Praga is a 115-year Czech company that builds race cars, go-karts, and planes. It's now announcing the Bohema hypercar that it claims buyers can drive to the track, turn GT3-comparable lap times, and then return home. Former Formula One and current IndyCar Series driver Romain Grosjean is assisting with the model's testing.
The heart of the Bohema is a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 that is related to the powerplant in the Nissan GT-R. The company has a supply deal with the automaker for the engines. Praga wants this application to make 700 horsepower (522 kilowatts) and 535 pound-feet (725 Newton-meters). It also plans to fit a dry sump oil system that would reduce the powerplant's height by 5.5 inches (140 millimeters). The exhaust pipes are titanium.
The intended gearbox is a Hewland sequential unit with a robotic clutch.
Gallery: Praga Bohema
Praga projects that the Bohema's top speed is over 186 miles per hour (300 kilometers per hour). The company doesn't mention a 0-60 mph acceleration estimate. The hypercar is supposed to weigh 2,165 pounds (982 kilograms) without fuel.
The Bohema has a low-slung appearance that immediately evokes an endurance racing prototype. Openings in the nose expose portions of the suspension and allow for seeing straight through the body. In profile, the rear wing looks more like a long-tail body. Aerodynamically, this piece produces over 1,984 pounds (900 kilograms) of downforce at 155 mph (250 kph), according to the automaker. A carbon-fiber monocoque is underneath the exterior panels.
The cabin keeps things simple. Praga says there is room for two adults as tall as 6 feet 6 inches (2 meters). The driver grips a hexagonal steering wheel with buttons on each side for controlling things like the turn signals, horn, and headlights. A digital instrument display is in the middle. There's no infotainment screen. Instead, a few more buttons are on the center stack. A side pod on each side has 1.766 cubic feet (50 liters) of space and has room for fitting a helmet.
Praga intends to produce 89 units of the Bohema. The projected starting price for each of them is €1.28 million ($1.3 million at current exchange rates). The company claims final development is now underway, and it plans to build 10 examples of the hypercar in 2023. The first deliveries are supposed to begin in the latter part of that year.
