Škoda Auto a.s.  often shortened to Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement and headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic.

In 1925, Laurin & Klement was acquired by the industrial conglomerate Škoda Works, which itself became state owned in 1948. After 1991, it was gradually privatized to the German Volkswagen Group, becoming a subsidiary in 1994 and a wholly owned subsidiary in 2000.

Škoda automobiles are sold in over 100 countries and in 2018, total global sales reached 1.25 million units, an increase of 4.4% from the previous year. The operating profit was €1.6 billion in 2017, an increase of 34.6% over the previous year. As of 2017, Škoda's profit margin was the second highest of all Volkswagen AG brands after Porsche.

The Škoda Works were established as an arms manufacturer in 1859. ŠKODA AUTO (and its predecessor Laurin & Klement) is the fifth-oldest company producing cars, and has an unbroken history alongside Daimler, Opel, Peugeot, and Tatra.

After World War I, the Laurin & Klement company began producing trucks, but in 1924, after running into problems and being affected by a fire on their premises, the company sought a new partner.

Meanwhile, Akciová společnost, dříve Škodovy závody (Limited Company, formerly the Škoda Works), an arms manufacturer and multisector concern in Pilsen, which had become one of the largest industrial enterprises in Europe and the largest in Czechoslovakia, sought to enlarge its non-arms manufacturing base, so acquired Laurin & Klement in 1925. It also started manufacturing cars in cooperation with Hispano-Suiza. Most of the later production took place under Škoda's name.

An assembly line was used for production from 1930 onwards. In the same year, a formal spin-off of the car manufacture into a new company, Akciová společnost pro automobilový průmysl or abbreviated ASAP, took place. ASAP remained a wholly owned subsidiary of the Škoda Works, and continued to sell cars under the Škoda marque. Apart from the factory in Mladá Boleslav, it included also the firm's representation, sales offices, and services, as well as a central workshop in Prague. At the time, the car factory in Mladá Boleslav covered an area of 215,000 m² and employed 3,750 blue-collar and 500 white-collar workers.

During the occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II, the Škoda Works were turned into part of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring serving the German war effort by producing components for military terrain vehicles, military planes, other weapons components and cartridge cases. Vehicle output decreased from 7,052 in 1939 to 683 in 1944, of which only 35 were passenger cars. 

When, by July 1945, the Mladá Boleslav factory had been reconstructed, production of Škoda's first post-World War II car, the 1101 series, began. It was essentially an updated version of the pre-World War II Škoda Popular. In the autumn of 1948, Škoda (along with all other large manufacturers) became part of the communist planned economy, which meant it was separated from the parent company, Škoda Works. In spite of unfavourable political conditions and losing contact with technical development in noncommunist countries, Škoda retained a good reputation until the 1960s

popular

The Škoda Popular is a small family car that was made in Czechoslovakia by Škoda from 1933 to 1946. It was the company's most affordable car at the time.

In the early 1930s Škoda introduced a new line of cars that significantly differed from its previous products. The new design of chassis became the basis for models Popular (845–1,089 cc), Rapid (1,165–1,766 cc), Favorit (1,802–2,091 cc) and Superb (2,492–3,991 cc). In 1933 Škoda had 14% share of the Czechoslovak car market and third position behind Praga and Tatra. The new range made Škoda the market leader by 1936, with 39% share in 1938. From 1934 to 1937 Škoda built 4,200 model 420 Populars. They included 330 two-door convertibles made in 1936–37 for the Czechoslovak Army.

In 1937 Škoda applied overhead valves to the 995 cc engine to create the Popular OHV model. This produced 27 horsepower and had a top speed of 100 kilometres per hour.

After the Second World War Škoda revised the body of the Popular 1101 to create its successor model, the Škoda 1101/1102 "Tudor".

superb

The original Škoda Superb is a full size luxury car that was made by the Czechoslovak car manufacturer ASAP, later AZNP from 1934 to 1949. It was the company's first car with a V8 engine and all-wheel drive.

In 2001 Škoda revived the Superb model name for an unrelated model based on the Volkswagen Passat. 

