July 16: A new Praga

Ever attentive, as I cruise the highways and biways of my hometown Toronto, noting any vehicles that look interesting or that I haven't seen before. Like a local home sporting a driveway filled with a Bentley suv, a Rolls suv and, obviously for the help, a Range Rover. Never a dull moment when cars are on the brain.

So yesterday as I'm rolling along the 401, I see this big (aren't they all?) race car hauler, probably going home after the weekend's race at Mosport. Splashed across the trailer was this very official looking name and  a graphic of their car, plus the usual other stuff, like their drivers.

Being an inquisitive soul, I figured I should look up this racing team and see what I had just seen.

Praga....... a Czech company that produced cars, trucks and planes from 1907 until 1947. Who knew?

Using model names like Alfa (yes, that is correct), Baby, Piccolo, Super Piccolo, Golden and Lady, Praga was a mainstay of the Czech motor industry until after the end of the devastating WW II. About ten years ago, the name was resurrected and like so many other old car company names (Bugatti, Maybach, Borgward, etc), Praga was re-established, this time as Praga-Export. Its mission to produce a super car that would once again bare the proud Praga name. They began making racing go-karts, along with a proposed wild ride, track capable and eventually (hopefully) street legal.......

So back to that race car hauler. The graphic on its flanks was the car that Praga is now racing with dreams of also making it road legal.......

Imagine this car pulling up at your local cruise night, minus of course, those distracting graphics? Of course, if one hopes to sell such a creation, using Monaco as the back drop immediately lets everyone know to bring cart loads of the local currency.......

What I also find interesting is that to help publicize their efforts, they are producing the Praga Journal, which seems to use a rather '60's cover style.........

 

Little boys can fantasize about the karts and cars, while bigger boys can fantasize about, well, you know, those other things that having a ride that this would bring.

Who would ever have known about Praga without this very informative blog? Well, obviously I am delusional, but without seeing that hauler yesterday, I'd never have found out about this hoped for evolution of the Praga name, a mere seventy years after the original bit the dust.

So watch for it in your hood and remember that you heard it here first.

Until next time........