Zbrojovka Z4 1000 Mil 1934

Zbrojovka Z4 1000 Mil 1934 by Autocult

A Z4, but not from Munich!  

`Československá zbrojovka Brno`, commonly referred to as ‘Zbrojovka JSC’, entered the car business in 1924 and launched the Z4 in 1933.   The car featured a water-cooled 2-cylinder in-line engine in two-stroke design with 905cc displacement and 18 hp. The public set eyes on the car for the first time at the Prague Motor Show in April 1933. Most visitors to the booth probably saw in the car primarily a solid, pragmatic utility car of the middle class, rather than appreciating the technical innovations.   Particularly noteworthy was the fact that the Z4 was the first Czechoslovak car with front-wheel drive. Even the independent suspension with leaf springs and standard lever shock absorbers on the front wheels were by no means common in the industry back then.   With various changes and modifications, the car was launched in a total of five series. Until October 1936, the final version remained in the product range and finally ended after a total of 2,680 copies produced the era of the Z4, which at this time was already accompanied by the two successor models, the Z5 and the Z6. Of all types produced, the Z4 was the most economically successful model of Zbrojovka JSC.   It remains questionable whether BMW remembered the car from the neighboring country when choosing the type designation of its version of the Z4 from 2002 – one will probably be able to deny this.