In 2010, at the initiative of our colleague Dr. Jiří Koťátko, we organized a commemorative meeting for the first organized ride from Rudolfinum to Zbraslav, which took place on Saturday, April 3, 1960. Ten years have flown by, and so we will meet again in front of Rudolfinum on the first Saturday in April.
The Historic Automobile Club was founded in Prague on April 3, 1959 by several motoring enthusiasts. For a short time it was called the Archa Club, but since 1961 this association has had the definitive name of the Historic Vehicle Club (KHV) at the Svazarm Municipal Automobile Club in Prague. It was the first organization of this kind in Czechoslovakia.
According to the then foreign practice, vehicles manufactured before 1928 were considered historic. The KHV was introduced to the public for the first time on April 3, 1960, on the anniversary of its founding, with a promotional ride from Prague, from the Rudolfinum to Zbraslav and back. All twenty historic cars, mostly domestically produced, started and finished. The event was very well received by the audience and the press of the time. A short clip was also featured in a film newsreel.
Nothing has changed in terms of organization either, here stands the patriarch of the veteran movement and witness of the events of that time, Dr. Jiří Koťátko, Milan Bumba, the editorial staff of the Motor Journal magazine, and friends from the Autoclub of the Czech Republic and other clubs have promised to help.
The commemorative ride after sixty years will be open to historic cars and motorcycles manufactured before 1928. It will take place again in early spring on the closest day to sixty years ago - on Saturday, April 4, 2020. The meeting and start of the participants will again be in front of the Rudolfinum on Jan Palach Square. The route of the ride will follow a fifty-year tradition along Smetana embankment, across Palacký Bridge to the other side of the Vltava River and then further along Strakonická to Lahovice. In Zbraslav, all participants will have lunch together, chat and in the afternoon, set off for their homes.
A commemorative plaque is being prepared for participants.
