Jawa is a motorcycle brand founded in Prague in 1929 by Ing. František Janeček. Since then the company's products have borne the name JAWA. Today the brand is used by the company JAWA Moto, based in Týnec nad Sázavou.[1]
The company's beginnings
According to the historical overview on the brand's website, Janeček dealt with the sales crisis in the armaments production of his arms factory by buying from the company Wanderer a licence for the Wanderer 500 OHV machine. In 1929 the arms factory registered the trademark JAWA, whose name was formed from the names Janeček and Wanderer. In the same year it presented the first motorcycles of this brand, the model JAWA 500 OHV, at the International Motor Show in Prague.[2]
In 1931 the racer and designer G. W. Patchett came to the company from England; he focused on sports machines and brought experience with light two-stroke motorcycles. A year later serial production began of the JAWA 175 model with a Villiers engine, sold under the slogan "A people's motorcycle at a people's price". The 1934 motorcycle JAWA 350 SV was, according to the company, the first machine with an engine of its own design.[2]
Cars and other products
In 1933 Jawa presented its first car, a vehicle built under a DKW licence (Meisterklasse 701), sold as the JAWA 700. The bodies were made in Kvasiny and assembly took place in the newly established plant in Týnec nad Sázavou. The second and last car was the JAWA 600 model of 1937. In 1935 Zdeněk Pilát designed the JAWA 1000 aircraft engine, which, according to the company, never took off. The JAWA 100 Robot motorized bicycle of 1937 was designed by Josef Josíf.[2]
Sporting results before the war
The first Jawa started in the Six Days competition in 1931, when E. Stokuč finished the race on a JAWA 500 OHV with a bronze medal. In 1932 Czechoslovakia sent a team to the International Trophy competition for the first time, and all its members rode Jawas. In the same year F. Brand took part in the Tourist Trophy and brought home a silver plaque. In 1935 and 1938 a team on Jawas took second place in the Trophy, and in the Golden Helmet race in Pardubice the winners were H. Gunzenhauser (1935 and 1936) and F. Juhan (1938).[2]
War and the post-war years
From September 1939 the company had to produce military orders, for example petrol pumps, bomb racks, locks for them and generating sets. Production was supervised by the German authorities Rüstungsinspektion Prag and RLM Berlin. The founder František Janeček died on 4 June 1941 at the age of 63 and JUDr. Jaroslav Frei became general director of the arms factory.[2]
According to the company, in 1945 the firm passed into state ownership on the basis of the nationalisation decrees. During the war a motorcycle called "Pérák" was secretly designed, the first people's machine with sprung front and rear wheels that was produced in larger series. In the 1950s the "Kývačka" model appeared, which the company exported to more than 120 countries.[1]
The present-day company
Today's company was founded in 1997 as a successor firm that is allowed to use the protected brand. Its business is research, development and production of motorcycles, spare parts and accessories, which includes pressing, welding, machining, painting and assembly, including the production of tools and implements. The statutory body consists of managing directors and the company is run by a chief executive. It is a subsidiary of the company JAWAUNION s. r. o., based in the same municipality.[1]