CZ
5 entries
Czech motorcycles from Strakonice: the brand that grew out of an arms factory and won in motocross.
- Founded
- September 1919, Strakonice
- Began as
- A branch of the Škoda armament works
- First motorcycles
- 1935
- Icon
- ČZ 501 Čezeta scooter, 1957
Česká zbrojovka, the Czech Armament Works, was set up in 1919 in Strakonice in what was then Czechoslovakia. After weapons sales fell it moved into bicycles, started motor-driven bicycles in 1932, and sold its first motorcycles in 1935; the company soon became the biggest motorcycle maker in Czechoslovakia.
After the Second World War ČZ was the second-largest motorcycle manufacturer in Europe. It raced in the 250 and 350 cc Grand Prix classes, and in 1963 Vlastimil Válek rode a 263 cc ČZ to win a moto of the 500 cc motocross world championship, the first win for a two-stroke at that level. The 1957 Čezeta scooter became an icon across Eastern Europe, and motorcycle production ended in the 1990s.
- 1919Česká zbrojovka founded in Strakonice
- 1935First ČZ motorcycles reach the market
- 1957ČZ 501 Čezeta scooter
- 1963First motocross world championship moto won by a two-stroke
- 1990sMotorcycle production ends
