They are historians, authors, editors, photographers, columnists, journalists, judges, drivers, restorers, artisans, collectors and constructors. They hail from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. Here are the names of thirty-three whose contributions made the year 2024 one to remember.

Jeff Allison, Gary Axon, Giles Chapman, Bob Cullinan, Rodney Diggens, Joseph Duray, Brandes Elitch, Graham Gauld, Greg Glassner, Bob Harrington, Joe Hurwich, Stefan Ivanov, Vince Johnson, Jackie Jouret, Allen R. Kuhn, Dale LaFollette, James Lanoway, Frederic Levaux, Bernard Linck, Roberto Motta, Herb Miska, Chris Nugent, Willem Oosthoek, Paul Sable, Charley Seavey, Jonathan Sharp, Jim Sitz, Roy Smith, Sean Smith, Pete Vack, Hugues Vanhoolandt, Paul Wilson, Robert Young

Stefan Ivanov and his Skoda.

Art by Stefan Ivanov
Text by Stefan Ivanov and Pete Vack

Stefan Ivanov is a 36-year-old artist from a small town called Dryanovo, in the center of Bulgaria. Next month on March 16, Stefan will open a Lauren & Klement/Skoda art exhibition at the Olympia Center in Skoda’s hometown of Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic, just northeast of Prague. Says Ivanov, “For the past 17 years I have been accomplishing something never done before; I am creating the entire history of Laurin & Klement (Skoda since 1925) auto company by illustrating it.”

Wait, you’re losing me here. Laurin & Klement? Skoda? Bulgaria? Oh come on. You remember Skoda, once imported here in the late 1950s and of late ran a reasonably successful rally car. It is still alive and well, since 2000 a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.

So how did Stefan Ivanov come to be interested in the history of Skoda? He relates an almost tragic tale:

“In November 2005 I had a motorcycle accident. I spent two weeks in coma with two skull fractures, back and neck injuries, partial loss of memory and many more secondary injuries.

“After that I spent most of my time in bed at home, thinking about life and how for a moment everything goes upside down. Before the crash I was two times national champion in athletics, athlete of the year for 2001 in my town. So I never gave up, always fighting my way out.

“Six months after the crash I started drawing cars, to improve my brain and motor functions. I improved and so did the car sketches, and I never stopped drawing.

“Along with the drawing I started researching L&K history and became something like amateur expert of Czechoslovakian auto industry. L&K have very interesting story, which shaped the face of European auto industry. I was fascinated of it. Unfortunately, this brand is almost forgotten so I dedicated many years so people could see and hear about one of the pioneers of auto industries.”

How Laurin & Klement became Skoda

Vaclav Laurin and Vacav Klement started a small workshop for bicycles in 1895. Later they presented their first motorcycle which was called Laurin & Klement-Slavia. Ten years later their first car was presented-the Laurin & Klement Voiturette A-and the firm was established as one of the leading car manufacturers in the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Before the Great War, Laurin & Klement were racing in the Austro-Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. They featured the first inline 8 cylinder car in central Europe, their first hybrid in 1908, military vehicles, and was the first to export cars to empire of Japan. One third of their production was exported to Russia before the war. They broke the speed record in their class on the Brooklands race track in England. L&K also produced trucks, delivery cars, vans, autobuses, firetrucks, ambulances, and aircraft engines.

Courtesy Google Maps. Red dot marks the location of Mlada Boleslav, home of the Skoda factory.

After the Great War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire existed no more and new countries were established. The new country of Czechoslovakia was in crisis as the car manufacturers lack of material and man-power forced some factories to close. Others, like Tatra, Praga and Laurin & Klement were slowly recovering. In 1924 the L&K plant was affected by fire which caused a lot of damage and loss of material. They had to find a strong partner so they could survive. Meanwhile the industrial giant Skoda Works from Pilsen, an arms manufacturer and multi sector concern, sought to enlarge its non-arms manufacturing base and acquired Laurin & Klement in 1925.It also started manufacturing cars in cooperation with Hispano-Suiza. The firm continued to produce quality cars as Skodas, and after the fall of the USSR was partially, then fully, bought by the Volkswagen group.

Below, we present only five the of 25 Skoda portraits which will be on exhibit. The event will take place in Olympia centre in the town of Mlada Boleslav on March 16th to the 24th. It will be the first ever exhibition of this kind. Stefan Ivanov will present 25 artworks with models with interesting backgrounds which helped shape the brand in the past and future. The Bulgarian ambassador, officials, and many Skoda Auto representatives will be present. Both Bulgarians and Czechs will be attending the exhibit. Finally, Skoda and Laurin & Klement will receive the attention they deserve.

Laurin & Klement type FC Race car. This model put Laurin & Klement on the race map of Europe with numerous victories. 19 units were built. This illustration shows L&K FC at the start of the Bosnian race in 1908. Driver: American born Count Alexander Kolowrat and navigator/mechanic: Frantisek Kurtsky.

Skoda 932 Kadlomobil Prototype 1932. One of the first cars with bug design.

Skoda 935 Dynamic Prototype 1935. Boxer engine, water-cooled four-cylinder engine with a displacement of two litres is mounted in front of the rear axle. The engine has an output of 40 kW (55 hp) and accelerates the car to speeds of up to 130 km/h. Another innovative feature is the electromagnetic four-speed gearbox from the French manufacturer Cotal, which enables semi-automatic gear changes with its preselector. The prototype achieved an exceptionally low drag coefficient of cw=0.37.

Skoda Supersport type 966 1950-1952.

Skoda 200 RS (Rally Sport) 1974-1975. Three units were built, one with 1800cc and two with 2000cc motors mounted in the rear. The designers opted for a manual five-speed gearbox from Porsche, type 915.003.133, paired with a single-disc clutch with diaphragm spring from Fichtel & Sachs. As a result, the very lightweight rally cars came in at just over 800 kilograms and achieved top speeds of up to 240 km/h, depending on the gear ratio.

More of Stefan’s work can be seen on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064440591875