Our Motorcycle Import, The First 70 Years, 1895–1964, Milan Veselý

Another part of the extensive work of the author and historian. Already on the page with the contents, the reader will find out that in a sector of only seven letters in alphabetical order, there were 72 motorcycle brands operating in our republic. Small locksmith workshops that produced a single motorcycle or applied a drive unit to a bicycle frame are also captured. Rarely preserved materials have been enriched here with high-quality processing, from graphic preparation to the selection of materials used. The publication will once again significantly advance detailed knowledge of the history of motorcycle production. Libor Marčík's representative publications are always a suitable gift for all motorists, regardless of age or focus.

The new book is the result of many years of research efforts by the author and his friends. The aim of the publication is to provide the most concise, yet comprehensive description of the development of the first 120 years of two-wheeled motorization in our territory. The main part of the book is prepared as an annotated and illustrated statistical report on the development of our motorcycle production, sales, imports and motorization of the population. The brief text illuminating the economic, political and legislative background is supplemented by a number of exceptionally extensive tables with never-before-published data. The second part of the book outlines the history of motorization of our armed forces, post, the development of traffic regulations, safety, accident rates, the road network and the collector-veteran movement.

Historical facts were drawn primarily from old Czech and German periodicals and publications. They were only supplemented with information from contemporary Czech literature and the Internet. Most statistical data was taken from archived company reports and from reports of the Czech Statistical Office. To a lesser extent, period almanacs and period magazines served as a source of valuable information. The huge number of illustrations, together with the high level of graphic and printing work, gives the publication a representative character. The vast majority of illustrative material was taken from period printed matter and albums of period photographs of exclusively domestic origin.

A wide period from the establishment of an independent republic through the years of economic crisis, the protectorate and up to 1953, when a classless society was fully built with the help of obligations - these are the years that the author chose for the next presentation of some motorcycle manufacturers. The author filled the clearly arranged pages of the next part of his extensive publication with the production marks or surnames of workshop owners that begin with one of the three letters M, N, O. Period print, brochures, drawings, dimensional sketches, photographs, official documents replacing technical certificates and other archive materials were suitably used to bring the history of motorcycle production in Czechoslovakia closer. The author has been a guarantee of extremely interesting discoveries with a specialization in two-wheeled vehicles for many years.