Oświęcim-Praga
| Zjednoczone Fabryki Maszyn i Samochodów SA Oświęcim-Praga | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | April 13, 1929 |
| resolution | 1939 |
| Seat | Oświęcim , Poland |
| Branch | Motor vehicles |
Oświęcim-Praga , short for Zjednoczone Fabryki Maszyn i Samochodów SA Oświęcim-Praga , was a Polish manufacturer of motor vehicles .
Company history
The two Polish Counts Artur Potocki and Roger Raczyński intended to manufacture motor vehicles in the 1920s. To this end, they founded the company in Oświęcim on April 13, 1929 . They held 35% of the shares and Praga the remaining 65%. Praga was the licensor . They took over the Potęga iron and metal foundry. According to another source, they moved into the factory in December 1929. The brand name was Praga . Oświęcim-Praga was also mentioned in the advertising , but the authors Halwart Schrader , George Nicholas Georgano and Marián Šuman-Hreblay have no such entry in their encyclopedias on car brands. As far as is known, the marketing was limited to Poland.
In 1934, Bolesław Rychlewski, Ryszard Stolle, Emil Kolben, Jaroslav Ruziczka and Jan Rzika ran the company. In 1937 there were 30 workers, two technical managers and five office workers.
With the beginning of the Second World War , the company was dissolved.
Products
The company mainly manufactured passenger cars , commercial vehicles and special vehicles. In addition, the production of agricultural machinery , engines , pumps and equipment for breweries and mines as well as for sugar and steel making was planned.
Initially, many parts were imported from Czechoslovakia and only assembled in Poland. Some of them were complete chassis that only received one body . Later there was its own parts production in Poland.
The car models Praga Piccolo , Praga Alfa , Praga Grand and Praga Mignon have survived . In addition, trucks , buses , fire engines , trailers , tractors and motorcycles were built .
Construction time and quantities
One source states that almost 1,700 vehicles were built by 1938, which expressly include trailers.
Another source thinks that the marketing of the last Piccolo and Alfa models came to an end in 1937. She names 60 bodies for 1930 and 250 vehicles by 1934.
Only one piccolo of the car has survived. It is exhibited in the Motor and Technology Museum in Otrębusy . There are also photos of a surviving motorcycle.
Web links
- Zapomniany Oświęcim-Praga (Polish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Zapomniany Oświęcim-Praga (Polish, accessed October 19, 2019)
- ↑ a b George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 3: P-Z . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1262 (English).