AUTOCULT - JAWA - MINOR CABRIOLET OPEN CZECH REPUBLIC 1938

From a mixture of knowledge gained through license production of the ‘F 2 Meisterklasse’ by DKW, own experience and possibly also the copying of detailed solutions, the first considerations for the first own car at Jawa crystallized as early as 1935 – just one year after the start of car production. The two main people responsible for this were Ing. Rudolf Vykoukal, who designed the chassis, engine, and transmission, and Ing. Zdeněk Kejval, who was responsible for the design. A water-cooled 2-cylinder in-line engine was installed above the front wheel axle, which provided the power of 19 horsepower on the front axle from exactly 616.75 cc. The engine was manufactured together with the backbone frame with independent suspension at the Prague plant in Nuslí, while the sheet metal experts produced the body at the production plant in Kvasiny. Both components had to be brought to the plant in Týnec nad Sázavou for final assembly. Listed under the designation “Minor” – in retrospect also called ‘Minor I’ but also under the typology ‘600’, the small Czech made its way into domestic dealerships and was available as a two-door sedan, as a roadster, and as a convertible. The car appealed to the people and production continued until the war year 1940, with almost 2,000 models leaving the assembly halls at Jawa in the almost three years of production.