Aero (automobile manufacturer)

The company Aero, founded in 1919 and based in Prague ( Czechoslovakia ), initially produced aircraft. From 1929 the product range was expanded to include automobiles due to the economic situation .

history

Automobile production

Aero produced five different series models, various racing and test vehicles and prototypes in the course of its automobile production.

Aero 662 "Klingeling", 1932

Aero 30 Roadster, 1934

Aero 50 Dynamic with Sodomka body , 1939

Series vehicles

The first model Aero 10 (also called Aero 500) was based on the Enka by Břetislav Novotný. The two-stroke - single cylinder engine made 10 hp from 500 cc engine capacity . 1360 vehicles were built by 1932.

From 1931 the Aero 18 (also Aero 662) was added.

It had a two-stroke two - cylinder engine with 662 cc and 18 hp. From 1931 to 1934, 2,692 vehicles were produced.

In the years 1933 and 1934, the Aero 20 (also Aero 1000) was produced in relatively small numbers. In his case, the engine was enlarged to 1000 cc and 24 hp.

These first three models had rear-wheel drive and were nicknamed "Klingeling" after the typical noise of the gearbox that the starter motor, which was driven by hand from inside the car with leverage, made when the engine was started. Until 1932, everyone had only one door on the right-hand side, and then a second door - on the left by the handlebar seat.

From 1934 sporty front-wheel drive cars with the type designation Aero 30 (1000 cm³, 22 kW / 30 PS) and from 1936 a four-cylinder engine Aero 50 (2000 cm³, 37 kW / 50 PS) were produced. These vehicles had a hydraulic braking system and swing axles. 7,964 of the Aero 30 type were built from 1934 to 1947, and 1,205 of the Aero 50 type from 1936 to 1941.

Most of these models were designed as sports cars - two-seater roadsters with an emergency seat in the back. This emergency seat was accessible by opening the tailgate hinged below. A small step that protruded to the left of this flap a little below the edge of the body made it possible to climb up.

But there were also fully-fledged open or closed four-seaters. Individual vehicles were also delivered as commercial vehicles.

Prototypes

During the war, two prototypes, Aero P 750 Pony and Aero R 1500 Rekord, were developed for post-war production. Although orders from abroad had already been received, the auto industry of what was then Czechoslovakia , which was nationalized in autumn 1945, decided not to build the models and to concentrate production exclusively on aircraft.

Aero Minor

To the business not to be still completely missed and yet the foreign buyers with vehicles of the brand satisfy Aero, which at was Jawa in the war years, two-cylinder model developed (616 15kW cc) Jawa Minor II in Aero Minor renamed produced in other works and sold under this name. The Minor was a spacious and sporty successful vehicle . Production ended in 1951 after the manufacturing facilities were used for military supplies.

Trucks

The Aero A 150 (also Aero 150) had a four-cylinder four-stroke engine, 2090 cm³ and 55 hp. With an empty weight of 1800 kg, its payload was 1500 kg. The model corresponded to the Škoda 150 manufactured from 1939 to 1942 and was manufactured by Aero from 1946 to 1947. Production at Praga continued as the A150 until 1951.

Motorsport and long distance driving

The aero vehicles were very simply built but also proved to be very reliable. This was underscored with numerous long-distance drives and motorsport assignments.

year	Event / ride	Vehicle / driver	description
1929	Rally Prague – Brest – Prague – Hamburg – Prague	Aero 10 Bohumil Turek	4913 km without a breakdown with an average of 26.6 km / h
1930	Rally	21 Aero 10 in the class up to 750 cm³	14,960 kilometers, all vehicles made it to the finish
1930	ADAC trip Berlin-Prague-Manzanares (Spain)	Aero 10 Bohumil Turek	Class win in the small car class, average of 48.8 km / h
1931	ADAC trip Berlin-Manzanares-Berlin	Bohumil Turek	Overall victory
1931	10,000 km drive of the AvD	Aero 18 Bohumil Turek	gold medal
1932	Expedition to Albania	Aero 10 František A. Elstner	more than 3300 km
1932	Continuous trip 30,000 km in 30 days	Aero 18 Bohumil Turek	Average speed of 58.25 km / h
1933	Long distance driving	Aero 18 František A. Elstner	Expedition with 3 vehicles over more than 13,500 km via Italy, Libya, Morocco, Spain to Prague
1934	1000 miles of Czechoslovakia	Aero 750 Antonin Nahodil	Class victory up to 750 cm³
1934	Rally Monte Carlo	Aero 20 Bohumil Turek & Antonin Nahodil	3rd place in the class up to 1500 cm³
1934	Long distance driving	4 Aero 20 3 women's teams, 1 men's team (service car)	around 14,000 km in 48 days
1934	1000 miles of Czechoslovakia	Aero 1500 Eliska Slavikovà	Class winner up to 1500 cm³
1934	Long distance driving	Aero 30 František A. Elstner	7500 km
1934	1000 miles of Czechoslovakia	Aero 30	participation
1935	1000 miles of Czechoslovakia	Aero 30	Participation of an Aero 30 with four-cylinder engine and 1.6 l displacement in the class up to 2000 cm³
1935	Journey Prague – Tbilisi – Prague	Aero 30 Bohumil Turek	participation
1936	Long distance driving	Aero 30 Mila Polàk & Lida Ondrovà	Eleven countries in seven days, an average of more than 1000 km per day
1937	Rally Monte Carlo	Aero 30 Special Vladimir Formanek	33rd place
1947	Long distance driving	Aero Minor II František A. Elstner	Crossing the Sahara to Cotonou and back again. 13,100 km in 22 days

Web links

Commons : Aero vehicles - collection of images, videos and audio files

Website of the German Aero-IG