The Prague aviation factory Aero paradoxically entered the automobile industry in times when many – even renowned – automobile industries started to involuntarily drop out under the influence of the developing economic crisis. Looking for an alternative production program to overcome stagnation, the company management decided to bet on production of the popular small car ENKA by the engineer Břetislav Novotný, who under the name Aero 500 had already presented himself to the public at the Prague Motor Show of 1929.
This small, simple, lovely and (thanks to a two-stroke engine) also highly dynamic vehicle quickly gained popularity not just among the public but also among numerous auto racers and travellers (B. Turek, F. A. Elstner, B. Holas, R. Navara), who undertook many races as well as travel expeditions to the most remote places on the planet. Even though the two + one-seat automobile gradually evolved into a four-seater, the one-cylinder changed to a two-cylinder and the engine volume was raised first to 662, then 750 and finally to 1 000 cm3, in the mid-1930s it could not keep pace with the requirements of increasingly demanding customers.
During this time a sporty-tuned type Aero 30 was designed with a dynamic bodyshell with a characteristically long engine bonnet (therefore the nickname Czech Jaguar), powered by a two-cylinder two-stroke engine with the performance of 30 k, being transferred to the front wheels. In 1936, a more efficient type Aero 50 appeared with a two-litre engine , the performance of 50 k and a lovely four-seat bodyshell. Both models became objects of inspiration for a specialised bodywork company Sodomka, which created some particularly luxurious bodywork variations on their base.
Aero automobiles were also popular in Slovakia for their simplicity, endurance as well as for their favourable price and they were regularly appearing and winning at various sporting events such as the Czechoslovak 1000 Miles between Prague and Bratislava in 1933 and 1934. Aero 30 and Aero 50 triumphed in their categories at the Slovak 500 kilometres in 1937 and 1938. Post-war attempts to recover the automobile tradition in the factory Aero was shattered in 1947; the swan song was forced production of small freight cars such as the Škoda 150. After finishing this production the national enterprise turned to aviation production only, which was transferred from Vysočany to Vodochody in 1953.  
Nowadays, Aeros belong to favourite collection objects of Slovak antique auto enthusiasts, who have preserved these automobiles as a part of our cultural, technical and historical heritage for the future.

                                                                               Miroslav Bachratý