A LOOK into the core of one of the world's oldest car companies is being given by Skoda as it celebrates its 120 anniversary.

The Czech company has been going since 1985 and its hometown of Mlada Boleslav has grown alongside it.

Half the 40,000 people who make up the town 30 miles north of the Czech capital Prague work for Skoda churning out some 1,300 cars every day.

What started as a firm producing bicycles and employing five and then moved on to making motorcycles under the Slavia brand has developed into a key component of the Volkswagen empire.

Skoda's contribution to the global car scene has seen it survive two world wars and decades of political change while still designing some amazing models.

Its museum now occupies the original factory where founders Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement produced their first automobile - the Voiturette Type A - back in 1905.

The timeline to today is a treasure trove of European motoring history and includes some remarkable creations such as the stunning Popular coupe and the original Superb from the 1930s.

The Superb was a 4.0-litre V8 limousine of luxurious proportions while the collection also includes racing cars from the 1950s such as the 666 Supersport and more recent models like the Favorit built during the Communist era in the 1980s.

Outside the museum stands a statue of Laurin and Klement who merged their firm with the Skoda engineering company in 1925 which would go on to devise the current logo inspired by a flying bird and a North American Indian headdress.

The town is Skoda City and opposite the museum a giant drape of the current Rapid Spaceback covers the entire side of a tower block overlooking the current factory that occupies more than one square mile of Mlada Boleslav.

Skoda offers guided tours of the museum where visitors can not only immerse themselves in the history of Czech car making but also witness a giant steel roll be turned into a Skoda Fabia or an Octavia.

Since 1992 Volkswagen has invested heavily in Skoda alongside other brands in its ownership such as Audi, SEAT and Bentley and Skoda now operates three factories in the Czech Republic including one further to the east at Kvasiny which is home to the current Yeti and Superb models as well as being chosen as the site to develop Skoda's new SUV which will make its debut next year.