirely on their own designs. There were a number of other motorcycles/motorbikes at the Josefuv dul car show, but because I've never been very into motorcycles I rationed my time with them, and concentrated on car pictures.

Although it's possible this is a factory-produced Skoda 120 S Rallye, the lack of a front spoiler (and simply the mathematical odds) suggest that this is actually a Skoda 100 or 110 that's been race prepped. I don't know a lot about it, but obviously if anyone knows more, then put it in the comments.

This is obviously a Mini, but my knowledge of Minis and their history is somewhat limited. This doesn't appear to be an original 1959 model, as the grille doesn't seem to match, but that leaves the model years 1960-2000 to guess. I'm not sure what else I should say, given how common and well-known these cars were. They have been called the original modern hatchbacks, not only for their 3-door body style, but also because they were front/front layout from the very beginning of production. They were originally produced by The British Motor Corporation, also known as BMC, and in the Mini's case trading under the old Austin brand name. In 1968, British Leyland took over production, maintaining it until 1986, and then production continued until 2000 under the Rover Group. In 2001, a completely new Mini design debuted under the supervision of BMW, and subsequent Minis have been more closely related to the 2001 model than the 2000 model.

This was one of the more common cars at the show, albeit as vintage as the others. This is, of course, a Citroen 2CV, which has sometimes been claimed to be have been France's answer to the Ford Model T and the Volkswagen Beetle. It was, however, very different from either car, and did not achieve the same universal acceptance in other countries. The 2CV was actually based on a Citroen prototype from 1936 called the TPV, that had initially not been pursued because of World War II and the German occupation of France (the 2CV had originally been planned for release at the Paris Motor Show in 1939, but this never happened). The TPV was developed in cooperation with the Michelin tire company, and this collaboration continued after the war. It was almost certainly because of this connection that the Citroen 2CV was the first mass-market car with radial tires, despite its cheap design and low performance. The first official model year for the 2CV was 1948, but numerous improvements were added in the coming years, including radial tires in 1949. The original Citroen 2CV was so spartan and primitive that it was considered by many critics to be outdated when it was new, and many basic features had to be added later. For example, the 2CV didn't have a fuel gauge until 1963, as previously the fuel tank had been equipped with a dipstick. One exception to its primitive design specifications was its 4-speed manual transmission, in an era when most 4-speed transmissions were in sports cars. The 2CV's "sardine can" sunroof may be seen by modern people as a luxury, but it was partly intended to allow oversize loads in the passenger compartment. In spite of its light overall weight and soft suspension, the 2CV could tolerate a relatively high center of gravity without tipping over, much like the Ford Model T and unlike the Beetle (obviously, do your research before attempting anything in real life). The 2CV was very light (at 600 kg.), with a very soft suspension that was designed to cross a ploughed field without breaking a basket full of eggs in the passenger seat. This test was to ensure that it would be able to deal with the low quality of French roads in the years immediately after World War II (or for that matter, before World War II). Another design specification was that it had to achieve a fuel consumption of only 3 liters per 100 kilometers, which is equivalent to 80 mpg US. For comparison, the 2001 Toyota Prius managed about 55 mpg, according to EPA standards. The 2CV, unlike the Prius, wasn't a hybrid or a diesel, but achieved this high fuel economy by being very light, at 600 kg (1,323 lbs.), and by being extremely underpowered, with a 375cc, 9-horsepower, flat-twin engine. For comparison, the Ford Model T had a 2.9L I-4 engine that could put out 20-23 horsepower, depending on the year, and the Volkswagen Beetle initially had a 25-horsepower flat-4 of about 1200cc displacement. This wasn't necessarily a problem from the perspective of Citroen's design specification for the 2CV, as the target top speed was only 50km/h (31 m.p.h.). In the end, the finished 2CV could achieve about 65Km/h (40 m.p.h.). Again, for comparison, Ford Model T's could achieve 35-40 m.p.h., while Volkswagen Beetles could reach about 110 Km/h (70 m.p.h.) in their original form (even if later Beetles were much faster). The 2CV, unusually for 1948, had a front/front layout, with the engine mounted longitudinally. This is an unusual arrangement by modern standards (to mount the engine longitudinally in a front-wheel-drive car), but Citroen had been using this design since the 1930's, when they had been one of the first companies to market large numbers of front-wheel-drive cars. Perhaps the weirdest aspect of the 2CV's design was that, once 4-wheel-drive was offered as an option from 1960 onward, a second engine was added in the rear on the 4WD "Sahara" model, rather than a linkage being designed to power the rear wheels from the front differential. This may have been down to the engine not being powerful enough for both the front and rear wheels, but I haven't been able to determine in my research if Citroen openly admitted this. Due to its popularity, the 2CV remained in production until 1990, making it one of the few cars to remain in production for over 40 years without a complete facelift.

Originally introduced in 1945, and remaining in production until 1971, the Velorex Oskar was a three-wheeler inspired by the various three-wheel sports cars produced by Morgan (before they transitioned to building retro-styled four-wheel sports cars). Mechanically, the Oskar used various motorcycle powertrains over the years, generally from Jawa and Ceska Zbrojovka, but the performance was rarely impressive. Most of the motorcycle engines produced only about 6 horsepower, which wasn't enough for the car, in spite of its extremely light weight of 205-395kg. A typical top speed of an Oskar would be only about 30km/h (18 m.p.h.). The main selling point of the Oskar was its low price and minimalist design. The most unique feature may have been that its body panels were mostly leather, rather than metal, wood, or plastic. It is thought by automotive historians that the reason for the eventual failure of the Velorex Oskar in the Czech market (to the extent that markets existed under Communism) was that the East German Trabant 601 offered a more modern design, better safety and comfort, and a considerably higher level of performance.

