The Praga Grand was a luxury automobile manufactured 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 the e ...

Libeň Libeň () is a cadastral area and district of Prague, Czech Republic. It was incorporated into Prague in 1901. Places * Praha-Libeň railway station Demographics People * Reinhard Heydrich, assassinated here * Herz Homberg, born here ...

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 ...

. Production of the first Grand, equipped with a four-cylinder engine, started in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

in 1912 and continued after the dissolution of

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

in the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechosl ...

. It was used by the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

during

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 ...

as a

staff car A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior military military officer, officer, and is part of their country's White fleet (UK military vehicles), white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first us ...

. The Praga Grand 8 introduced in 1927 had an eight-cylinder engine and was the

official state car An official state car is an automobile used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from ...

for the Czechoslovak president

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...

. The car also achieved limited success in road racing.

Development

The Grand was the second car produced by Praga, and was designed by chief designer František Kec to be a more luxurious complement to the

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 design was typical of its period, with a separate rectangular frame chassis to which different bodies could be fitted.Tuček, 2017a, p.20 The engine had four cylinders, displaced , produced and was equipped with an electric starter. This engine was also used in the first

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s produced by Praga. The chassis had a

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

of and weighed , and the total weight of the car with a typical six seat enclosed body was . In September 1927, the design was upgraded. A new engine was fitted which had eight cylinders to give a smoother and calmer ride alongside more power, with available. Features included a dashboard-mounted

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge (instrument), gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as ...

with trip meter, clock and fuel gauge, electric indicators and hydraulic brakes. It could reach speeds of and return fuel economies of between , substantially more efficient than the previous four-cylinder model. The models ranged in weight from .Tuček, 2017b, p.77 Further development of the vehicle design took place during the ensuing years. An even larger engine was introduced in 1929 with bore increased from , displacement increased to and power to . The new model was known as the 17/60 HP.Tuček, 2017a, p.70 It was soon superseded by an even larger engine, the with eight cylinders each of bore and stroke producing . At the same time, the company introduced the first seven seater body.Tuček, 2017a, p.125 1935 saw the ultimate development of the vehicle for luxury use. The standard vehicle by that time had a chassis with a wheelbase and was powered by a engine.Tuček, 2017a, p.227 Praga mounted on this a luxurious new bodywork measuring in length.Tuček, 2017a, p.228 A mere handful of these were produced.Tuček, 2017b, p.78

Service

The car proved itself early on, when three prototypes entered in an alpine race in 1912 achieved the top three places. After this, orders from the Austro-Hungarian Army were assured, and the car served as a

and

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

in the force throughout World War I.Procházka & Martof, 2007, p.45 335 were produced before the end of the war and, at the end of the conflict, manufacturing resumed in 1919. Nearly four hundred more were sold between 1919 and 1926.Tuček, 2017a, p.69 They saw some success in post-war Alpine races. With the creation of

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 ...

after the war, the Grand was the vehicle of choice for the new president,

.Tuček, 2017a, p.21 The Grand was popular with the rich, and it had a price tag to match. According to the 1925 price list, a basic vehicle cost 89,000 CSK, with an open-top phaeton priced at 115,000 CSK and the

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 which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

135,000 CSK. With the introduction of the eight-cylinder engine in 1927, the car gained even more prestige and was termed the ''Rolls-Royce of Czechoslovakia''. The car was particularly well received after its 1931 update, with motoring journalist Denik Národní calling it the favoured vehicle of the Czechoslovak elite (""). The last example to be used as a presidential carriage was a 1935 limousine presented to Masaryk by his successor

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

Production

A total of 1,196 vehicles were produced, of which 897 had four-cylinder engines, with 299, the later model, with an eight-cylinder engine. The car was also produced in small numbers under license by Magyar Wagon in Hungary as the Rába Grand, both before and after World War I.Jacobs, 2017, p.240 The chassis was also used as the basis for

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

s and

s for civil and military service.Procházka & Martof, 2007, p.49

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *{{Cite book, first=Michael, last=Williams, date=1983, title=Farm Tractors in Colour, place=London, publisher=Blandford Press, isbn=0-7137-0653-8 Cars introduced in 1912 Praga vehicles