Skip to main content

ŠKODA Celebrates 110 Years in the Auto Industry

ŠKODA celebrates their 110th year of automobile manufacturing today, and their legendary Voiturette A model, with a whopping seven horsepower.  Prior to getting into the horseless carriage game, ŠKODA existed as Laurin & Klement (L&K), a bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer established in 1895.

Read the full press release below.

  • 29 October 1905: Premiere of the Voiturette A – the first automobile from ŠKODA’s predecessor company Laurin & Klement (L&K)
  • Foundation for one of the most traditional carmakers in the world
  • More than 17 million ŠKODA and Laurin & Klement automobiles produced and sold to date

​Mladá Boleslav. This year, ŠKODA will not only be celebrating 120 years of corporate history, but also 110 years of automobile production. In 1905 company founders Václav Laurin and Václav Klement (L&K) presented their first automobile: the legendary Voiturette A. That year, the publication of the first official photos in the 29 October edition of the ‘Allgemeinen Automobil-Zeitung’ journal is considered the birth of the automobile.

​“We are proud of 110 years of car manufacturing in Mladá Boleslav,” says ŠKODA Board Member Bohdan Wojnar. “Bohemia is one of the cradles of the automobile. With expertise, courage and energy, Laurin and Klement laid the foundation for ŠKODA’s future success story. The cars made in the Czech Republic by ŠKODA enjoy an excellent reputation around the world.”

In 1905, a decade after establishing the L&K bicycle factory and six years after the first L&K motorcycle was built, L&K made the leap to automobile production with the small 7-horsepower vehicle. The French term Voiturette means little cart or small car. Shortly after the first photos had been published and the initial test-drives, the cars went on sale. What began in 1905 with the Voiturette A has since evolved into an internationally successful volume manufacturer with around 40 model versions. Selling over 17 million ŠKODA cars since 1905 proves the strength of the brand.

The construction of the Voiturette A followed the then modern building principle with an engine radiator mounted in front of the engine and an inclined steering column. A water-cooled, 7-hp (5.2 kW) two-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1,005 cm3 provided the power. The top speed was around 40 km/h. The transmission had three gears and one reverse gear, the clutch was lined with leather. The vehicle weighed approximately half a tonne. L&K produced at least 44 copies of the type Voiturette A.

A long held dream had come true for Václav Laurin and Václav Klement with their first self-constructed automobile. A few years earlier, the two entrepreneurs had engaged in private automobile production. In an L&K motorcycle catalogue dating back to 1900 was written: “Laurin & Klement – bicycle, motorcycle and automobile factory Slavia, Mladá Boleslav (Bohemia)”. In Prague July 1900, L&K introduced a so-called ‘quadricycle’ – a vehicle on four wheels, where the passenger sat in front and slightly lower than the driver. Time and again, two-track vehicles were assembled from motorcycles then tested. At the Vienna Motor Show in 1901, L&K presented one of these vehicles with a steering wheel instead of handlebars for the first time. In-house photos from 1902 show a drawing of an automobile in the Mladá Boleslav factory halls. There is also one image dating back to 1903 of Václav Klement at the factory gates sitting at the wheel of an automobile.

1905: The breakthrough

In 1905 the breakthrough came: L&K’s first automobile was introduced to the public. The company had already caused quite a stir with a two-cylinder V-engine at the Prague Motor Show in April of the same year. It became clear on this occasion that the first automobile from Mladá Boleslav would not be too long in the making.

The first photos of the new invention were published in the 29-October edition of the Allgemeinen Automobil-Zeitung. It was also here that the name Voiturette first appeared. The same photo, supplemented with additional details, was also published on the front page of the Czech weekly magazine ‘Sport a Hry’ (‘Sport and Games’) at the end of 1905.

The Voiturette A marked the beginning of successful automotive production in Mladá Boleslav. Today, ŠKODA production plants in the Czech Republic are in Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí. In addition, ŠKODA vehicles run off the production lines at a number of international manufacturing locations, including China, India and Russia.

The post ŠKODA Celebrates 110 Years in the Auto Industry appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1P3iDNs
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

T-Prime Makes World Premiere at Beijing

[ See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com ] The SUV segment is one of the fastest growing segments in the world and Volkswagen is showing the world how to do it. With the new T-Prime Concept GTE that was revealed today, the company is showing off all of the technology you can look for in its coming models. The T-Prime is a full-size hybrid SUV that can go up to 31 miles on a charge and gets 87 mpg. The hybrid power station is good for 375 hp and 516 lb/ft of torque and puts the power down with 4MOTION all wheel drive. It’ll get you up to 60 in six seconds. The concept’s real party piece, though, is its interior, which features exclusively touch, gesture, and voice controls. Everything from the infotainment, to the display, and even the gears are controlled by touch-screen. The T-Prime Concept GTE is bigger than the Touareg, and design elements are likely to find their way into all of their SUVs, of which there will be many. Volkswagen is also announcing that they expect to make an S...
Post a Comment
Read more

Audi Teases the e-tron’s Headlights Ahead of LA Reveal

Audi will unveil its new electric car, the e-tron GT, in just a few short days, but until then, it will do what manufacturers can’t help but do and will tease it mercilessly. The latest teaser images first appeared on Germany’s Bild , and feature some of the EV’s lighting. While the taillights look reasonably familiar, albeit on an interesting, angular surface, the headlights feature a heretofore unseen light shape. The X-shape (or maybe an R-shape, from the right angle) in the middle of the e-tron GT’s headlights set it apart from the rest of the lineup, even the e-tron SUV (whose lights look R8-ish with their angular check-shaped top line.) #Sneak Peek: the #Audi #etron GT concept – stay tuned for the big #world #premiere on November 28. pic.twitter.com/NIg0z6bIwR — AUDI AG (@Audi_Press) November 25, 2018 The long and low sedan will be based on the same platform as the Porsche Taycan, which is said to hit 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds and whose batteries will all be stowed...
Post a Comment
Read more