The Superb was introduced in 1934, at the time being Škoda's second highest model range after the 650 (which was discontinued the same year) and it cost about double the price of a Rapid. The Superb was a replacement for the 860, a luxury 4-door limousine with a straight-eight engine that had been built between 1929 and 1932.

In 1939, Škoda introduced the Type 919 version of the Superb, known as the Superb 4000; this had a new overhead-valve V8 engine of 3,990 cc (243.5 cu in), this model was extended in length to 5,700 mm, and was the company's first ever production car to utilize a V8 engine. Unlike the previous straight-six models, the V8 had three gears, with second and third gears having synchromesh fitted. Only twelve cars of this type were made.

935

In its long history ranging over 85 years, in 1935 at Prague Motor Show Skoda premiered its new prototype which was extremely aesthetic and futuristic for its time, it was not only the looks but has the brains to show off too. The Dynamic 935 was extremely aerodynamic and Drag Coefficient and it also had a strong engine for its time.

The Dynamic 935 had a Boxer Engine Setup paired to a 4-Speed Electromagnetic gearbox from a French Manufacturer named Cotal, producing 55 HP and could accelerate the car to a top-speed of 130 km/h Also the engine was rear-centre set to lower the centre of gravity.

This car remains one of the historic moments of design engineering for all car aficoniadoes with its specs that had a boxer engine that was  water-cooled four-cylinder engine with a displacement of two litres has opposing cylinders and was mounted in front of the rear axle as a rear-centre engine. This lowered the centre of gravity fo the car and improved its driving performance.

vos

The Škoda VOS is a full-size luxury car produced by the Czechoslovak automaker AZNP at their plant in Mladá Boleslav between 1949 and 1952. For a few years it was the preferred car for senior political and military personnel in Czechoslovakia. It was never sold to the general public.

In 1949 the plant at Mladá Boleslav assembled the last Škoda Superbs, large six-cylinder limousines evoking the style of American cars in the late 1930s. The authorities needed a more modern replacement and instructed Škoda to develop one. This was the car that would become the Škoda VOS. The letters VOS indicated a “special car for the government” in Czech or Slovak („Vládní Osobní Speciál"or „Vládny Osobný Špeciál“).

The car went into production in 1950 with the coach builder (even then better known as a producer of buses) Karosa: final assembly took place at Škoda’s own plant. The form of the car was unremarkable, despite having been designed by Oldrich Meduna whose reputation till that point came from his work designing military tanks. The mechanical architecture was also conventional, with a front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels.

More remarkable, at least in terms of European cars of the time, was a large 5.2-litre engine delivering 120 PS (88 kW). The engine came from a Praga truck. Because of the weight of the armour plating, the standard car weighed nearly 4 tons, however. The top speed was restricted to 80 km/h (50 mph) on the orders of the interior ministry. A “Light-weight” version without all the armour plating was also listed.

Unusually for the time, the car was fitted with air-conditioning. However, the air conditioning mechanism occupied most of the space in the boot/trunk, and it became common for dignitaries moving by VOS to travel followed by a second car to carry luggage.

Production of the VOS ended in 1952, by when 107 had been built. Škoda were not invited to replace the car, and the nation’s political elite switched their allegiance to the Tatra 603.

1200

The Škoda 1200 was a family car produced by Czechoslovakian automaker AZNP at their plant in Mladá Boleslav. Sedan and station wagons versions were offered. The car appeared in 1952 as a successor to the Škoda 1101. It was the first mass-produced Škoda to use the steel ponton format body.

The car was powered by a four-cylinder 1213 cc ohv water-cooled engine producing at maximum power 36 PS  at 4,200 rpm. The four-speed gear-box included synchromesh on the top three ratios, power being delivered to the rear wheels via a jointed prop shaft. Front suspension: Independent using transverse leaf springs. Rear suspension: independent using transverse leaf springs with floating half-axles. Top speed: 105 km/h (65 mph).

The 1200 was available as a four-door saloon, three-door van or five-door station wagon. There were also made about 2,000 ambulances.

Production ended in 1956.

ocatvia

The Škoda Octavia is a small family car which was produced by Czechoslovakian automaker AZNP at their plant in Mladá Boleslav from 1959 to 1971. It was introduced in January 1959 and was named Octavia as it was the eighth car produced by the nationalised Škoda company.

