Laurin & Klement

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Laurin & Klement

logo
legal form Corporation
founding December 18, 1895
resolution June 27, 1925
Reason for dissolution Takeover by Škoda
Seat Mladá Boleslav , Czechoslovakia
management
Branch Bicycle manufacturers , automobile manufacturers , defense industry

Foundation of the Laurin & Klement company (1895)

Laurin & Klement was a bicycle , motorcycle and automobile manufacturer in Bohemia and Czechoslovakia , which was taken over by the mechanical engineering company Škoda in 1925 and renamed Laurin & Klement - Škoda , later just Škoda .

history

Slavia brand bicycles were produced.

The company was founded on December 18, 1895 by the bookseller Václav Klement and the locksmith Václav Laurin in Mladá Boleslav ( Bohemia ). Laurin was a partner in the company Kraus & Laurin in Turnov , which repaired bicycles. The initiative to found the factory came from Klement, who was annoyed with the manufacturer of his bicycle, the Dresden company Seidel & Naumann . Seidel & Naumann had arrogantly rejected a complaint written in Czech by Klement about the insufficient durability of the bicycle.

Letter of complaint to the bicycle manufacturer Seidel & Naumann.

Initially repaired and built to bicycles branded Slavia , three years later, with or without auxiliary motor. In 1898 a small factory was built outside Mladá Boleslav with 40 workers. The first motorcycles were produced in 1899 and automobiles from 1905. At the end of 1902, the 2000th motorcycle left the factory. The L&K motorcycles were very successful in competitions. They achieved 32 victories in 34 races in 1903. In 1905 L&K built 19 different motorcycle types with one and two-cylinder engines, plus a four-cylinder machine, the CCCC 5HP. As early as 1901, L&K had been involved in the development of automobiles and exhibited a vehicle with a two-cylinder engine at the automobile exhibition in Vienna.

The first automobiles were built in 1905, first the type A with a water-cooled 5.1  kW (7  hp ) 1100 cm³ two-cylinder engine and a short time later the type B with 6.6 kW (9 hp) and 1395 cm³. In 1907 the B2 types followed with 2278 cm² and 7.4 kW (10 HP) and the type C, a taxi with 8.8 kW (12 HP).

In 1907 the company was converted into a stock corporation, in 1912 the Reichenberger Automobil Fabrik was taken over and soon the company was the largest automobile manufacturer in Austria-Hungary . In 1909 the designer Otto Hieronimus , who had previously worked at Benz and Daimler , was hired . He was also a racing driver and developed the type FCR, a racing car that reached 130 km / h.

In addition to motorcycles and automobiles, Laurin & Klement also built stationary engines, commercial vehicles, buses, agricultural machines and road rollers. Around 40 percent of the automobiles were exported to Russia; Vehicles were exported to Japan, South America, New Zealand and most European countries. In the years up to 1914, Laurin & Klement vehicles were very successful at various racing events.

After the beginning of the First World War , production was switched to armaments, and automobile production could not be resumed until 1919. First, the type Sh and subcompact type appeared T. It was followed by more models with six-cylinder engines and Knight - slider control . From 1924 were licensed Lorraine-Dietrich - aircraft engines produced. Around 60 different car models were produced between 1905 and 1925.

On June 27, 1925, the company was sold to the Škoda concern (where Laurin remained technical director). The automobile models built at that time were built by Škoda Auto , as the new company was now called, initially under the name "Laurin & Klement - Škoda" and then under the name "Škoda". The construction of bicycles and motorcycles, however, was stopped.

Škoda Auto refers to the top equipment lines of the Škoda Octavia , Škoda Yeti , Škoda Superb and Škoda Kodiaq to commemorate its origins with Laurin & Klement .

Automobile models

Passenger cars

Laurin & Klement type A

Racing vehicles

Many racing cars were modified passenger cars.

commercial vehicles

Some commercial vehicles are passenger cars that have been slightly to heavily modified and modified as required.

motorcycles

photos

  • Bicycle
    Škoda Muzeum , Mladá Boleslav

  • Laurin & Klement
    type TI (1903)

  • Laurin & Klement
    type TI (1903)

  • Laurin & Klement
    Type TI (1903) engine block

  • Laurin & Klement
    Type A (1905)
    Škoda Muzeum, Mladá Boleslav

  • Laurin & Klement
    type BS (1907)

  • Laurin & Klement
    Type Sa (1911)
    Prague Motor Show

  • A car showroom in Prague in 1925.

  • Laurin & Klement
    type Škoda 110 (1925)
    Múzeum dopravy, Bratislava

  • Laurin & Klement
    type Škoda 110
    Škoda Muzeum, Mladá Boleslav

Web links

Commons : Laurin & Klement  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Automobile and Motorcycle Chronicle, Issue 3 and 4/1976
  2. ↑ The company history. ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Škoda company @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.skoda.de
  3. ^ Václav Laurin a Václav Klement. Quido Magazin (Czech)
Laurin & Klement , 1905–1930
1900 1910 1920
0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9
Passenger and commercial vehicles A. B. K 300 350
B2 M. 445/450
C. O 120
C2 BS 150 110
E. EN ENS OK 105
F. T 100
G S. 360
RK 115 125
race car FC FCS FCR