Skoda celebrates 85th anniversary of the Hispano Suiza

Eighty five years ago in early May, the first Škoda Hispano Suiza was delivered to the Czechoslovakian president of the day, Tomáš Masaryk. The man, the country and the affiliation with Hispano Suiza are all long gone, but the distinctive Skoda winged arrow debuted on that car lived on.

Costing £6,785 in English old-money at launch, the Škoda Hispano Suiza was one of the era’s most expensive cars, peaking at £8,928 at a time when an Austin 7 cost no more than £175.

One hundred of the regal limousines were built between 1926 and 1929 in Škoda’s Mladá Boleslav factory, each custom-built to individual customer requirements. The rights to produce the Hispano Suiza were acquired in 1924, with production of the first car commencing in the spring of 1925.

The cars weighed no less than 2,700 kilograms whilst achieving a top speed of 86mph, and all wore coachwork by either Brožík & Jech or Laurin & Klement. The latter firm began manufacturing bicycles in 1895 before moving onto early motorcycles, with development culminating in the first Klement car – the Voiturette A – in 1905. The company then began producing trucks, before a 1924 fire left the company destitute.

The Laurin & Klement automobile factory merged with Škoda Work’s industrial facilities in 1925, creating what is now recognisable as Škoda Cars, and the majority of cars produced since have been badged as Škodas.

The true origins of the winged arrow are hazy, though popular myth claims the logo to be a stylised interpretation of a Native American wearing a traditional headdress with five or, more recently, three feathers. Blue until the early nineties, the winged arrow changed to green in 1994 so as to Škoda’s environmental concerns.