The saloon was produced until 1964, when it was replaced by the Škoda 1000 MB. An estate version was introduced in 1961, and remained in production until 1971.

The car was the successor to the Škoda 440/445 on which it was based. It featured redesigned front axles with a coil spring and telescopic shock absorbers rather than a leaf spring as in the 440.

The 1,270 kg  saloons were sold with 1089 cc engines producing 40 PS , later 50 PS, and 1221 cc engines with 45–55 PS. The slightly heavier estate wagons at 1,365 kg  were all shipped with 1.2 litre engines. The top speed was 110 to 115 km/h.

The Škoda Octavia engine and gearbox were used in the Trekka light utility vehicle, which was manufactured in New Zealand from 1966 to 1973.

The Octavia name was resurrected in 1996 for a new model.

1000 mb

The Škoda 1000 MB and Škoda 1100 MB are two rear-engined, rear-wheel drive small family cars that were produced by Czechoslovakian manufacturer AZNP in Mladá Boleslav between 1964 and 1969. The 2-door coupé versions of the 1000 MB and 1100 MB were called the 1000 MBX and 1100 MBX.

The Škoda 1000 MB (the letters ‘MB’ coming from the initials of Mladá Boleslav) made its debut in April 1964, as the successor for the Škoda Octavia. This was just the beginning of what was to eventually evolve into a long line of rear-engined Škodas. The engine that powered the 1000 MB was a 988cc (1-litre), 4-cylinder, overhead valve (OHV) unit that produced 44 bhp. It was water-cooled, with an aluminum cylinder block and cast iron cylinder head. The 1000 MB had a four-speed manual all-synchromesh gearbox, all-round independent suspension, swing axle rear suspension, and drum brakes at the front and rear.

By the late 1960s, Škoda felt it was time for an update of the ‘MB series, which they did with the introduction of the Škoda 100 and Škoda 110 in August 1969. By the time it was updated, a total of 443,141 ‘MBs were built. The ‘MBX series was produced in very limited numbers (2,517 in total) and is therefore an extreme rarity these days.

trekka

The Škoda powered Trekka was a light utility vehicle manufactured in New Zealand between 1966 and 1973. It is the only vehicle designed and manufactured in New Zealand to have entered commercial production for an extended period.

The Trekka was launched on 2 December 1966 as an agricultural vehicle although it eventually became popular with both rural buyers and urban tradesmen. The first Trekkas were sold in New Zealand in 1967, by which time Motor Lines had become Motor Holdings. The first model sold was the "2-10", which cost less than a Morris 1100 at just £899. The 2-10s were all painted green with canvas tops and were offered with a tow bar as the only option.

Initially, the Trekka was produced at a rate of six vehicles a day with hand-formed steel panels. Production output increased after the panel forming was contracted out to H J Ryans, an Auckland manufacturer of lawn mowers. 708 Trekkas were sold in its first year of production and by January 1968 the 1,000th had been manufactured. When production ceased in 1973, some 2,500 had been built.

1203

The Škoda 1203, Škoda 1203 M, TAZ-Š 1203 and TAZ 1500 were the only Czech/Czechoslovak van cars ever produced. They were manufactured from 1968 to 1981 in Vrchlabí by AZV Škoda (typ 997). Five years later, production of the modernized type began (typ 776) and part of the production was moved to Trnava (TAZ). In 1981, the entire production was moved to the Slovakian city (Škoda TAZ). In 1985, another modernization came (TAZ 1500) and the 1,433 cm³ engine appeared. The vehicle was also manufactured in small-scale production in 1994–2010 by Ocelot Auto in Žacléř. Around 70,000 cars were produced.

The first plans for production were drawn up in 1956. Inability to secure suppliers of parts and accessories in Czechoslovakia were the reason the production was delayed until 1968. The Škoda 1202 serves as the technical basis of the vehicle. There were several modifications during the production run, most of which had to do with the engine. The Škoda 1203 lasted for over thirty years without major structural interventions in production, and contributed significantly to the development of small businesses after 1989.

