Enthusiasm in Czechoslovakia

Sir,

Some Czech friends of ours who live in Prague are great Aero enthusiasts (the husband wrote the English text of the book I enclose) and run a very nice “50” model as everyday transport. There seems to be a lot of old vehicle activity in Czechoslovakia. Last time we were there my wife and I were taken to a “Concours” and Hill-climb in a small town outside Prague. The latter was quite something! The very narrow, winding, cobbled main street was closed to traffic and the cars, ranging from BMW 328s, Fiat Balilla (made in Czechoslovakia under licence apparently), lots of Aeros (including Jan Masaryk’s old car) to a new Morgan Plus 8 (!) belted up the hilly street, which was greasy since it was drizzling, to the accompaniment of great cheers from the crowds of spectators. There were no crash barriers of any sort, even at the corners, where spectators surged back if an approaching car looked as if it wasn’t quite going to make it! I remember an article in Motor Sport about Tatra cars but you ought to write something about old car activity behind the Iron Curtain (copies of Motor Sport are very prized there!).

On another point, in your review of Leslie Garner’s “Curtain Calls” on p. 532 of the May issue you say he mentions ‘a rare make of car, the Varshava’. This could be a mis-spelling of Warszawa (pronounced Varshava) i.e. Warsaw, which is a Polish-built car (I think originally based on a Russian Volga or something (!) which in turn was an American 1940’s design) which is very common behind the Iron Curtain. The last model, similar in looks to the old Peugeot saloon, stopped production fairly recently, being usurped by the Polski Fiat.

I hope this is of interest. After 15 years of reading it Motor Sport is still my very favourite magazine!

London, SW7 Richard Bossons