Praga is one of the oldest automaker that you never heard of. The 115-year-old Czech company is a global player in various on and off track racing disciplines and has revealed its all-new road legal hypercar: a high-performance, low-volume, beautifully-appointed car designed around three core principles – lightweight, carbon, petrol.
The new Praga Bohema is a sub-1,000 kg, mid-engined two-seater that, in the right hands, is capable of extreme high performance on track targeting GT3 race car lap times on its semi-slick Pirelli tires. Yet it is also somewhat comfortable and practical for head-turning road trips.
With its carbon fibre monocoque and race-oriented fully adjustable suspension, it is extremely light, targeting just 982 kgs (wet without fuel), while its powerful Nissan GT-R-derived six-cylinder twin-turbo engine ensures reliability, ease of servicing and the potential for further performance tuning. Whilst the Bohema’s race-derived semi-automatic transmission will support a unique on-road experience with track-focused performance.
The goal? That the Bohema is a uniquely styled, rare and exclusive car that you really can drive to the track, pull on a crash helmet (taken from the bespoke luggage fitted in each of the car’s innovative 50-liter side pods), put in lap after lap at high speed on its Pirelli Trofeo R tires, and then drive home again.
The inspiration for the Bohema came from longstanding Praga friend and ambassador, and former F1 and current IndyCar driver, Romain Grosjean. Romain challenged Praga to deliver a genuine uncompromized two-person road/track performance car, promising a truly unique driver experience.
Romain was subsequently involved in the Bohema project and highlighted the car’s seamless transition from road to track whilst delivering extensive sessions on the challenging Slovakia Ring circuit in recent testing.
“I was astonished by the Bohema’s amazing performance on track, its accessibility on road, and the ease of transition between the two. Praga has truly delivered on my challenge! On the road, you get a smooth ride, the car eliminates the bumps, you can chat with the passenger, and everything is calm and OK. Then simply switch focus and you are on the track. The same clothes, the same car, but the feeling changes and you are pushing the limit and collecting amazing lap times again and again, discovering unbelievable possibilities in the Bohema.” – Romain Grosjean
The Bohema is an all-new design, developed by Praga’s small, but talented team of engineers and designers, and perfected in an F1 team’s wind tunnel. It uses a race-derived carbon fibre monocoque, with extensive aero providing over 900 kg of downforce at 250 kmh. Top speed is just over 300 kmh
Crucially, the car’s aerodynamically-inspired engineering has not eliminated elegant and intriguing designed bodywork to ensure the car looks fast, and looks good. High quality machined Praga Gold painted duraluminium details include door hinges and a tow hook featuring an integrated rear-facing camera that stand out on the Praga blue show car and reflect Praga’s attention to detail. The Bohema is that rarest of cars with the ‘wow’ factor in both looks and performance.
The Praga Bohema is powered by Nissan’s famed 3.8 liter, twin-turbo V6 engine used in all its GT-R models since 2007. Initially drawing on Nissan’s experience at Le Mans, it is constructed around an aluminium alloy cylinder block, and there are double overhead camshafts per cylinder bank, with a continuously variable valve timing system on the inlet valves.
The beauty of this engine is not just its sheer performance potential, but also its renowned reliability and tunability. Uniquely, Nissan supplies brand new GT-R engines to Praga for the Bohema. Engine development and servicing requirements then sees Praga working with the UK’s renowned Litchfield Engineering. Litchfield strips the new engines and converts them to dry sump, which reduces the overall height of the unit by 140 mm. This allows the engine to sit lower in the Bohema and prevents the risks of oil surge under high-speed cornering loads.
Litchfield also makes a number of modifications for increased reliability and power, including swapping to new twin turbos. In this base-Litchfield specification, Praga is targeting the Bohema production car to deliver up to 700 hp at 6,800 rpm and 725 Nm of torque from 3,000 to 6,000 rpm, but Litchfield is known for building 1000+ hp engines from the GT-R unit.
Unlike many racetrack-derived performance cars, the Bohema’s ingenious interior ergonomics delivers a narrow, aerodynamically honed cockpit yet seats two, two-meter-tall adults with fully adjustable driver’s seat, steering wheel and pedals, generous luggage space, air conditioning and useful rear visibility. All at less than 1,000 kg.
Praga’s obsession with its sub-tonne target weight is highlighted by the Bohema’s cockpit statistics: structurally designed with 56 individual carbon parts, and trimmed with high-quality Alcantara and leather, the cockpit’s target weight is just 34 kg.
The focus on keeping the Bohema under 1,000 kgs is demonstrated by Praga’s remarkable attention to detail in every aspect of the design, with extensive use made of carbon fibre, magnesium alloys and titanium.
Its independent suspension uses pushrod-operated adjustable dampers mounted horizontally for maximum travel while minimizing bodywork height. In such a lightweight car, with just 180 kgs of unsprung mass, Praga’s development engineers have still been able to keep the suspension supple enough for road use without having to resort to expensive adaptive suspension systems.
The central-locked wheels are 18 inch diameter at the front and 19 inch at the rear to offer on-road compliance through their large tire walls, but the Bohema will accept 18 inch wheels all-round, which ensures compatibility with the FIA GT3 spec tire dimension – the race tire with the widest possible range of competition tire globally. The powerful brakes use lightweight but durable 380 mm carbon ceramic discs with six-piston calipers.
The Praga Bohema is entering the final few months of development with road and track programs planned in the UK, Europe and Middle East and at the Slovakia Ring home circuit. Production of the $1.28 million hypercar is scheduled to begin in the Czech Republic in the second half of 2023, with just 10 cars initially scheduled for 2023 production. A global client visitor and spec’ing headquarters will also be established in England in 2023, building on Praga’s growing race program in the UK.
Approximately 20 cars per year will be hand-built over the following four years ensuring exclusivity for owners, and Praga plans to offer track handover programs with its experienced test-driver line-up for owners to ensure that the full performance and capabilities of the Bohema are understood and accessible.
