Historic Car Brands
Škoda
Škoda is a Czech automobile brand that dates back to 1925. It was the renamed and refinanced endeavour of the Laurin & Klement bicycle, motorcycle, car and truck manufacturing business that had been established in Mladá Boleslav, Bohemia, in 1895.
Emil von Škoda
Although not then in the automotive business, Škoda Works pre-dated the L&K company, having been founded in 1859 by Czech engineer, Emil von Škoda, in the Kingdom of Bohemia, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
There was no connection between Škoda and L&K until the early 1920s, but that connection was forced on them by post-War conditions that affected both companies.
After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, following WWI, a democratic Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918: incorporating the lands of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. Car purchasers were scarce in this new country, in the post-War economic slump, so L&K was forced to produce trucks that were in greater demand.
Also, Škoda was originally an arms manufacturer, but had to diversify to survive peacetime, so took on domestic and global heavy engineering expertise, including inputs to the Suez Canal construction and Niagara Falls power stations.
By the early 1920s, Škoda was also investigating the automotive manufacturing scene, which is how it came to acquire L&K.
However, let’s go back to 1895 and follow the fortunes of the L&K enterprise:
L&K
The dismissed letter that started L&K
In 1894, 26-year-old Václav Klement (1868–1938) was a bookseller in Mladá Boleslav and had purchased a German-made safety bicycle. The bike needed some repairs and so Václav wrote to the makers, Seidel and Naumann, who replied, haughtily, that they could not translate his Czech-language letter and he would need to communicate in a way they could understand.
Václav Klement was not impressed with this level of after-sales service and decided to invest in his own bike repair business, in conjunction with an established repairer, Václav Laurin. The two men opened the L&K business in 1896, in Mladá Boleslav.
L&K soon began producing its own bicycle brand and business justified a new factory, which opened in 1898.
L&K experimented with powered-bicycle designs, having discovered the shortcomings of a Werner ‘Motocyclette’ that was powered by an engine mounted on the handlebars, belt-driving the front wheel. Its high centre of gravity made it unstable.
L&K’s new Slavia motorcycle made its debut in 1899, featuring a low-set engine driving the rear wheel, making the company probably the first motorcycle maker in Europe.
Business was brisk and, in 1905, L&K produced its first car, the Voiturette A that became a success. The range quickly grew, with the addition of models in higher vehicle classes and the number of variants numbered in the hundreds.
With the in-line, eight-cylinder Laurin & Klement FF the Mladá Boleslav-based car company entered the automotive top category as early as 1907.
In 1908, L&K chief engineer and test driver Otto Hieronimus drove a Laurin & Klement FCS racing model to a new speed record of 118.72 km/h in its class on the world’s first permanent motor racing circuit at Brooklands. The FCS was the first L&K car with an OHV four-cylinder engine that put out 96bhp from 3.5 litres.
Record-setting L&K FCS – Allgemeine Automobil Zeitung Austria Hungary – 22nd October 1908
By this time, Laurin & Klement’s vehicles appealed to international customers, finding buyers in the British and Russian Empires.
L&K’s best-selling model, the S series, was launched in April 1911 and more than 2000 cars were sold by 1924 in many versions, including the Lady coupé and the Kavalier ‘double saloon’. All were powered by four-cylinder, side-valve petrol engines, with displacements of 1.7 to 2.4 litres and generated 14-30bhp.
The engine, with a flywheel positioned at the front, closely behind the radiator, formed a single unit with the clutch and the three-speed (later four-speed) gearbox. This meant that only one oil level had to be checked and changed.
In addition, a special lubricator made by Friedmann, served as an oil pump and oil reservoir, ensuring a supply of oil. An Eisenmann magneto-electric system was used for the ignition.
A robust ladder frame made of U-shaped steel profiles riveted together formed the basis of the L&K S. Rigid axles were each suspended with two longitudinally-mounted leaf springs.
The pedal-operated main service brake acted on the cardan shaft behind the gearbox, while the drum brakes on the rear wheels were connected to the handbrake lever. The standard equipment included spoked wheels, but wire-spoke wheels were optional and steel disc wheels from Michelin were available after the First World War. The road-ready chassis of the Model S, with a wheelbase of 2688mm, weighed 650-700 kg.
Electric starting became available from 1918 and the original acetylene lights with carbide gas generators were replaced at the beginning of the 1920s by electric light bulbs.