Introduced in 1933 to replace the earlier Tatra 54, the 75 was a larger alternative to the 57, and had a similar grille to the 57A introduced in 1936. The grille also resembled the one used on the Skoda Popular, although Tatra and Skoda were, in those days, unrelated. The Tatra 75, being a midsize car, could be ordered as 2-door sedan, a 2-door convertible, a 4-door sedan, or (allegedly) a 4-door convertible. It was also available as a 6-passenger limousine, although the limo had a stretched wheelbase (because, of course, the Tatra 75 was normally too small to be a limousine). The vast majority, however, were 2-door, and most survivors today being convertibles. A number of these have sportier bodywork from outside coachbuilders like Karosarna Bohemia. In general, my opinion is that the 2-door convertibles resemble Ford roadsters of the same era, especially given both the v-grille, and the side louvers on the good, which resemble the louvers used on Fords in the model years 1935-1936. In terms of performance, though, the Tatra 75 had nowhere close to the power of a V-8 Ford. Like other 1920's and 1930's Tatras, it had an air-cooled "boxer" engine, in this case a 1688cc flat-4 with 30 horsepower, mated to a 4-speed manual transmission. It could be said that the transmission was much sportier than the engine. The layout was front/rear, which made the 75 the last Tatra with this layout. The top speed of the Tatra 75 was published as 90Km/h (56 m.p.h.), which was average for the era.

It is a common misconception that the first-ever Jeep was this one, the Willys MB, but actually Willys-Overland had introduced the earlier MA model in 1940 for the United States Marine Corps. By the time U.S. ground forces were engaged in World War II, the MB was more or less the definitive model, meaning it is far better remembered today. Jeeps were actually produced by all the multiple U.S. auto manufacturers due to their military application and association with World War II (including well after the war, into the 1980's, when some "Jeep" branded vehicles had parts from Ford, GM, and Mopar). In World War II the other major Jeep manufacturers besides Willys-Overland were American Bantam and Ford. The Fords were classified as Ford GPW's, There were also subtle differences in the design, not only between Bantams, Fords, and Willys, but also between U.S. models, as opposed to lend-lease models sent to Britain and the Soviet Union. All subsequent Jeeps of the more authentic variety (the CJ-2A, the M38, the CJ-3, the DJ-3, the M38A1, the CJ-5, the DJ-5, the M151, and the CJ-7, among many variants) are descended from the MB, even if the original MB's are rarely seen anymore outside of museums. However, in the Czech Republic, original MB's are relatively common in preservation. This is in spite of their playing little role in the Czech military. Their popularity with Czech collectors is probably more due to their association with Patton's Third Army, which ended up being the U.S. Army which liberated Czechoslovakia at the end of the World War II, at least in the West. Anyone who knows the history is aware that Czechoslovakia ended up under Communist control from February 1948 onward, so the Czech army ended up using either Soviet, or domestically-produced, vehicles until 1989.

Although the Morgan +4+ may have been marginally rarer, this car was, by car, the biggest surprise of the show, to me. This was the first time I had seen a Nash of any year or model in the Czech Republic, and unless I see this one I again, I presume I'll never see one here again. For that matter, I've seen very few in the United States, other than a 1950's-era Nash Metropolitan that one of my friends had. I have managed to confirm in photos that there's one other Nash 400 like this one located in Europe, specifically in Norway, but it would be unsurprising if these were the only two. Here's a photo of the one in Norway: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/1929_Nash_400%2C_Owner_J%C3%B8rgen_Simonsen_IMG_9332.JPG The Nash 400 was produced, as far as I can tell, from 1929 until 1938, but there were a number of facelifts with new, streamline body styles in the years 1932-1938. Source material is a bit scarce online. This one appears to be one of the older, pre-1932 models, possibly a 1929. Someone with more detailed or accurate history would help a lot to flesh out this picture caption. I've also had trouble getting technical data on the Nash 400, but my understanding is that it usually came with an I-8 engine, which would have made it higher end than most cars of its day. The business strategy of Nash, according to Wikipedia, was to give the customer "more than he paid for." I'm also aware that many Nashes were designed with fold-down seats so that they could be used as campers (although I don't know if this Nash had this). Interestingly, Tatra also included fold-down sleeping seats on the 603 (the Tatra 603, albeit not the interior, can be seen in other photos from this car show).

Also called the BMW 02, this car, in several body styles and trims, was produced from 1966 to 1977, with the most famous model being the 1973 2002 Turbo, which specifically came with the 1990cc M10 turbo I-4 engine. The distinction between an 02 and a 2002 was that a 2002 came with some version of the 1990cc M10 engine, which when rounded, was a 2-liter displacement engine. Given that the specific car in these photos is badged as a 2002, it presumably is a "real" 2002 with the 1990cc engine. However, it isn't clear one way or the other whether this is a turbo. The original 1973 2002 Turbo prototype had decals to this effect, but production 2002 Turbos didn't have them. Although the 2002 Turbo had only modest performance, with a 7-second 0-60 time, and a top speed of 211km/h(131 m.p.h.), it was one of the most important cars for establishing BMW as a sports car brand. BMW had already been heading in this direction with the 2002tii in 1968, and the "New series" of sedans in 1966, which the 02 was a downsized version of. Having said this, the vast majority of BMW 2002's lacked either the tii or the turbo package.

Here's a rear view of the 2002, showing the 2002 badging, but no sign of a performance package. It isn't clear whether the "Bavaria" is a real BMW badge, although it could have been a special edition of some kind. Again, if you know the answer, you can comment below.