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Skoda has designed this concept to pay tribute to its 1899 motorbike

Skoda has designed this concept to pay tribute to its 1899 motorbike

Top Gear16-05-2025

Skoda has designed this concept to pay tribute to its 1899 motorbike
Yep, Skoda started out making bicycles and motorbikes, but don't expect this café racer to make production
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Skoda has decided that it needs to highlight some of its 'remarkable back catalogue of classics' by reimagining them as concept cars for the modern era.
Given its old reputation, we're not sure we'll be seeing a reborn Estelle all that soon. How do you double the price of a Skoda? Fill it with petrol etc.
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Still, this 1899 Slavia B two-wheeler designed and built by Laurin & Klement (the company that would eventually become Skoda Auto) is certainly worth paying tribute to. The new concept is pretty cool too.
Penned by French designer Romain Bucaille, who normally works as an exterior designer on Skoda cars, we're told the new Slavia B also follows Skoda's current 'Modern Solid' design language that's a little bit minimalist. Yep, we can see that.
Apparently the remake would be electric, with the area once inhabited by a combustion engine now left as an open space. There's also a floating seat and a brown leather tool bag, with the whole thing designed as a sort of futuristic café racer.
Reckon Skoda should put something like this into production? That'd be a proper tribute to one of its classics…
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