Velorex: "the wandering raincoat"

The first (and as far as is known, the only) batch of 200 Velorex cars was imported to Bulgaria in 1963. Not long after, the strange, cute and very noisy three-wheeled vehicle was successfully renamed by local car enthusiasts as the "Wandering Raincoat" magazin de piese auto online.

Velorex: "the wandering raincoat"

The history of this Czechoslovak exotic dates back to early 1936, when the two brothers František and Mojmir Stransky began designing a small and inexpensive three-wheeled vehicle inspired by the British Morgan tricycles. In 1943, they completed their first prototype with a motorcycle engine, whose body was a spatial tubular frame wrapped in sheet metal, in combination with some bicycle parts (later replaced by motorcycle parts). In 1945, the first small series of 12 cars was produced, with the sheet metal bodywork replaced by pieces of artificial leather. The vehicles were powered by 150-cc ČZ motorcycle engines, 250-cc Jawa engines and 300-cc PAL engines.

In 1950, the Stransky brothers' company was renamed Velo, and a year later production moved to a new workshop in Solnice. In 1951, 120 cars were produced, a year later - 180, and in 1954, 40 vehicles were produced per month. On January 21, 1954, František Stransky died in a crash on one of the test prototypes, and his brother Mojmir, who refused to become a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, was fired. In 1956, the official trade name Velorex was adopted, and in 1959 the company was already producing 120 vehicles per month.

In 1963, the production of the new Model 16 (equipped with ČZ 175 or Jawa 350 type 572 engines) began, which became popular in Bulgaria in the same year. It was partially modernized in 1968 and its production was discontinued in 1971, with a total of about 12,000 units being built over nine years.

In the early 1970s, the company also switched to producing a four-wheeled car, the Model 435-0, which was equipped with a Jawa 350 type 572-04 engine. Due to its rather problematic design, as well as its inability to compete with cars of a higher category (including the cheap Trabant), it became a commercial failure and its production was stopped in 1973. In the mid-1980s, India tried to obtain a license to produce the three-wheeled Velorex, but a deal was not reached, as the original tooling no longer exists.

Car parts AutoPower
Car parts AutoPower

The history of this Czechoslovak exotic dates back to early 1936, when the two brothers František and Mojmir Stransky began designing a small and inexpensive three-wheeled vehicle inspired by the British Morgan tricycles

In 1950, the Stransky brothers' company was renamed Velo, and a year later production moved to a new workshop in Solnice