100/110

The Škoda 100 and Škoda 110 were two variations of a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive compact car that was produced by Czechoslovakian automaker AZNP in Mladá Boleslav from 1969 to 1977. They were the successors for the Škoda 1000 MB and Škoda 1100 MB. With a total of 1,079,798 units produced in their eight-year production run, the Škoda 100/110 series was the first Škoda car to exceed a million in production figures. Engine sizes were 1.0 litre (Škoda 100) and 1.1 litre (Škoda 110) respectively. The derived Škoda 110 R coupé (1970–1980), was styled similarly to the Porsche of the time, but with a much lower price and performance. The sporty 120 S and the 130 RS were Sport/Rallye cars, produced in small numbers.

The Škoda 110R was a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive car that was produced between 1970 and 1980. During those ten years, a total of 56,902 coupés were made.

The 110R Coupé succeeded the sporty Škoda 1000 MBX/1100 MBX. It was powered by an uprated 62 bhp  version of Škoda's 720-type OHV four-cylinder 1.1-litre  engine (this same engine was shared with the Škoda 110LS saloon, following its introduction in 1971). With a four-speed manual gearbox, the 110R could reach a top speed of 145 km/h and accelerate to 100 km/h in 18.5 seconds.

105/120

The Škoda 105, Škoda 120 and Škoda 125 were three variations of a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive small family car that was produced by Czechoslovakian car manufacturer AZNP in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia between 1976 and 1990. Engine sizes were 1.05 and 1.2 liters respectively.

The range was face lifted in 1984 with a revised design and engine improvements, together with the introduction of a new 1.3 liter version known as the Škoda 130. The related models followed in 1987 with the Škoda 130/135/136.

In the early 1970s, Škoda had originally intended to produce their successor to the S100/110 as a front-engined front-wheel drive model. However, because of the lack of funding (Škoda had even applied for license in Moscow to produce their new car with a front-engine and front-wheel drive), Škoda was refused a licence and was forced to update the earlier S100/110 saloon models. The main reason Škoda was not granted a licence to produce their new car was because it would have turned out to be a thoroughly more modern car than any other car from the Soviet Union, something which the Russians wouldn't have been too happy about.

Rugged and robust vehicles, they were designed for the often poor quality roads of Soviet-dominated Central and Eastern Europe, where the best traction layout of a two-wheel drive car is a significant benefit. They were once a common sight in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

From 1989 onward, production of the 105/120 series was gradually wound down as production of the Škoda Favorit progressed.  In 2004 among the 3,706,012 cars registered in the Czech Republic, 1,780,124 were Škodas.

The Garde is a 2-door coupé derived from the Škoda 120 LS 4-door saloon, powered by the same 1.2-litre engine producing 54.3 hp.

p760

The RGW car (RGW van Rat für gegenseitige Wirtschaftshilfe; Council for Mutual Economic Assistance; abbreviated to Comecon in English) is a never-realized, medium-sized passenger car, which was planned as a joint project of the Comecon states under the leadership of the GDR and Czechoslovakia. The car designated as P760 was to replace the Trabant 601, the Wartburg 353 and the Škoda 100. The start of the project in January 1970 was a major reason for the termination of work on Trabant P603, which was planned as a successor to the P601. After the failure of the RGW car project P760 in April 1973 and the follow-up project P1100/1300/610M, which was also aborted in 1979, the development of new passenger cars in the GDR virtually came to a standstill.

In the early 1970s, the SED leadership increasingly called on the automotive industry for cooperation between Comecon partner countries. Political advances in this direction were made as early as the early 1960s on the basis of the plan to organize car production on the basis of division of labor, hoping for a more efficient mode of production than competing firms in the market economy. Separate components had to be manufactured in each participating country.

Prototypes of the Trabant P603 had already been made in the GDR in 1966, but development was stopped on the instructions of the politburo to free up the available capacity for the P760 project. Based on the P603 prototype, four copies of the P760 appeared in 1970 in Zwickau.

