Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Laurin & Klement S series: The first high-volume model from Mladá Boleslav made its debut 110 years ago
aprile 16, 2021 - Skoda

Laurin & Klement S series: The first high-volume model from Mladá Boleslav made its debut 110 years ago

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› Laurin & Klement presented its best-selling model, the #sseries, on 16 April 1911
› More than 2000 units had been built by 1924 in numerous versions, including the Lady coupé and the Kavalier ‘double saloon’
› Laurin & Klement’s vehicles also appealed to international customers, finding buyers as far afield as the British and Russian Empires
› The #sseries performed well in the most demanding races and competitions, finishing 6th overall in the 1914 Targa Florio, for example

Mladá Boleslav, 16 April 2021 – High-volume models with an attractive price-performance ratio are an integral part of ŠKODA AUTO’s brand identity. 110 years ago, Laurin & Klement presented the #sseries, which quickly became the bestseller of the fledgling company from Mladá Boleslav. By 1924, more than 2,000 customers from Europe and overseas had chosen their dream vehicle from the wide range of open and closed body variants. There were several versions of the robust chassis, and the four-cylinder petrol engines with a displacement of up to 2,413 cm3 generated 30 hp (22.1 kW) at this stage of development.

The car manufacturer Laurin & Klement enjoyed economic and sporting success with bicycles immediately after it was founded in 1895. From 1899 onwards, the product range was expanded to include motorbikes before the company presented its first automobile in the autumn of 1905 – the Laurin & Klement Voiturette A. In addition to its high utility value, the vehicle also had a particularly attractive 
price-performance ratio and low fuel consumption. In 1908, 90 per cent of all automobiles in the voiturette segment manufactured during the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary were made by Laurin & Klement.

The range quickly grew with the addition of models in higher vehicle classes, and the number of units produced in the individual model series soon numbered in the dozens or even hundreds. By the First World War, the Laurin & Klement company had become the largest car manufacturer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where more than 50 million #people lived at the time. A significant proportion of the vehicles produced in Mladá Boleslav went to foreign customers on all continents. The gates of the exhibition grounds in the Prague district of Holešovice opened 110 years ago on Sunday, 16 April 1911. The popular motor show was dominated by Laurin & Klement’s stand. In addition to commercial vehicles with payloads of up to 10 tonnes and buses seating 26 passengers, visitors were particularly interested in new passenger car models. The #sseries, the manufacturer’s new basic model, also made its debut there.

Further information in the press release to download