Beschreibung:

Histories of 1960s Grand Prix racing usually concentrate on the inexorable rise of the Japanese manufacturers and their titanic struggles against Western European rivals and each other, while the important supporting role played by Eastern Block factories, most notably MZ in East Germany and CZ/Jawa in Czechoslovakia, tends to be overlooked. Despite the handicap of annual development budgets that would not have kept Honda in spark plugs for a week, and political restrictions that severely limited forays abroad, these ‘Iron Curtain’ makes achieved some notable successes against the much better funded opposition from Japan and the West. Originally an armaments manufacturer, the Czech firm of Ceska Zbroiouka (CZ) diversified into motorcycle making in the early 1930s and merged with erstwhile rivals Jawa in 1949, although the two firms’ Grand Prix racing operations would remain separate and pursue different paths. CZ’s modern era began in 1955 with the appearance of two new four-stroke singles - a 125 and a 250 - the former achieving a debut 2nd place at the Swedish Grand Prix that year. Housed in identical duplex loop frames, these two engines were constructed along thoroughly modern lines, boasting unit construction, dohc valvegear and five-speed gearboxes. Frantisek Bartos rode the 250 to victory in the (non-World Championship) Austrian GP in 1956 and formed part of CZ’s team at the Isle of Man TT, where the dustbin-faired CZs performed above expectation, coming home in 6th place in the 125 race and 5th in the 250. In the Golden Jubilee TT of 1957 Bartos did even better, finishing 7th in the 125 race and 4th in the 250 behind winner Cecil Sandford (Mondial) but ahead of Sammy Miller (Mondial) and Dave Chadwick (MV Agusta). Ulsterman Miller signed for CZ the following year and promptly finished 2nd behind World Champion Carlo Ubbiali (MV Agusta) in the Austrian Grand Prix. Miller quit later in the season to concentrate on his trials career and for the next season-and-a-half CZ severely curtailed its road race programme. When the firm returned to the Grand Prix scene in 1960, it was with a brace of entirely new machines. At time of going to press no information regarding the history of this particular machine had come to light, although it is believed to have been given by the factory to a motorcycle racing club near Prague. Unused for some time, the machine requires re-commissioning. Ex-works Grand Prix racing motorcycles of the 1960s are infrequently offered for sale on the open market, so this CZ 125 represents a rare opportunity to acquire such an important machine at relatively modest cost.