Sodomka

File:Sodomkovo Mýto 2011 - 59.JPG

Aero 50 Dynamik with coachwork by Sodomka

File:Tatra 600 Kabriolet Sodomka.JPG

Tatra 600 Cabriolet with bodywork by Sodomka

Sodomka was a Czech coachbuilding company founded in 1895. They bodied cars and buses from various Czech companies (Aero, Laurin & Klement, Praga, Škoda, Tatra, Walter), as well as foreign cars (e.g. Bugatti, Ford, Graham, Lancia, Nash, Rolls-Royce, LaSalle (for the British royal family), Studebaker and others).

History

The Sodomka company was founded in Vysoké Mýto in 1895 by Josef Sodomka Sr. It was originally called the First East Bohemian Carriage Manufacture of Josef Sodomka. After the First World War came the Great Depression and the search for another production programme began. Josef Sodomka persuaded his father to start car bodywork. In 1925, they produced the first car body according to their own design on a Praga Mignon chassis. In 1928, the company produced their first bus body on a Škoda 125 chassis with a capacity for fourteen passengers and other bus bodies on Praga, Škoda, Tatra and Walter chassis. By the end of the year, a total of six buses had been produced at the factory. In the 1930s, Karoserie Sodomka became a successful company, winning elegance competitions and car shows. In total, the company produced 40 buses by 1936. In 1947, the Škoda 706 RO bus model began production. In 1948, the company was nationalised and became the national company Karosa. In 2020, the plant belongs to Iveco and buses are produced there.

Literature

• Jan Černý: Automobily Tatra s karoseriemi Sodomka, Vysoké Mýto, Regionální muzeum ve Vysokém Mýtě, 2007,
• Jan Černý: Automobily Aero s karoseriemi Sodomka, Vysoké Mýto, Regionální muzeum ve Vysokém Mýtě, 2008,
• Jan Černý: Autobusové karoserie Sodomka na podvozcích Tatra, Vysoké Mýto, Regionální muzeum ve Vysokém Mýtě, 2008,
• Jan Černý, Martin Štěpán: Automobily Praga s karoseriemi Sodomka, Vysoké Mýto, Regionální muzeum ve Vysokém Mýtě, 2009,
• Jan Tulis: Sodomka, Brno, Autoklub při pedagogické fakultě Masarykovy university v Brně, 1990