Luxury ✓ Czech

Czechoslovakia had ridden out some rough times up to 1948. After the shotgun rocky marriage between the Czechs and the Slovaks in 1918 and the subsequent cultural and religious battles, some progress was made during the thirties, with rapid industrialisation resulting in a period of relative stability and prosperity. Then along came Adolf Hitler. From September 1938 until the Soviet liberation exactly six years later, Czechoslovakia was anything but stable and prosperous.

As the ‘thirties dawned, the country added a new name to its list of motorcycle manufacturers. Jawa was formed by Frantisek Janecek, who took over the remains of the German Winklhofer & Jaenicke company, who marketed their products under the Wanderer brand, the new company being a combination of the first two letters of his name and Wanderer. A series of well-designed and reliable models followed, powered by a variety of two stroke and four stroke engines.

However with the Nazi occupation, the Jawa factory was turned over to weapons production. Janecek’s health was failing too, and he died from lung cancer in 1941. His son Karel took control of the company and continued development work on new motorcycle models which had to take place in extreme secrecy lest it be discovered by the occupying German forces. When motorcycle production resumed post-war Jawa introduced a brand new model, the Perak (“Spring”) – a 250 single two stroke with a square section steel tube