130-yars-october-2
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Who raced for the company
1908–1911 Before World War I, on 8 October 1908, Otto Hieronimus broke the world record in Neunkirchener Alle near Vienna with his own LK FCS car. A few days later, a man nicknamed Doconald won in Gaillon, France, in his own LK F car, and three years later, Alexander Comanos Pascha won the same race with an LK FCR car.
Who were these first racers? They were recruited from among the ranks of entrepreneurs, lawyers, aristocrats and even company designers – people who could afford L&K cars. Hieronimus was one of them. He designed the latter LK FCR car, which was driven by a truly versatile personality, Pasha A. Comanos, a high-ranking official of the Ottoman Empire. He was an ethnic Greek living in Egypt, an erudite lawyer with a degree from Geneva and, above all, the secretary general of the Royal Egyptian Automobile Club. The nickname Doconald was invented by Alexandr Kolowrat-Krakovský, a Czech racing driver, aviator and founder of the Austrian film industry. He used the pseudonym mainly because, initially, his family was not very supportive of his racing hobby.
From private hands to state ownership
1945 The Mladá Boleslav carmaker became a joint‑stock company at the beginning of the 20th century, which meant an influx of funds for investments enabling the company’s development. However, after the end of World War II, large industrial, financial and other companies in Czechoslovakia, as in many other European countries, were nationalised. This transpired on 27 October 1945 when the president’s decree on nationalisation came into force, and the entire Škoda Group, including the carmaker, ended up in the hands of the state. In addition, the company was renamed. From 1 January 1946, the carmaker officially bore the name AZNP, which stood for Automobilové závody, národní podnik (Automobile Works, National Enterprise). Investments, production programmes and pricing policies were initially subject to a two-year plan, and after 1948, to a five-year plan.