In the rear-view mirror: Skoda starts motorization

Laurin & Klement - Skoda's predecessor company - entered the age of motorization 125 years ago today on the bicycle racetrack in Prague's Bubny district. On November 18, 1899, the two motorcycle models Slavia A and Slavia B were tested. Only four years earlier, the young company in Mladá Boleslav had started building bicycles under the brand name Slavia.

As the engine was positioned in the frame instead of above the front wheel as was usual at the time, the Slavia machines had a lower center of gravity, which massively improved handling. In addition, the engine and add-on parts were better protected by this positioning. L & K had developed the innovative electric ignition system and the carburetor itself. The commercial and sporting success of the motorcycles paved the way for the manufacturer's first automobile: the L & K Voiturette A, which appeared in 1905.

With the rapidly growing bicycle business, Václav Klement turned his attention to motorcycles as early as the fall of 1898. By the spring of 1899, he and his partner Václav Laurin were already offering a petrol-powered auxiliary engine for bicycles. However, both recognized that the future would belong to fully-fledged motorcycles. Václav Laurin rejected the prevailing design at the time, with the engine positioned above the driven front wheel, as it did not meet his requirements in terms of handling and reliability. Instead, he placed the engine inside the frame, practically in the center of the motorcycle. This gave the machine a considerably better weight distribution. In addition, the single-cylinder engine as well as the fuel tank, surface carburetor and ignition system were better protected against mechanical damage by the tubular frame structure. This layout would later become the standard design worldwide. In addition, Laurin replaced the platinum tube heated by an external flame - which had previously been used to ignite the fuel-air mixture - with an electromagnetic ignition system developed in-house.

A leather belt transmitted the power to the rear wheel. The Slavia A had a displacement of 184 cubic centimeters and produced 1.25 hp (0.9 kW), while the B had 240 cc and 1.75 hp (1.3 kW). They reached a top speed of 30 and 40 km/h respectively. Both models proved to be great successes on export markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom. The excellent reputation of the Czech designs led to Slavia's one- and two-cylinder machines being manufactured under license in Dresden from 1904 under the brand name Germania. In the same year, L & K introduced the CCCC type, one of the first four-cylinder motorcycles in the world. The machines from Bohemia enjoyed great motorsport success, culminating in winning the unofficial world championship in Dourdan near Paris in 1905.

At the height of their successful motorcycle era, Václav Laurin and Václav Klement were already looking further ahead and setting their sights on the development of automobiles. As early as April 1905, they presented a new 1.0-liter two-cylinder engine in Prague, which made its debut in the fall of the same year as the engine of the first L & K automobile, the Voiturette A. After an estimated 3500 to 4500 vehicles had been built, motorcycle production in Mladá Boleslav came to an end five years later. Outstanding models such as the Type B from 1902, the Type L from 1904 and the two-cylinder motorcycle CCD built in 1906 can be seen today in the Škoda Museum in Mladá Boleslav.

In the automotive sector, the manufacturer caused a sensation in 1907 with the presentation of the luxurious L & K FF convertible, which was the first automobile in Central Europe to feature an in-line eight-cylinder engine. Around the same time, L & K teamed up with František Křižík, a pioneer of electrical engineering, to develop a hybrid vehicle based on the Laurin & Klement E, in which two DC electric motors supplemented the standard four-cylinder petrol engine. (aum)