Driving to a circuit, setting fastest laps, and then driving back home? That rarely happens these days. Today’s supposedly race-derived supercars are simply too different from their road-going cousins. We wanted to challenge that dogma with our first road-going car in decades, the extreme and dramatic R1R. The Praga R1R project was a successful exercise in getting racing technology on the roads. From the glamorous streets of Monaco, to cross-continental autoroutes and even in icey northern Sweden, the R1R turned heads and comes as close as any sports car can to delivering the true “race-to-road” dream.
The Praga R1R was not only a nod to Praga’s illustrious history, developed as our first road-going car since 1947, but it is also a reminder of a time when legendary racers drove their cars to the racetracks, raced, and won. We wanted to do the same – build a race car that’s legal for the street.
For our 21st Century road car, we used the race-winning Praga R1 as a start. Then we added everything the road car needs, from the technology and equipment to enable daily driving, to a suspension system able to deal with ordinary roads. But don’t be under any illusion, we kept its racing heart and pedigree.
In our time with Praga R1R, we learned a lot about building and fine-tuning road cars, and we collected some stories to remember. We want to share the best with you. And perhaps the story will be continued…
Unlike most supercars, the Praga R1R wasn’t designed to feel like a race car. It was one. Instead of taking a road car and trying to add racing performance, we injected road-car usability and comfort into the race car. The result was something extraordinary, a supercar-baiting prototype that turned heads on the streets of Monaco and had in its veins genuine race-winning blood.
The teardrop cabin and the truly dramatic bodywork is defined by the laws of aerodynamics, giving the R1R driver the sort of memorable experience at road-legal speeds usually reserved for racing drivers
At speeds of over 200 km/h our road car’s downforce exceeds its weight, meaning that in theory it can be driven upside down. In practice it means cornering becomes addictive!
The teardrop cabin and the truly dramatic bodywork is defined by the laws of aerodynamics, giving the R1R driver the sort of memorable experience at road-legal speeds usually reserved for racing drivers.
At speeds of over 200 km/h our road car’s downforce exceeds its weight, meaning that in theory it can be driven upside down. In practice it means cornering becomes addictive!
Since 1907 we have designed, developed and produced racing cars, road cars,
airplanes, trucks, buses, motorcycles and go-karts for the world.
