JAWA  is a motorcycle and moped manufacturer founded in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1929 by František Janeček, who bought the motorcycle division of Wanderer. The name JAWA was established by concatenating the first letters of Janeček and Wanderer. In the past, especially in the 1950s, JAWA was one of the top motorcycle manufacturers and exported its 350 model into over 120 countries. The best known model was the 350 Pérák and in the 1970s the 350 Californian. It appeared in typical black and red coloring from California to New Zealand. After 1990 a significant loss of production occurred. A successor company was formed in 1997 in Týnec nad Sázavou, continuing the name as JAWA Moto.

Wanderer was a German manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, vans and other machinery. Established as Winklhofer & Jaenicke in 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer and Richard Adolf Jaenicke, the company used the Wanderer brand name from 1911, making civilian automobiles until 1941 and military vehicles until 1945.

František Janeček started the company after working in the armament industry. Although he did not have experience with motorcycles, he was familiar with production techniques. Janeček chose between the Austrian double piston two-stroke motor of Puch, the Berlin two-stroke of Schliha, and the new Wanderer 500-cc. Janeček chose the Wanderer. Because of the collapse of the German motor industry, Wanderer had stopped production, being unable to compete with BMW. The first model was introduced on October 23, 1929. This was a 500-cc four-cycle engine with 18 hp and fuel consumption of 6 L/100 km. Although priced highly, through the first years (and several constructional fixes), this motorcycle was successful and was considered reliable.

jawa 250

František Janeček, the founder of the successful Czech motorcycle manufacturer Jawa, signed a license agreement with Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen of DKW on 20 July 1933 to produce the German company's cars in Czechoslovakia. The first fruit of this agreement was the Jawa 700, based on the DKW F2 Meisterklasse, which was known internally as the 701. This was also to become the first Jawa car.

On 20 July 1933 Frantisek Janecek obtained exclusive distribution and manufacture rights for the DKW F2 “Reichsklasse” and “Meisterklasse” models in Czechoslovakia. License fees were set at 160 Czech crowns per car. The contract was signed not by Auto-Union but by J.S. Rasmussen himself. This contract not only included Auto-Union's assistance to establish a production line but included ongoing transfer of all DKW innovations and developments for the front-wheel drive car. In exchange, Auto-Union benefited from a financial return equal to 25% of the royalties paid by Janecek.

700

The 700 was a front-wheel drive vehicle with a two stroke engine. It differed from its DKW parent in having a 10 cm (4 in) longer wheelbase and 20 cm wheels. Unusually, as cars in Czechoslovakia drove on the left at the time, the car was left hand drive. The 700 was launched at the 1934 Prague Motor Show. Priced at 22,900 CSK in its four-seater guise, 1,002 vehicles were manufactured before production ceased in June 1937.

The Jawa 700 could reach a top speed of between 85 and 90 km/h and had a typical fuel consumption of between 8 and 9 l/100 km.

One additional feature was a mechanical starter of in-house design that operated in parallel with the DKW’s Dynastart. In the event the Dynaster failed, the driver could pull a handle located under the dashboard to pull start the engine via a cable attached to the left side of the crankshaft. It was not without pride that the car's advertising stated: "The original DKW does not have a mechanical starter." The Jawa 700 was initially available only as a convertible sedan (Cabrio-Limousine).

750

JAWA wanted to participate in the famous 1000 miles Czechoslovakia race. In fact, JAWA was supposed to be participating even a year before, but its modified 700 simply wasn’t reliable enough. This time JAWA made 6 cars – three roadsters and three coupes to take part and eventually win the race. And what a car the 750 was! It may not show in the pictures, but JAWA 750 is rather small – it is only 3650 mm long and very narrow. Its body is made from sheet metal, formed around a wooden frame. Aerodynamic shape is pleasing to the eye and a bit Bugatti-esque. Being as slippery as possible was so important that JAWA 750 didn’t even have mirrors or door handles. Keeping the weight down was crucial too, which is why this car has only one windscreen wiper. Coupe JAWA 750 weighed only 705 kg – roadster version – 5 kg less.

