It’s been nearly a year since we drove the prototype of the Praga Bohema, time the firm has apparently spent perfecting the car during an ‘intensive on-road pre-production development and on-track ride-and-drive test programme’. And, you’d imagine, convincing the right number of initial buyers to move forward with their purchase of a car that costs well over a million quid from a Czech manufacturer that precious few people knew about.
Either way, the intervening months have resulted in sufficiently good progress for Praga to confirm the Bohema has entered production at a dedicated facility in the Czech Republic. “This is an important milestone for Praga in our long 117-year history,” declared Tomas Kasparek, Praga’s owner. “We’re especially proud to be commencing production only one year after revealing the Bohema prototype car. We are monitoring every stage of the build process very closely to make sure that the Bohema production car matches, and even exceeds, our customers’ expectations.”
Those expectations are doubtless lofty. This, after all, is a car that can justly call the Aston Martin Valkyrie a direct rival, and, thanks to the presence of the Nissan GT-R’s 3.6-litre twin turbo V6 and the absence of fun-spoiling heft, boasts a suitably absurd power-to-weight ratio. Not to mention the sort of aero smarts capable of producing up to 900kg of downforce. We’ve still not seen the final production spec yet (a public unveiling is promised for the spring) but the first customers have.
In fact, the lucky ones are said to have already had a go ‘on icy Czech roads’ on the standard Trofeo R tyres. Which ought to have been fun. Praga reckons they won’t have too long to wait either: the handover of its first European model - said to feature a ‘unique specification’ - is scheduled to take place this summer. Early adopters in the UAE and USA ought to see their cars by the of the year, and production for 2025 is already being scheduled. Praga expects to build the Bohema for four years, and reckons it will be among the last petrol-powered hypercars on sale. Let's hope business stays brisk.
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