A Closer Look: Aero Cars

Aero Cars on Display at Lane Motor Museum

When founded in 1925, Aero mainly produced airplanes. After a decline in sales, they began producing cars from 1928-1947; introducing their first car, the Aero 10, in 1929. The Type 10 was a low-priced car that the factory workers could build yet also drive themselves.

While many of the Czechoslovakian vehicles are rarely seen outside of Europe, there were eight passenger car manufacturers in Czechoslovakia between the mid 1920s to the late 1940s: Aero, Jawa, Praga, Skoda, Tatra, Walter, Wikov, and Z. Aero was the fourth largest Czech auto manufacturer. Aeros were imported to Austria, Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. They participated in Monte Carlo rallies and other prestigious international competitions.

After WWII all important industrial works were nationalized and the government implemented a plan for three classes of autos to be manufactured, based on engine displacement. Those companies were Jawa (smaller than 1000cc), Skoda (1000cc-2000cc), and Tatra (above 2000cc). As a result, Aero cars ceased production in 1947.

It was not until after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 that a new free-market environment emerged. 2005 saw a record number of passenger cars produced in the Czech Republic, with Skoda producing 500,000 and the Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile plant producing 100,000.

A display of the following Aero cars can now be seen at Lane Motor Museum:

1931 AERO 10
The Aero 10 was their first production car and it was a very simple cycle car with a single cylinder 500cc water-cooled engine driving the rear wheels. The Aero 10 had brakes on the rear wheels only, and electric start was extra. If a consumer did not order the electric start, there was a long rope that came through the dashboard with a wooden T-handle to give the car a pull start. Another interesting feature of the Aero 10 is that the gearbox is located in the rear axle instead of being mounted on the engine. This configuration was used in the 1970-2000 time period in many sports cars in hopes of evening out the weight distribution on front engine cars.

1931 AERO 18
After three years of production of the Aero 10, Aero introduced an updated version of this car in 1931. The new car was called Aero 18. From the exterior appearance nothing had changed, but the motor size was increased, and HP was increased substantially from 10 to 18.

1934 AERO 30
With the introduction of the Aero 30 in 1934 Aero took a giant step forward in its car business. Aero’s previous cars, the model 10 and 18, were pretty basic with technological and styling features that were very common during that time for manufacturers. The Aero 30 changed all that. The styling was dramatic and beautiful for its time, and even now, 75 years later the car still has great lines. Underneath the great styling, Aero went to front wheel drive, which was a very novel technology in the 1930s. Engine size was again increased to 998cc and HP was raised to 28 – giving the Aero 30 good acceleration and a very respectable top speed.

1936 AERO 30
When introduced, the Aero 30 made a big impression. These front-wheel drive cars used all-independently sprung platform frames with mechanical brakes and friction dampers. The longitudinally mounted engines were two-strokes, water-cooled, with light alloy deflector-type pistons. Production ceased during the war but the A30 was briefly revived–about 500 cars with redesigned grilles and a synchromesh gearbox were produced in 1946 and 1947. Annual sales in the late 1930s were around 1000 cars; they were exported to France, Belgium, Hungary, and Romania. The Aero 30 was produced from 1934-1947 with approximately 7,780 produced during this time.

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