120 Years on the Racetrack
120 YEARS ON THE RACETRACK ŠKODA Motorsport history Václav Klement (standing in the middle) later admitted that he considered the victory to be his greatest business triumph. Dourdan, 1905. Dear readers, Cars and passion go hand-in-hand. FIRST From the first sketches, models and prototypes to the final product, ŠKODA ACHIEVEMENTS AUTO manufactures cars that inspire passion and enthusiasm in customers In late 1895, Václav Laurin and Václav Kle- around the world. These emotions come to the fore on racetracks and ment began repairing and building bicycles. circuits; whether you are a spectator or Only they knew what they wanted to achieve in a racer, you belong to a family of enthu- the provincial town of Mladá Boleslav. Well... did siasts. Vehicles built in Mladá Boleslav they? Perhaps. Did they have enough confidence? have been generating enthusiasm for Certainly. They started with a 2 hp steam engine motorsport for 120 years – since 1901 when the company made its successful whirring away in a rented workshop. Three years racing debut on a Laurin & Klement later they built a factory; the very next year, they motorcycle: The legendary Narcis launched their first motorcycle, and then their Podsedníček, factory head foreman, set first car (1905). L&K soon became the largest car out on a 1,196 km endurance race from manufacturer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Paris to Berlin. He reached the finish late at night as the first driver in his category. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any race directors. Therefore, he at least Václav Laurin (1865–1930) asked a local police officer to confirm his He came from Kamení u Trnova.
[Show full text]