It's important to remember your history, particularly if you're a 130-year-old Czech auto manufacturer like Škoda. Yes, that's right; if you can believe it, this car brand has been around and making vehicles since 1895. Only, it didn't start out making the cars you might know it for.
Way back in the before-times, the brand was named after its founders; two men who shared both the given name Václav, as well as a love of bicycles. As the story goes, Václav Laurin and Václav Klement teamed up when Klement had a bad experience with a local bicycle maker. Greatly dissatisfied with the craftsmanship of his bike and the customer service he received, Klement ended up meeting bicycle mechanic Laurin.
And the rest, as they say, is history. The new team fittingly called themselves Laurin & Klement, and they started making their own bicycles and motorcycles because they were convinced they could do the job better. Two early models introduced in 1899 were the Laurin & Klement Slavia A and Slavia B.
Here's an original Slavia B, along with 2025 Skoda Slavia B Concept designer Romain Bucaille.
Like many early motorcycles, it looks very much like a motorized bicycle, not very much like the motorcycles we know and love from later decades. And yet, there are some forward-thinking similarities. The frame wraps around the engine, for example. The cute little leather tool kit under the crossbrace (and more importantly, under the saddle) isn't dissimilar from OEM motorcycle tool kits that tucked under saddles on many a bike in more recent decades, as well.
That little single-cylinder engine had 240cc of displacement, made around a claimed 1.75 horsepower, and could go at the blisteringly fast speed of about 40 kilometers per hour (or 25-ish miles per hour). It had no gearbox, and was belt-driven. Technically, it might have been considered a moped, as it had foot pedals you could pump to start the bike in motion. Around 540 units are believed to have been produced during the five years the original Slavia B was sold.
But that was 1899 through 1904. What would a modern interpretation of the Slavia B look like? That's what French Škoda designer Romain Bucaille asked himself—and the Slavia B Concept was his answer.
Since it's 2025, Bucaille envisioned his concept as a futuristic EV bike, with strong styling nods to the original Slavia B. The use of warm brown leather for the saddle and the little tool bag that mounts on the left side, as well as the delicate, almost bicycle-like grips are the clearest examples. There's also a neat little "Laurin & Klement" badge that seemingly hovers in mid-air, in the midst of a very neat negative space up front.
The frame shape is like a re-imagining of the original Slavia B's frame shape, only thicker, bolder, and more modern, in keeping with the 21st century we're now living in. The shade of green is one that's synonymous with the brand, and can be found on everything from customer cars to Škoda's motorsport efforts.
What do you think, would you be interested in riding a bike like this if it were adapted into a production version? Let us know in the comments.
Gallery: Škoda Slavia B Concept by Romain Bucaille
