The Praga Bohema is a hand-built supercar from the Czech Republic that made its debut early last year. You might not be too familiar with it, but deliveries kicked off late last year, and now one of them has made headlines by setting a blistering lap time at the Top Gear Test Track in the UK, faster than any other purely combustion-powered car before it.
Under the lightweight bodywork sits a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 engine, originally sourced from the Nissan GT-R. Praga took that powerplant and gave it a serious overhaul, fitting custom turbochargers, a dry sump system, and a titanium exhaust. The result is 700 horsepower (522 kW) and 725 Nm (535 lb-ft) sent through a six-speed sequential gearbox.
It’s seriously quick off the line, reaching 100 km/h in under three seconds and pushing on to a top speed of 317 km/h. That performance translated into a lap time of just 1 minute and 9.8 seconds around the iconic Top Gear circuit. Incredibly, that’s just a tenth of a second off the 1:09.7 set by the Aston Martin Valkyrie, which is a monster of a hybrid hypercar packing 1,140 horsepower (850 kW).
While the Bohema might not match the Valkyrie in raw power, it claws back advantage with a focus on low weight and clever aero. Tipping the scales at under 1,043 kg, it’s capable of generating up to 900 kg of downforce at 250 km/h.
Behind the wheel for the record lap was none other than Ben Collins, better known as the former Stig from Top Gear and now a development driver for Praga. Impressively, he drove the Bohema to the track on road-legal tyres and completed the lap without making any tweaks.
Praga has already let a few customers get seat time in the Bohema, and three more examples are set to be delivered during this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Praga plans to keep production limited to just 89 units.