In 1973, the SED decided that only Trabant and Škoda would work on the development. In the same year, however, the situation changed and Trabant and Wartburg both continued the developments, for which Škoda would only produce parts. At the end of 1974, this project was also canceled on the instructions of the government.

uvmv 1100 gt

The ÚVMV 1100 GT (or Škoda 1100 GT) is a coupé car from AZNP made in 1970.

It was exhibited at Plzeň Expo and the next year at the Geneva Motor Show. Internal dimensions and seating position were developed from the Saab Sonett II, Glas 1300 GT and Alfa Romeo GT Junior. Unlike the Saab it used the rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. It was powered by a modified Škoda 110 A2 engine.

Only seven were ever built, three of them have registration numbers of the Nový Jičín District and two were variously rebuilt. It was the opponent of the Škoda 110 Super Sport Ferat. The engine delivers 75 bhp and 0–100 km/h in 13.7 seconds.

favorit

Škoda Favorit is a model name that the Czechoslovak (and now Czech) car maker Škoda Auto has used for two series of car models.

The first series was the Type 904 which was a 1.8 litre car built from 1936 to 1939, and its successor the Type 923 which was a 2.1 litre car built from 1938 to 1941. These two models had little commercial success and were discontinued after only 223 examples had been built. After their commercial failure, Škoda did not use the Favorit model name again for 46 years.

The second series is the Type 781 range of supermini cars that was made from 1987 to 1995. It was Škoda's first car to follow the European trend of locating the engine at the front, mounted transversely, and was also their first car to use front-wheel drive. The Favorit was premiered in July 1987 at the Brno Engineering Fair.

This latest Favorit eventually succeeded the ageing rear-engined, rear-wheel drive Škoda 105/120 Estelle, and was a considerable move towards the modern mainstream in design terms thanks to its Bertone-designed hatchback body and front-wheel drive. However, the Favorit initially took a long time to get to market - Škoda's then owner, the communist government of Czechoslovakia approved the development of this new front-wheel drive car back in 1982, with actual development not starting until 1983.

The fall of communism with the Velvet Revolution brought great changes to Czechoslovakia, and most industries were subject to privatization. In the case of Škoda Automobile, the state authorities brought in a strong foreign partner. The tender for privatization was announced in 1990; 24 different companies were registered for the tender, while only eight of them expressed a serious interest – BMW, GM, Renault, Volvo, Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat, and Mercedes-Benz. In August 1990, VW and Renault were on the shortlist.

Volkswagen was chosen by the Czech government on 9 December 1990, and as a result, on 28 March 1991 a joint-venture partnership agreement with Volkswagen took place, marked by the transfer of a 30% share to the Volkswagen Group on 16 April 1991, raised later on 19 December 1994 to 60.3% and the year after, on 11 December 1995, to 70% of its shares, with the aim of making VW the controlling shareholder of Škoda. On 30 May 2000, Volkswagen AG bought the remaining 30% of the company, thus making Škoda Auto a wholly owned subsidiary of the group.

Backed by Volkswagen Group expertise and investments, the design – both style and engineering – has improved greatly. The 1994 model Felicia was effectively a reskin of the Favorit, but quality and equipment improvements helped, and in the Czech Republic, the car was perceived as good value for money and became popular. Sales improved across Europe, including the United Kingdom, where the Felicia was one of the best-ranking cars in customer satisfaction surveys.

The Škoda brand has been engaged in motor sport since 1901, and has gained a number of titles with various vehicles around the world. The sports car Škoda 966 Supersport raced both among sports cars and racing cars. It won second place at the Czechoslovak Grand Prix 1950, it was first next year in Liberec and in 1953 it achieved a Czechoslovak road speed record of 197.8 km/h. Its successor, the Škoda 1100 OHC (type 968), won at its premiere the first prize in Mladá Boleslav. The car in the socialist countries won in the first season all the races it took part in, except for the Budapest race where it took the third place.

sport

Czechoslovakia also wanted to face the international competition with a locally built vehicle so that the durability of series-produced parts could be tested and ŠKODA vehicles could be promoted abroad. The decision was therefore made to build the ŠKODA Sport, a sporty derivative based on the ŠKODA 1101 ‘Tudor’ presented in 1946. The racing car had a weight-optimised chassis from the ŠKODA 1101. 