In 1924, the flagship model was the L&K 450, five-litre, six-cylinder luxury car, with silent valve timing.
The end for an autonomous L&K and the birth of Škoda
During the 14 years that the Laurin & Klement S models were built, the car manufacturer had achieved numerous motor racing successes with the series, including victory in the Trieste – Opicina and Troppau – Moravian Ostrava races (1911), the Grand Gold Medal at the race in Parma, Italy (1913) and sixth place in the Targa Florio (1914).
All L&K models earned great reputations, but the annual production volume of the car plant in Mladá Boleslav averaged only 336 vehicles and, even at the peak of the S series in 1914, only 453 vehicles were produced. Another issue that affected production volumes of scale was the fact that the company produced more than 20 different models between 1905 and 1925.
Without the after effects of WWI that saw upheaval in former European empires, combined with massive underemployment of millions of de-mobbed soldiers, L&K might have continued as a low-volume car maker in its own right – at least until the Great Depression – but a massive fire at its factory in 1924 plunged it into financial crisis and the directors looked around for a rescuer.
The timing was perfect, because Škoda Works, which had become one of the largest industrial enterprises in Europe and the largest in Czechoslovakia, had sought to enlarge its non-arms-manufacturing base, in the post-war climate.
The company’s local automotive department had produced mainly military specials from 1919 onwards, before UK-licensed commercial vehicles were added in 1924: the electro-petrol Tilling-Stevens and Sentinel steam locomotives.
Skoda Hispano Suiza
On November 10, 1924, Karel Loevenstein, general manager of Škoda Pilsen, signed an agreement to start the licensed production of the Hispano-Suiza H6B luxury passenger car. (Škoda Pilsen already produced aircraft engines designed by this highly prestigious company.)
However, Škoda lacked a car production line and body shop for its pending Hispano cars, so, when L&K came knocking, it looked like a marriage made in heaven. The takeover was finalised on 12th September, 1925.
From 1926 onwards, the fruits of this merger were obvious at the Mladá Boleslav plant, where new production facilities with assembly lines were put in place. The revamped L&K factory produced Škoda-branded L&K models covering all vehicle segments, from the Type 110 compact to the Type 350 luxury car – as well as Škoda-Hispano-Suizas – were built.
1929 LK-Skoda branded 110
The 110 model became the best-selling model of the Mladá Boleslav-based manufacturer, with a total of 2985 units produced between 1925 and 1929. These were the last cars to be developed from the Laurin & Klement era, though they bore the Škoda logo.
Initially, models of the classic concept with a ribbed chassis frame and rigid axles rolled off the line. From the spring of 1930, the four-meter-long Skoda 422, whose complete chassis weighed around 730 kg, formed the basis of the range – at a starting price of 33,000 crowns. (The average annual salary of a civil servant at that time was 18,000 crowns.) Between 1930 and 1932, 3466 customers bought the Škoda 422.
Tubular backbone chassis
In 1932, experienced car designer Josef Zubatý worked in the Prague office of Škoda on a new range of cars, incorporating a longitudinal-spine-chassis frame.
Originally, this chassis beam had rectangular cross-section – possibly in an effort to avoid infringing Tatra’s patent for a circular backbone chassis. The first prototype began testing in September 1932 and production of Škoda 420s reached customers in April 1933.
1929 Skoda 422 – Janos Tamas
The 420 weighed about 200kg less than its conventional-chassis predecessor, the Škoda 422 and the independently suspended rear wheels increased driving comfort noticeably.
In April 1934 its successor, the Škoda Popular (845–1089cc) was launched with a tubular spine chassis and all four wheels independently suspended. The price of the vehicle, which was also in high demand abroad, started at just 17,800 crowns. This was one of the reasons the car won over more than 22,500 customers between 1934 and 1947.
1937 Skoda Popular ‘Monte Carlo’
The chassis was also used in the Rapid (1165–1766cc), Favorit (1802–2091cc) and Superb (2492–3991cc) cars.
The steel backbone chassis was easy to make in different lengths, so the design was used for cars ranging in wheelbase from the 2.30m of the first Popular to the 3.40m of the eight-cylinder Superb 4000, It was also used in the military Škoda 903, with its 6×4 drive configuration and wheelbase of 2470+920mm.
In 1933, Škoda held a 14-percent share of the Czechoslovak car market and occupied third place behind Praga and Tatra, but the new range made it market leader by 1936, with a 39-percent share in 1938.
