Vaclav Klement and the legacy of innovation and philanthropy at Skoda

Skoda celebrates 130 years by honoring Vaclav Klement, the founder whose drive, innovation, and generosity shaped the company’s heritage and museum collections.

As Skoda Auto marks its 130th anniversary, the story of Vaclav Klement resonates with renewed clarity. From a bookseller passionate about bicycles, he rose to become one of the key figures shaping Central Europe’s industrial identity. Klement not only founded Laurin & Klement, the company that would evolve into Skoda, but also established a legacy of responsibility and preservation.

In the 1930s, he began searching for the earliest machines to leave the Mlada Boleslav workshop. Three motorcycles — the B, BZ, and CCR models — were traced to their original owners and donated to the National Technical Museum. These gifts formed the foundation of one of Europe’s oldest motorcycle collections. Skoda’s partnership with the museum continues today: in 2021, a pre-production Enyaq iV joined the collection, followed in 2023 by a freight wagon for transporting cars.

Among the exhibits connected with Klement’s name stands the Laurin & Klement Voiturette A — a car that became a sales success in 1906. It still occupies a prominent place in the Skoda Museum, alongside rare motorcycles reminiscent of those that brought the brand its first international victories.

Klement’s journey into engineering began with frustration: in 1894, he sent a sharply worded letter to the German manufacturer Seidel & Naumann, complaining about a faulty bicycle. The dismissive reply spurred him to open his own repair shop — an act that would set the foundation for a brand that changed European mobility.

Beyond production, Klement was a patron and philanthropist, donating early machines and supporting museums and social institutions. His generosity established traditions that outlived him, shaping the social conscience of Skoda’s legacy long after his death in 1938.