Upcoming Autocult models - Praga, Volvo, and Tatra

Ever heard of a Praga? I sure haven't. But Autocult has modeled one!

1934 Praga Super Piccolo Sport 1000 mil

Around 1933, ‘Praga‘ decided to offer a car for the middle class as well, and the type designation fell on the designation ‘Super Piccolo’. This also reflected the enlargement of the engine, because the new four-cylinder was a version of the six-cylinder that was installed in the Alfa model. Consequently, a 1,661cc engine was planned for the Super Piccolo, which developed an output of almost 37 hp.

In 1934, the new car was first available at Praga dealers, and in order to boost its course, Praga wanted to take part in the long-distance race ‘1000 mil československých’ – 1000 Miles of Czechoslovakia. To this end, the engine output increased from 37 hp to 47.5 hp and -while maintaining the same displacement of 1,661cc.

An aerodynamically sophisticated body with three front lights was to provide a further speed advantage. Works driver Petr Mucha and his co-driver Konicky were scheduled for one car, the other was to be driven by the Kulich/ Miska duo.

During the preparation and test drives for the upcoming endurance event on June 9, 1934, however, Ing. Petr Mucha had an accident with his car and died shortly afterwards.

Under the impression of this mourning, Kulich/ Miska took part in the prestige race and were ranked 28th overall after 19 hours, 49 minutes, and 40 seconds.

1961 Volvo Coupe de Mola

In the 1930s, both brothers Umberto and Bruno de Mola left their Italian homeland and tried their luck in the capital of Belgium with the production of specially designed bodies. It is unknown how the business worked, whether they only repaired or whether they also provided larger quantities with their own design cars. Their first project, on the other hand, has been preserved and is now in the Belgian museum `Musée de l'Auto Mahymobiles`, joins the presentation with other vehicles and only those who look very closely can recognize a very unusual segment in the lines of the body – namely the side window section.

Completely contrary to the side windows, which tended to be conservatively designed in the 1960s, a large curved radius gives agility on both, the upper and lower edges. The de Mola brothers seemed to have been taken with rounded shapes, because the front end also captivated with well-proportioned curves.

Because of the built-in 1.8-liter inline four-cylinder, they screwed the Volvo lettering to their body and presented their neat coupé for the first time in 1961. Completely contrary to the modern engine o the time, the brothers used the chassis of an Lancia Augsta and this dated 1934! Even today, it is hard to imagine wanting to sell a modern vehicle with a 25-year-old substructure – was this also the reason why the care was hardly known in 1961?

1953 Tatra T805 H+Z

This year we are celebrating 10 years of AutoCult. The Tatra T805, which went on its “grand tour” in 1953, perfectly embodies the AutoCult brand and thus stands for our extraordinary range with unique stories behind each vehicle.

True to our brand and company name, we have made it our goal to realize long-forgotten automobiles, which are characterized by their extraordinary shape or innovative construction, in miniature. We are not only focused on the model implementation, but also on the respective story and the background information that we would like to tell the collector.

Just as the two “globetrotters” threw themselves into a long lasting adventure, we also embarked on a “model car adventure” with our AutoCult brand. The Tatra T805 with its extraordinary story perfectly embodies our brand essence that we have defined 10 years ago.

World travelers were considered heroes for decades, because they had mostly seen parts of the world that were never within reach for the ordinary citizen.

Two of these adventurers were the Czechoslovaks eng. Jio Hanzelka and eng. Miroslav Zikmund. In 1947, they decided to take a tour with a Tatra passenger car, which lasted three years and took them back to their homeland via Africa and South America. The world tour attracted great attention, especially in this period, which was still influenced by the privations of World War II. However, this journey was not enough for the two world travelers and five years after their return they planned a second trip. This time their world tour was to become even more extensive and lead over Asia, Australia and Oceania back to their Czechoslovak homeland. They went for the 1-ton Tatra 805 truck as their means of transport.

Auto Union-Porsche Typ 52 Sport-Limousine 

Finally, there's this, a first in their Avenue43 lineup - a 1:18 scale monster...