Jawa Motorcycles

Jawa was founded in Prague in 1929, when businessman Frantisek Janecek bought the motorcycle division of the German company Wanderer - the brand name blends the first letters of Janecek and Wanderer. By the 1950s Jawa had become one of the world's leading motorcycle makers, exporting its 350 model to more than 120 countries; the 350 Perak and, later, the 350 California became its best-known models. Production declined sharply after 1990 as Eastern Bloc export markets disappeared, but a successor company, JAWA Moto, was formed in 1997 in Tynec nad Sazavou and continues to build motorcycles today under majority ownership of Jihostroj, a Czech aerospace and automotive components manufacturer. Separately, in December 2018 the Jawa name was relaunched in India by Classic Legends, a Mahindra & Mahindra-backed venture operating under a licensing agreement with the original Czech company.