Two blue-painted cars with 1.1-litre engines were built. One of these racing cars was to compete in the class up to 1500 cm³ and delivered 56 hp with an extra Roots supercharger, while the car intended for the class up to 1100 cm³ had 42 hp without a supercharger.

Both cars competed for the first time on 25 September 1949 in the Brno City Prize, the last Czechoslovakian Grand Prix for monopostos. Jaroslav Netušil drove to victory in the class up to 1100 cm³ in the car without a supercharger, while Václav Bobek took second place in the class up to 1500 cm³ in the ŠKODA Sport with a supercharger.

The sport drove inthe 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1950. For political reasons, ŠKODA did not enter any vehicles in the following run of the Le Mans race. 

super sport

The nationalization of heavy industry in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic reduced the number of factories producing passenger cars to two, Škoda and Tatra (a short post-war episode of Jawa and Aero, respectively, let's omit a few of the parts of the assembled pragues this time). Mladá Boleslav-based Škoda, actually AZNP (Automobile Racing, a national company), did not build a monopost according to the then Formula 1 regulations as the Kopřivnice Tatra, but it could not be missing in motor sport with a factory team. And not only in competitions, but also on circuits. To this day, one of the two "cakes" 1101 Sport type 966 of the year 1949, based in Tudor, has been preserved .

The 966 Supersport has an aluminum body and two different engines. Both they have a displacement of 1.1 liters or 1.2 liters (depends on the stage of development) with the first featuring atmospheric aspiration and two carburetors for output of 90 PS, while the more powerful has one or even two compressors and up to 180 PS. In the final phase of development, a new prototype engine was installed under the bonnet with a capacity of 1.5 liters and either four carburetors and/or two compressors.

1100 ohc

The Škoda 1100 OHC (type 968) is a two-seat sports car, derived from the Škoda 1101 "Tudor" and considered the successor to the Škoda Sport. It came out in 1957 and had a plastic or aluminium body.

The water-cooled four-cylinder four-stroke engine had double overhead camshafts, a displacement of 1089 cc and a power output of 92 hp. As the car only weighed 550 kg the car could reach speeds of 190 km / h. The body was of semi-monocoque construction with an additional frame of thin-walled tubes. Only five cars were built, three spiders with a plastic body, and two coupes with an aluminium body.

Unlike the rest of the car, the engine bore at least a passing resemblance to those in series-production ŠKODAs. It used the aluminium block – something almost unheard of at the time – from a ŠKODA 440 and kept its displacement of 1,089 cc. That’s where similarities end, though.

Š 992

Škoda’s motorsport history is more extensive than some uninformed observers might imagine. The Czech brand wasn’t only involved in rallying and Le Mans, but even in Formula racing cars. When in 1949 the Grand Prix of Czechoslovakia took place as the only international race for a long time behind the Iron Curtain, Škoda wasn’t yet at the start. Due to the political situation in the socialist and communist states of Eastern Europe, there was never race of the Formula 1, which was founded in 1950. Smaller formula racing classes, however, found their way to tracks like Brno time and again. Local teams built suitable cars according to international regulations with the simplest of means and also took part in events in Western Europe. From the late 1940s, there was the Formula 3, which initially relied on 500 cc motorcycle engines. A decade later, Italian teams introduced Formula Junior with engines up to 1.1 liters.

In 1964, new regulations for the Formula 3 category emerged, which clearly played into Škoda’s hands. Based on the Italian Formula Junior rules, new formula racing cars with a maximum displacement of one liter were created. With the 1000 MB, the Czech brand had a production car in the pipeline whose drive technology perfectly matched the required specifications. A new monoposto was therefore developed under the internal abbreviation Š 992, which made its debut in February 1964.

Directly behind the driver was a four-cylinder engine with 999 cc displacement, overhead valves and a triple-bearing crankshaft. Initially, 72 hp was available, increasing to 66 kW/90 hp by 1966. To improve weight distribution, the Škoda engineers installed the engine at an angle of 12 degrees to the left. 

