Laurin & Klement

Laurin & Klement was founded in 1895 by  Václav Laurin and Václav Klement in Mladá Boleslav, Bohemia, then Austria-Hungary (after WWI Mladá Boleslav become part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia). They started by building bicycles and motorcycles, the first Laurin & Klement car being introduced in 1905. They also built racing cars with an extraordinary palmares: 57 first prizes, 25 second prizes and 11 third prizes between 1908 and 1911. In 1925 Laurin & Klement, which had been the biggest car builder in Austria,  was bought by Škoda Works, the cars being sold under the name Laurin & Klement-Skoda. Only three years later Skoda dropped the remarkable name of Laurin & Klement.