All these efforts were put into this car in order to compensate for its rather weak 750 cc twin-cylinder two-stroke water-cooled engine, producing just 26 bhp. This minute powerplant was driving the front wheels through a 3-speed transmission. And boy, was it fast – its top speed was 120 km/h.

Not only JAWA 750 won the 1000 miles Czechoslovakia race in its class, it occupied the entire podium!

The only surviving JAWA 750 is residing in National Technical Museum in Prague.

600 minor

The Jawa 700 was replaced in 1938 by a model of its own design, called the Jawa 600. Thanks to its compact dimensions, it was given the appropriate Minor designation. It had a mixed construction with a hardwood frame covered with sheet steel. The two-stroke, liquid-cooled two-cylinder with a displacement of 615 cm3, designed by Rudolf Vykoukal, was placed longitudinally behind the front axle together with a three-speed gearbox. The Minor (now known as the Roman number one) was produced with  an open two-seater body and a Tudor version with a closed four-seater body. It was produced until the beginning of World War II and in a limited number of about seven hundred pieces even in the first post-war years.

The Aero was a Czechoslovak automobile company that produced a variety of models between 1929 and 1947 by a well-known aircraft and car-body company owned by Dr. Kabes in Prague-Vysocany. Now Aero Vodochody produces aircraft only.

After the post war nationalization of the Czechoslovak industry, it was decided that Jawa would continue to focus only on motorcycles, and the production of the Minor II was therefore transferred to the Prague Aircraft. The car began production in the fall of 1946 under the Aero brand.

 In the spring of 1947, the Aero factory presented a prototype of a two-seater roadster, and at the autumn Prague Motor Show in the same year, the Sodomka body shop in Vysoké Mýto also boasted the open design of the Minor II . However, the roadster did not go into series production. The station wagon, marked Minor STW (resp. Normandy), was more fortunate. Several versions of the station wagon were also created at foreign dealers, as Minor was exported to more than 20 countries.

aero minor

The Aero Minor was manufactured by Aero from 1946 to 1952. It was designed by Jawa Motors engineers on their previous Jawa Minor design; they worked on it secretly during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. It had a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine with 615cc displacement and front wheel drive. The car reached speeds of up to 90 km/h. The engine produced 20 hp and it had a fuel consumption of 8 L/100 km. It carried saloon and station wagon bodies.

The Aero Minor excelled in its time with its spacious body, quiet operation, low fuel consumption and long service life. A total of 14,178 cars were produced, half of the cars were exported to 23 countries, mainly to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland. Many long-distance and demonstration rides were undertaken with the Aero Minor. In 1947, the famous traveler František Alexander Elstner set out from Prague to Africa across the Sahara to the Gulf of Guinea and back. In 1948, another Aero Minor reached the Arctic Circle as the first car to reach these places in the winter.

Aero Minor II was produced until February 1952 and a total of over 14,000 pieces came out of the factory gates. Another prototype of the Minor III was created , but the comrades have already decided on a different content of the factories in Letňany and Jinonice.

Ideal Jawa India Ltd based in Mysore was an Indian motorcycle company, which produced licensed Jawa motorcycles beginning in 1960 under the brand name Jawa and from 1973 as Yezdi. The company stopped production in 1996. Jawa motorcycles have a cult following to this day. Earlier models manufactured in Czechoslovakia bore the CZ Jawa emblem on the side of the fuel tank. The locally manufactured models always had O within the Jawa emblem.

In October 2016, Mahindra & Mahindra, through its subsidiary Classic Legends Private Limited (CLPL), signed a licensing deal to launch motorbikes under the JAWA brand name in India and other East Asian countries. On November 15, 2018, the Classic Legends launched three motorcycles in India: Jawa (nicknamed Jawa 300), Forty-Two (named for the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything), and Pérák, named for an urban legend Pérák. In 2021, a new model, the 42 was introduced, it is the Forty-Two with modified appearance and equipment. They are manufactured in Pithampur.

Indian customers' interest in new machines exceeded expectations. The originally planned production capacity was not enough. Indian Jawa adapted to the European standards is sold in the Czech Republic since autumn 2020, under the name Jawa 300 CL.