Škoda 150: the 1.5-tonne lorry that became the Aero 150

The Škoda 150 was a light lorry of 1.5 tonnes payload developed by ASAP in Mladá Boleslav and built from 1939 until 1942, when the German occupation authorities ended production. After the war the same vehicle was made first as the Aero 150 and then as the Praga A 150, and in total more than 3,600 were built.

Škoda 150 at a glance

There is no English Wikipedia article on the Škoda 150; this page is based on one source, the Czech Wikipedia article.

History of the Škoda 150

A light lorry from a car factory

The 150 was developed as a light commercial vehicle of 1.5 tonnes and shared its cab with the smaller Škoda 100, which appeared at the same time. Its drivetrain came from the Škoda Favorit 2000 with an overhead-valve engine, but the lorry’s own four-cylinder was a side-valve design of 2,091 cc with a cast-iron block and removable cylinder liners, a cast-iron head and a crankshaft in three plain bearings. It produced 38 kW at 3,200 rpm and 33 kW continuously at 2,600 rpm, and it drove through a dry single-plate clutch and a four-speed gearbox without synchromesh; the rear axle took the drive through a two-piece propeller shaft.

The chassis

The frame was made of two pressed U-section steel side members joined by riveted cross members. At the back there was a rigid axle on longitudinal semi-elliptic springs, but at the front Škoda used independent suspension on two transverse semi-elliptic springs mounted one above the other, an unusual arrangement for a lorry of the period, with lever-type hydraulic dampers. Steering was by screw and nut, brakes were hydraulic drums all round, and the 18-inch wheels carried 6.00–18 tyres, twinned at the rear. The cab had a wooden frame covered with steel panels, a two-piece windscreen of toughened glass and a bench seat across the full width, with the 65-litre fuel tank, the battery and the tools stowed underneath.

Bodies, war and revival

The basic version was a flat-bed lorry, but the factory also offered box bodies in many forms for civil and military use: a delivery van, a postal vehicle, a military ambulance, a staff car and even a mobile dental surgery. Sodomka built a handful of 12-seat bus bodies for the Prague film laboratories, and there was an open fire-engine version; chassis were also supplied for customers to body themselves. Production stopped early in 1942 by decision of the occupation authorities after only 182 vehicles in three series, and the last of them were taken straight into Wehrmacht service. After the war the vehicle was revived, but the ministry moved production first to the former Aero works in Vysočany, which built it as the Aero 150 in 1946–1947, and then to the former Praga works in Letňany, where a slightly revised version was made as the Praga A 150 until 1951. Zbrojovka Brno and the Vrchlabí plant, part of AZNP, supplied cabs. About 3,470 were built in 17 series in 1946–1951, and no domestic replacement of the class followed until the licence-built Avia A15 at the end of the 1960s.

Design and features

• Shared cab with the Škoda 100: the lorry and the light car were designed together to use the same pressings.
• Independent front suspension: two stacked transverse leaf springs, unusual in a 1.5-tonne lorry.
• Many bodies: flat-bed, box van, postal van, ambulance, staff car and fire engine.
• Third life: built after the war as the Aero 150 and then the Praga A 150.

Škoda 150 versions

• Škoda 150 flat-bed: the standard lorry.
• Škoda 150 box bodies: delivery, postal, ambulance and staff versions.
• Fire engine: open body for fire brigades.
• Aero 150 (1946–1947): postwar production in Vysočany.
• Praga A 150 (1947–1951): revised cab with front-hinged doors.

Škoda’s other lorries of the period were the Škoda 706, whose chassis also carried the 706 RTO bus. More vehicles are in the Škoda collection.

Sources

• Škoda 150, Czech Wikipedia: development, engine, chassis, bodies, production figures