Until 1968, works drivers Václav Bobek, Jaroslav Bobek and Miroslav Fousek scored numerous victories. Then more and more Western European cars, for example from Brabham, Lotus or Tecno, found their way behind the Iron Curtain.

b5 spider

Skoda type 728 Spider B5 S  is a racing car made from 1972.
The car has an aerodynamic body  studied in wind tunnels. With a length of 3.65 m, width 1.70 m and a weight of 630 kg, the Spider 728 Type S is cut for high-speed circuits.
Skoda produced only three copies, which were equipped with a five-speed manual transmission and an engine with four cylinders in line with a power output of 150 hp at 8600 rev/min. The original capacity of 1500 cm3 increased to 1800 cm3 in 1973, the Red Queen of tracks could reach a maximum speed of 220 km h which placed as one of the most efficient vehicles in the early 70s.

130 rs

It was dubbed “the Porsche of the East” and was one of the best racing cars of its era. In fact the ŠKODA 130 RS has a string of titles to its name, including winner of the 1981 European Touring Car Championship and a double victory in its class in the 1977 Monte Carlo Rally.

ŠKODA’s proud racing history stretches back more than a century, and the 130 RS is an outstanding example of what the car manufacturer can achieve.

The RS stands for Rally Sport and the 130 RS followed hard on the heels of the 180 RS and 200 RS vehicles that preceded it but could no longer meet regulatory requirements. The 130 RS was a pared-down lightweight machine, with aluminium panels and some parts of the bodywork made of fibreglass and plastic, allowing it to weigh in at just 720 kilograms. With a 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with OHV valve control, the 140-horsepower engine could take the car to 220 km/h. Its inventive and modern engine technology showed itself in the results. In the 1975 racing season in Czechoslovakia it took first, second and third place in the overall rankings.

Škoda began rallying in the 1960s with the Octavia and 1000MB models, before progressing on to the 110, 120 and 130 series. Most of these were fairly lightly modified versions of the production cars, and with their small engines they competed in the lower power classes.

On two occasions Škoda did produce more specialised rally cars. The first of these was the Group4 130 RS, which was introduced in 1976 and continued to compete until 1983. The second was the Group B 130 LR in 1985-6. Both cars took advantage of the freedoms allowed by the Group 4 and Group B regulations to run with considerably more powerful engines and lighter bodywork than standard, and in the case of the 130 RS much wider wheelarches as well, among other improvements on the standard cars.

The rear-engined cars were finally pensioned off in 1989, in favour of the new, front-drive Favorit model, which the team used until 1994. Like its predecessors it was sturdy but, with its 1300cc, 110 bhp engine, fairly slow. It continued the team's record of class and category wins, and the introduction for the ‘Formula 2’ category to world rallying in 1993 gave it a chance to chase bigger prizes. Škoda won the Formula 2 World Championship outright in 1994.

Škoda entered the World Rally Championship at the top level for the first time in 1999, with the Škoda Octavia WRC, competing on seven of the 14 events. Armin Schwarz drove one car and the second car was shared by Czech drivers Pavel Sibera and Emil Triner for most of the season, with Bruno Thiry driving the second car on the final event of the season, Rally GB, where he finished fourth, the team's first points finish.

It was announced that 2010 IRC champion Juho Hänninen and Herrman Gassner Jr. were going to race in SWRC 2011 in a semi-factory team run again by Baumschlager Rallye & Racing with support of Red Bull and Škoda. The name of the team was Red Bull Škoda. They appeared in 7 selected WRC events. Since the next year, the name was however changed to Red Bull Team. Škoda Motorsport team raced both years also independently.

fabia wrc

The new Skoda WRC vehicle derives from the Fabia RS. It was created as a full-fledged rallye automobile from the basic model through extensive modification of practically all aggregates. The skeleton of the self-supporting body, as well as the outer components, derive from the Fabia RS model. The Fabia WRC is powered by an updated version of the engine used in the former Octavia WRC vehicles. Like all competitors' vehicles in the WRC category, it has a four-cylinder Turbocharged engine with maximum admissible displacement of 2000 cm3. The basic Skoda power unit for WRC models is the Konzern's well-known Turbocharged 1.8-liter engine with a five-valve distributor.

https://heritage.skoda-auto.com/en/timeline/all-cars/