Word War II and the Soviet era
During the occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II, the Škoda factories were turned into part of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring serving the Nazi German war effort by producing components for military vehicles, planes and weapons components. Vehicle output decreased from 7052 in 1939 to 683 in 1944. Between January and May 1945, 316 trucks were produced.
The UK and US air forces bombed the Škoda works repeatedly between 1940 and 1945.
The post-war order consigned Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere of influence, marking the start of a systematic industrial restructuring based on extensive nationalisation. As a consequence, the Škoda group was disbanded in 1946 and divided up among various collective combines.
By July 1945, the Mladá Boleslav factory had been reconstructed, and began production of Škoda’s first post-World War II car, the 1101 series. It was essentially an updated version of the pre-World War II Škoda Popular.
In the autumn of 1948, Škoda, along with all other large manufacturers, became part of the communist planned economy, which meant it was separated from the parent company, Škoda Works.
The plant in Mladá Boleslav and the Škoda brand were all that remained of the automotive division, but the Communist government wanted mass mobilisation, so the Vrchlabí and Kvasiny plants were integrated at the end of the 1940s to boost capacity, so that large numbers of the new model series could be built from 1955 onwards.
1960 Skoda Octavia 985
The Škoda 440 and its derivatives put the company back on track, to the point where the Octavia saloon and the Felicia convertible were also export hits. Skoda also developed competitive racing cars with OHC engines that have been restored by the factory; two of which we’ve covered in our Car Restorations section: just scroll down and you’ll find them.
1962 Skoda Felicia
The Mladá Boleslav plant was modernised in 1960 and some 460,000 units of the rear-engined Škoda 1000 MB rolled off the assembly line there between 1964 and 1969, with more than half destined for export. Because of their political, R&D and economic isolation, Soviet countries lacked the latest engineering innovations, typified by the rear-engined Škoda 1000 MB’s release some three years after Issigonis’ Mini paved the way for a future of front wheel drive small and medium cars.
1976 Skoda 130RS 735
However, although aimed squarely at the budget end of the market, the rear-engined Škoda 105/120 (Estelle) and Rapid sold steadily and performed well against more modern makes in rallies, in the 1970s and 1980s. They won their class in the RAC rally for 17 years running, powered by a 130bhp (96 kW) version of Škoda’s 1289cc engine.
The rear-engined car had virtually disappeared from the West years before Škoda moved into FWD, with the Favorit, in 1987. (Porsche excepted, of course.)
The Favorit’s appearance was the work of Italian design company Bertone. With some motor technology licensed from Western Europe, but still using the Škoda-designed 1289cc engine, Škoda engineers designed a car comparable with entry-level Western products. The Favorit was very popular in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc countries, and it also sold well in Western Europe – especially in the UK and Denmark, due to its low price.
However, Škodas and other Eastern Bloc cars were the butt of many jokes, including: “What do you call a convertible Škoda?” Answer: “A skip!”
After the collapse of the Czech communist government in the late-1989 Velvet Revolution, Škoda was gradually privatised and eventually become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000.
Off-road Škodas
The 1936 Type 903 three-axle army vehicle was derived from the 650, passenger car that was powered by a 45kW, three-litre, six-cylinder engine. The two rear axles were driven; it had a top speed of 100km/h, managed a maximum gradient of 45 percent and had six- or eight-seat open bodywork.
In addition, the brand produced a few other 4×4 models during World War II, including the Superb rear-wheel-drive and 4×4 models.
In 1952, Škoda produced the Type 973 4×4, with de-activatable front wheel drive. Boasting excellent driving properties, the vehicle was able to cope with uphill gradients as steep as 58-percent, overcome vertical obstacles as high as 250mm, and wade through 600mm water. Despite its superiority, the 973 was overlooked by Warsaw Pact countries, in favour of the Russian-made GAZ-69.
Trekka – Buch-T
The little-known Trekka was a collaborative effort by Škoda, its New Zealand importer and local companies. It was developed to bypass the high import taxes on fully assembled vehicles in the 1966-72 period.
The Trekka was built on a modified and shortened chassis from a Škoda Octavia Super and used its 1.2-litre, four-cylinder engine and four-speed manual gearbox. Despite its Land Rover-like appearance, it was a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, not a 4×4, but some versions had an optional differential lock, to improve off-road traction.
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