Rolling back the years
Most classic car enthusiasts will no doubt be aware that marques such as Cadillac, Fiat, Ford, Renault and Rolls-Royce have been in existence for a very long time.
It’s perhaps less well known that Škoda has a longer history than any of them.
The current name is relatively recent, having been used for a mere century, but the Czech car manufacturer’s history can be traced back no less than 130 years at the time of writing.
In recognition of that, we’re going to take a look at the early years of Škoda, long before it became part of the Volkswagen Group, and concentrating mostly on vehicles you might never have heard of until now.
Laurin & Klement Voiturette A
In 1895, mechanic Václav Laurin and bookseller Václav Klement, two cycling enthusiasts living in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, established a bicycle-manufacturing company in the city of Mladá Boleslav, where Škoda is still based today.
Within a decade, the temptation to move into the automotive industry had become too strong, and in late 1905 the Laurin & Klement Voiturette A – a two-seater with a 1-litre, V-twin engine producing 7bhp – was revealed to the public.
It was followed almost immediately by the LW three-wheeler (essentially the back half of a motorcycle with a bench seat and two wheels attached to the front), and by 1907 the range had expanded still further to include the 4.7-litre, four-cylinder Type E and the luxurious, 4.9-litre, straight-eight FF.
Laurin & Klement Černá Hora-Montenegro
One of the most extraordinary vehicles in Škoda’s history was developed in response to a need for passenger and freight transport on the roads of Montenegro.
Designed by the young František Kec, who would shortly leave Laurin & Klement for a new position at Praga, the Černá Hora-Montenegro (the words on both sides of the hyphen translating into English as ‘black mountain’) was available with several body styles depending on the duties required of it.
It was based on the existing Type E car, but with a much narrower front track to improve manoeuvrability on very tight corners, with the driver seated above the engine rather than behind to leave as much space as possible for people or cargo.
For still greater practicality, Laurin & Klement added a twin-axle trailer with a payload of 1500kg (3307lb).
No Černá Hora-Montenegros have survived to the present day, but it’s believed that they were still in service in 1916, eight years after they were introduced.
Škoda Hispano-Suiza
In 1925, after a period of financial trouble, Laurin & Klement was taken over by a long-established engineering company which had been named after Emil Škoda after he bought it in 1859.
Now operating under its current name, Škoda began building versions of the Hispano-Suiza H6B at a factory in Plzeň, with bodies manufactured either by Škoda itself in Mladá Boleslav or by independent coachbuilders.
Powered by a 6.6-litre, straight-six engine, the Škoda Hispano-Suiza was magnificently luxurious, well beyond the point where it would have been considered acceptable by the Czech authorities in the years after the Second World War.
The first example was presented to Tomáš Masaryk, who had become president of the newly independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, while the later model pictured here (supplied to Robert Mandelík, head of the Czechoslovak Sugar Refineries Association, and subsequently converted into a fire truck) has been restored to its original form and is now part of Škoda’s own collection.
Škoda 420
As different from the Škoda Hispano-Suiza as could be imagined, the 420 of the early 1930s was both a cheap car intended to keep the company afloat during a period of financial crisis and a significant departure from all its predecessors.
Instead of a full chassis frame, it was based on a simple steel beam backbone with outriggers to support the bodywork and independent suspension at both ends.
At 730kg (1609lb), it was around 200kg lighter than the immediately preceding Škoda 422, with obvious benefits for performance, handling and fuel economy.
The beam was replaced by a metal tube used in all Škodas produced for the next 30 years, and in the Turkish-market 1202 Kamyonet pick-up which survived until 1980.
Škoda 935 Dynamic
Like many other manufacturers, Škoda began to explore streamlining in the mid 1930s.
The 935 Dynamic displayed at the Prague motor show was astonishing not just for its shape but for its drivetrain, which consisted of a mid-mounted, 2-litre, flat-four engine and an electronically controlled gearbox supplied by French manufacturer Cotal.
Only one example (now in the Škoda Museum) was built, and nothing quite like it ever went into production, but it led to streamlined versions of both the Popular and the larger Rapid, which in their usual forms had far less aerodynamic bodies.
Škoda Superb 4000
Between 1934 and 1949, Škoda built more than 2500 Superbs of various types, before putting the name into a retirement which lasted until 2001.
Most of these models were powered by straight-six engines, the single and very rare exception being the Superb 4000 manufactured from 1939 to 1941.
This was fitted with a unit which, at 4 litres, was exceeded in capacity only by the Hispano-Suiza and some of the Laurin & Klements, and was Škoda’s only V8.
Cars of this type would become unacceptable when Czechoslovakia became a Communist country less than a decade after the 4000’s brief production run.
Škoda 1101
Introduced in 1946, the first Škoda built after the Second World War was nicknamed Tudor, an English-language pun implying that it was a two-door saloon, though in fact many body styles were available.
The 66,904 civilian models included a four-door saloon, a convertible, a van and an estate, and there were also a further 4237 military versions.
Škoda 1101s were exported to more than 70 countries, and did well in the up to 1100cc class in various competitions.
A lightweight Sport derivative was the only car Škoda ever entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, though drivers Václav Bobek and Jaroslav Netušil were forced into retirement shortly after half distance.
Škoda Agromobil
Only slightly better known today than the Černá Hora-Montenegro, the Agromobil was an off-roader intended for agricultural, forestry and military use.
It was co-developed with the Strakonice-based company famous for its firearms and ČZ motorcycles which would, according to the original plan, put the vehicle into production, but Škoda provided many of the components (including a 1.2-litre petrol engine) and built the prototypes.
Although it performed well in testing in 1962, the Type 998, as it was officially called, never became commercially available, and the Czech public had little reason to know it existed until the January 1965 premiere of a musical film called Kdyby tisíc klarinetů, or If a Thousand Clarinets.
The Agromobil appeared in that, as did the smaller, four-wheel-drive Škoda 973 Babeta, which had been produced in very limited numbers in 1952.
Škoda 1000 MB
With the 1000 MB of 1964, Škoda adopted a policy which had already been common in western Europe for several years and placed the engine in the rear.
The name of the four-door saloon, which was also the first Škoda with unibody construction, indicated that it had a 1-litre engine and was built in Mladá Boleslav.
The 1.1-litre version introduced later was known as the 1100 MB, while the rarer two-door was called the MBX.
Ironically, the mechanical layout of these models was already starting to fall out of favour further west, but Škoda persevered with it until the 1990s, and would not put a new front-engined car on the market until the arrival of the Favorit in 1987.
Skopak
As its name suggests, the Skopak was a Škoda assembled and sold in Pakistan.
A simple but practical vehicle based on the front-engined Octavia, which had been around since 1959, the Skopak went on the market in 1970, and around 1400 were built with various body styles.
Its design was largely the work of Josef Velebný, a Škoda employee since the 1920s, who also developed the conceptually similar Trekka off-roader produced in New Zealand from 1966 to 1972, as well as the previously mentioned 1202 Kamyonet which was still being built in Turkey as late as 1980.
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