The Praga V3S is an all-terrain multi-purpose truck, produced between 1953 and 1990 in

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

. It was designed for the armed forces and was also exported to 72 countries.

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 ...

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.iDNES, Nesmrtelná babička vejtřaska slaví šedesátiny
2. dubna 2013 It was the longest produced Czechoslovak truck.

Development

For the development till prototype stage of the truck, designers were given only four months. They were inspired mainly by the American Studebaker US6 and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

ZiL OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia. The la ...

. Due to the design of axle

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 (axles are positioned high above the wheels axis), the V3S has a high

ground clearance Ride height or ground clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the lowest point of the automobile (typically the axle); or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and the lowest p ...

, this structure provides great terrain passability, but on the other hand limits the maximum speed to . The V3S was a durable, popular and extremely adaptable truck built in various versions and widely exported, therefore it is not difficult to see V3S based vehicles still hard at work nowadays.Made in the Czech Republic – Praga

Description

The

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 ...

is an

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

six-cylinder "Tatra 912-1" (modified engine from Tatra 111), with a capacity of 7412 cm³, direct fuel injection and

overhead valves An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

. It is relatively noisy, but works reliably even in extreme conditions. Climbing ability is up to 75% (without tow). Ten wheels (rear are four dual, front are two) help the truck not to bog down in soft soil, therefore it does not experience any problems in forests or in the field.

Consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

is 30 liters of diesel per 100 km, the fuel tank has a capacity of 120 liters. The truck is able to get over 40 cm high perpendicular obstacle, wading depth is 80 cm. There are two batteries (12 V, 125 Ah), they connected in parallel during traffic, but serially when engine starts. The payload of the truck is 5 tons on paved surfaces and 3 tons on rough terrain.

Users

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Former users

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Images

References

{{reflist, 30em Military trucks Military trucks of Czechoslovakia Cars of the Czech Republic Praga vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s