130-years-November-2
Luxury of the First Republic
During the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Mladá Boleslav carmaker appealed to a wide range of customers, including the most demanding clientèle, with its impressive fleet of luxury models. These cars were used, for example, by President T.G. Masaryk and the ‘king of shoes’ J.A. Baťa, as well as by members of the business and social elite, including the nobility. The premium cars stood out for their top quality, high driving comfort and advanced design solutions such as rotary slide valves instead of conventional poppet valves, shaft-driven OHC timing and compact V8 engines.
However, the more affordable inline six-cylinder engines became more widespread. Many of them used the quiet Knight slide valve system, replacing the usual valves. This exclusive American technology placed extraordinary demands on machining precision, which is why the licence was granted only to a limited number of leading global carmakers. Its development culminated in the mid-1920s with the L&K – Škoda 350 (see photo) and 450 models. The rich equipment of the five-litre Type 450 model included a compressor for tyre pressure, powered directly by the vehicle engine.
At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, a modern factory for efficient mass production was built in Mladá Boleslav as part of a generous investment programme. The aim was to make cars more affordable, as the price of luxury models ranged from 100,000 to 200,000 Czechoslovak korunas.
A leisure buggy
1972 The growing popularity of autocross in the 1960s coincided with a boom in leisure cars, known as buggies. At the Turin Motor Show in November 1972, a two-seater open buggy called the Škoda Kirby attracted considerable attention. This leisure car was the result of cooperation between Motorest, an Italian importer of Czechoslovak cars, and Autozodiaco, a specialist company from Bologna. Both axles and the engine with transmission were taken from the Škoda 100/110 model series without any major changes. With its kerb weight of just 560 kg, the Kirby could reach speeds of up to 140 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 12 seconds. In the end, only two prototypes were built.