Čezeta

A 1960 Čezeta 502/00.

A Čezeta 505.

The Čezeta was a motor scooter manufactured from 1957 to 1964 in what was then Czechoslovakia, (now the Czech Republic), by the Česká Zbrojovka Strakonice (ČZ) company, which manufactured motorcycles from 1935 to 1997.

The Čezeta was unusually long for a two-wheeled vehicle, having a torpedo-shaped body with a long seat that lifted to reveal a substantial luggage compartment, using space that in most scooters was occupied by the fuel tank. The front mudguard was fixed to the body and fully streamlined into the legshields. It contained the fuel tank with the headlight fitted into a recess low in the front and a luggage rack on the flat top surface. It was a common joke amongst Čezeta riders that the exposed front tank with built in headlight formed an explosive warhead and detonator for the torpedo, though in practice the Čezetas proved no more likely to catch fire than any other motor scooter, even in serious collisions.

The scooter was driven by the 175cc or 200cc ČZ two-stroke single-cylinder motorcycle engine, giving a top speed of 55 mph. The engine was modified for the enclosed scooter by having a drive pulley on the crankshaft driving a fan by means of a Vee belt. There were four foot-operated gears.

The 501 model, built from 1957 to 1959, had the rear wheel supported on one side only and suspended by a rubber block. The later 502 model had a full fork with motorcycle shock absorbers.

A three-wheeled utility version, the 505, was built starting in 1960. This vehicle used mechanical components and front bodywork from the 502.

N-Zeta

A New Zealand assembled N-Zeta scooter

In New Zealand, during the 1960s a local company, JNZ Manufacturing Ltd assembled the 'Čezeta' under the name 'N-Zeta'. It was fitted with a larger, 200cc two stroke motor.

See also

• List of scooter manufacturers

References

Gomola, Miroslav (2003). Motocykly ČZ aneb Strakonická Historie. Brno: AGM CZ. ISBN 80-58991-25-X.