Yeah, at first Czechoslovak police used no lights at all just like in the pre-war times only a mechanical siren. But later on, Škoda 1200/1201 STW received blue flashing light in place of fog lights and even later a classic siren on the roof. The way the light evolved can be seen complietly on the GAZ 21 Volha At first no lights were used only thing that told you that the car was a police car was the colour scheme and the long antenna (which I personally love) Later on the classic small light And after that the classic Tesla unit --- Post updated --- Actually let’s have a look at some of those classic Czechoslovak police cars: Moskvitch 408 Tatra 603 Normally used as a highway police car (that why there is a light up stop sign on the front) Tatra 613, both the 613 and the 603 were also used during offical ceremonies and action. GAZ 24, also went from the blue colour scheme to the post-revolution Policie lettering (still with VB colours) Many of them ended their carrier as Military Police vehicles. Škoda 1202 at start only with a raised up light later also used the standard sirens Also found a Cadillac Škoda Octavia Combi (last photo show a later Octavia without a siren, those cars were used as transport cars or "help" cars and weren't used in active service unless it was absolutely needed) Škoda 1000MB, only very few of those must have been used, they weren’t as fast as moskvitches and lacked the boot space of the Octavia Combi or 1202 so they were limited in use. Of course, every possible version of a Lada Weirdly Hungarians used the same colour scheme with their Rendőrség Compared to ours And as a bonus some of our first post-war police cars some of them rather interesting Škodas 1101/1102 if it weren't for the police licence plates, we wouldn’t know these were police cars. Same goes for the bigger Škoda Superb 300 OHV And the Škoda 1101 P that pretends to be able to go off road although underneath is a completely stock Škoda 1101 chassis.
In awe at the amount of photos you've found honestly. Absolutely mad. I'm glad that you brought up that Tatra 603 because they had a massive AIR COOLED v8 out of all things. That's like having a water cooled jet engine, it's odd but somehow works lmao. And I agree, for some reason a car with no lights but a siren is really cool, but my favourite setup is just having the little spot light and a mechanical siren for sure. Speaking about that, you mention early GaZ 21 not having a light, just an antenna, did they come with a siren with the antenna or did they have no sort of siren? And one last thing, maybe you know some movies about the VB from Czechoslovakian era? That'd be awesome. The interesting thing about these skodas, is the fact that the spoiler acts as a spoiler and an air duct. Because of the back bit of the spoiler being solid it rams the air down into the engine for better cooling. Really creative design wise in all manners honestly. If the real one drives like the BeamNG one at all I can tell why the spoiler was necessary. These cars were also sold for a little bit in the UK --- Post updated --- Is that an Automation car with a functional interior? HOW??
Oh yes, the formidable Tatra 603, the V8 wasn’t actually that big it was only 2.5 litres with OHV valvetrain (technically a downgrade since older Tatra 87 used OHC). That 2.5 litre V8 produced 105 HP (95 HP before 1968) and was able to propel the Tatra at speeds of up to 175 km/h (about 170 km/h with the older engine), it really shows just how Aerodynamic it is, it weights 1470 kg is over 5 meters long and still manages to brake the 100 mph mark with just 100 HP. If you want to see Tatra 603 driven fast, I’d recommend this promotional film made for export: The police cars appear to be Tatra 201 prototypes (although there is an ongoing discussion on Czech car forums if they really are, I personally think they are) The 201 prototype was basically a front-engined Tatra 600 Tatraplan, it almost went into production but in 1951 the Commie government decided that Tatra should produce only trucks and that luxury cars will be imported from the USSR. The production of the Tatra 600 moved to Škoda, needles to say all the prototypes prepared for production, including a diesel version of the Tatraplan were cancelled and Tatra 600 was produced by Škoda only ‘till 1952 when Škoda simply killed the Tatraplan off. They wanted to produce their new Škoda 1200 and not something from a different factory with completely different construction, (The fact that at the same time government toyed with the idea of having all cars air-cooled didn’t help) that was also the reason why Tatraplan from Škoda weren’t as good, the workers there simply didn’t care about that car. It appears that one of them was actually found Alive! Tatra 603 itself is an interesting story. Since about 1953 there were plans made for it, illegally of course, However they knew that the military controlled Tatra factory in Kopřivnice was too dangerous for that, so those plans were created in the drawing rooms of the Tatra tram factory in Smíchov. In 1955 those high up realised that those Russian cars weren’t as good, older Tatras 87 were starting to show their age and many of those that would normally receive a Tatra 600 now had to make do with a GAZ M20, what more deliveries from the USSR were slow and commonly in very low numbers. Thanks to that we’ve got the Tatra 603, two biggest markets for it were Czechoslovakia (how surprising) and East Germany were Czechoslovak Tatras where prefer to Russian cars. And my gosh were those Tatra trams gorgeous! I cannot really think about any TV series that would be directly about the VB. However, there are several about the Criminal Police. There is the Malý pitaval z velkého města (Minor Tales of Crime from a Major City), I’d recommend episode 5 in which there is a smaller police chase at about 31:40 And then there is the 30 epsiode series of 30 případů majora Zemana (Thirty Cases of Major Zeman) That series is interesting mainly thanks to the sheer number of cars from all around the world. https://www.imcdb.org/movie_174369-30-pripadu-majora-Zemana.html I wouldn’t call the Škoda 105/120 a car that was “sold for a little bit in the UK”, over 170 thousand of them were sold in the UK between 1976 and 1990 with over 17 000 sold in the year 1987 alone! Together with Finland and the Netherland, UK was one of the best western markets for the Škoda. Interestingly for first three years of production those Škodas 105/120 didn’t have that spoiler, that spoiler was fitted in the 1979 modernisation together with shorter springs, these changes improved the handling drastically which can be seen here with the pre-1979 example with the dramatic positive camber on the rear outer wheel, getting the post-1979 Škoda into such position was much harden and after the third modernisation of 1984 with the new wider front axle and softer front springs it was even better. Last modification was the introduction of the semi-trailing arms in 1984 on the Škoda 130 L, since 1987 fitted to all models. Cars with that new rear axle are actually really predictable in the corner although oversteer is still the prevalent handling characteristic, but if you drive sensibly, you’d almost forget that the engine is in the rear. The GAZ 21 Volha without the light indeed still had the siren. Also did you know that during the 80s There were eight Range Rovers used as ambulances in Czechoslovakia? They were renown for their high speeds and very, very soft suspension which meant that high speed corners were sometimes taken on two wheels.
Haha yes Landies are notorious for their suspension. I have a good mate who used to own one and loved it. Don't know much about the Land Rovers but I know they're an absolute icon up here. And since there was 170 THOUSAND sold here, perhaps I should look for one for sale :O I think I have a good chance of getting one, but first I would work on getting my KMZ to look like this: I think this is the nicest looking Motorcycle ever produced.
That’s a really nice example and the colour combination is perfect. Good luck finding an Estelle, after 1989 most of the nice examples were snatched up by Czechs, Slovak, Poles and Hungarians for spares, you could even see people driving in unmodified RHD Estelle from to to time. The poor image of Škoda did the rest during the 90s and early 2000s, so today there aren't many left. Although for me the best-looking motorcycle is either: The Jawa 350/361 And if you really feel like ditching the car, you can use a combo like this: Jawa 350/360 + Velorex 560 sidecar + PAv 41 trailer ! This one is top-notch quality it features all the things mentioned above plus all the possible protective covers (although the roof on the sidecar is probably homemade, standard for it would be only small black leatherette cover for the sidecar when not in use that wouldn’t cover the windscreen. And few adverts Or the pre-war ČZ 500 They were even used by the Vatican!
Well, not only these. We also had Nysa or FIAT 125p Wagon used as ambulances. Maybe FIAT wasn't very functional because it was pretty narrow, but that's better than not having any ambulance, right? Of course if we only count vechicles from communistic countries, because we also had a few western cars.
I of course know about these other wonderful polish Ambulances, my favourite being the Warszawa 223K, but I wanted to show what Poland had to struggle with when there were no other options. Just like we had our Pre-war and early war Škoda 995 ambulances that were mere 380 cm long!
You also had the high-roof version of the 125p And interestingly enough Italian had their own version on the original 125!
I always liked the classic Polski Fiat 125p, especially the speedometer is really nice. Sadly, in Czechoslovakia they were almost never available in the kombi version, most of those went to institutions and collective farms as replacements for the aging Škoda 1202.
Which speedometer? The round one, or the long one which looks like a termomether? --- Post updated --- Also- FIAT 125p coupe.
The thermometer one, that’s an interesting looking prototype. It’s a pity that the Warszawa 210 didn’t make it into production. --- Post updated --- same goes for the Syrena 110
Well, I would say Syrena Sport or PF 1100 Coupe would be way more interesting vechicles to see in production, though Warszawa 210 looks very cool too.
Those sporty models would’ve been nice, but I think that most people would rather have a new peoples car than a sporty car that would be probably mostly exported and made in small number, however what can I say when in Czechoslovakia we had such cars like the Felicia, 1000 MBX or the 110 R whilst Poland had to do with what was imported.
Yeah, but imports were way better quality than our vechicles, so there wasn't such a big problem with something breaking.
Yeah, true I’m always amazed that Poland managed to make anything, most of it was reduced to dust after the war and what was left was taken by the soviets and AFAIK before the war there were only two car factories in Poland, of course, Polski Fiat and then a subsidiary of the Czechoslovak Praga in Auschwitz.
I didn't even know we had Praga factory here. --- Post updated --- That's surprising as hell. lol --- Post updated --- And coming back to the concept vechicles topic: Have you ever heard about FSO Ogar- the one with pop-ups?
The original Syrena is adorable. Also, which cars from outside Poland were available for sale in Poland?
