Having featured a Prime Find last week from a country with only a short and relatively minor part in the history of the world’s motor car production, we turn to another, but where DAF stopped making cars some decades ago, this one has in the last three decades become a significant player in the European market and gone from strength to strength – yet not so many years ago was the butt of many a motoring joke – Škoda.
The history of the Czech motor industry stretches back to 1895 and one Czech company, Tatra, dates from 1850 and is the third oldest car company with an unbroken history going back that far, although they didn’t start making cars until 1897. Thanks to their extraordinary streamlined, rear-engined fastback saloons such as the Tatraplan 600, the Tatra T97 and Tatra 603, Tatra is perhaps the second best-know car marque to come out of the Former Cezechoslovakia.
The other famous Czech car company
The most famous, and most successful, though, is certainly Škoda, which itself can trace is roots back to 1895 when it was known as Laurin and Klement, who began manufacturing cars in 1900, and quickly became the biggest car maker in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1925, the company was bought by Škoda Works and rebranded Škoda Auto, and in 1948 was taken over by the state for the duration of the Cold War period. In 1991, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Volkswagen began buying up the company and by 2000, Škoda was and remains a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and is by far the largest motor manufacturer in Central and Eastern Europe.
Up to the 1960’s with models such as the 445 Octavia, Felicia and Škoda 1000 MB, the company maintained a fairly strong reputation, but things began to slide in the decades that followed, and this was the period when the jokes started. Škoda cars were considered cheap and cheerful – as well as unreliable – modes of transport for drivers on a tight budget. Thin steel, basic specifications and poor reliability had the same impact on Škoda sales in the US as the rust scandal had on Lancia in the UK, and despite the company’s rise since, their cars are still not sold across the Atlantic.
Post-war Škoda’s have in recent years undergone a bit of a revival, as have Iron Curtain cars – for want of a better catch-all name – in general, and they have a dedicated, if still small, following among the classic car community. They’re generally cheap to buy and to run, easy for the DIY mechanic to work on, and relatively rare. Our Prime Find this week though would seem to indicate that this revival has moved up a level, as it is possibly the most expensive classic Škoda yet to go on sale; it’s the most expensive one currently on sale in the UK, at least.
The Škoda Octavia was introduced in 1959, and was so named as it was the eight model to be built by Škoda as a nationalised concern, succeeding the Škoda 440/445, which it was effectively a development of. Sold alongside it for five years was the similarly styled Felicia, which was basically a convertible version of the Octavia. Engines were a 40bhp 1089cc four-cylinder, and a 50bhp 1221cc unit – power outputs were later increased by 5bhp each but performance was never a strong suit, top speed maxing out at between 68 and 71mph (110 to 115kmh). Beside the saloon, a Combi, or estate, version was also available, but only with the larger engine.
Octavia’s were built until 1971, when they were replaced by the more modern-looking but still fairly primitive 1000MB (see above). To look at, the Octavia presents a cheerful face to the world not unlike a Simca Aronde of the same period, but it wouldn’t win any beauty contests. 279,274 were built in its twelve-year lifespan, by the end of which it was even more dated than it had been when new. It’s hard to establish how many there are left on UK roads – there were never that many to begin with – but I doubt there are more than a handful.
The Autocar performed their first ever test on a Škoda in January 1960, on an Octavia. The testers had good things to say about the interior roominess, though they felt the seats could have been more supportive. There were numerous other aspects where although everything seemed to work, it was all a bit basic, and the magazine’s final sentence summed up the Octavia thus:-
“…the Škoda does give the essentials of cheap family motoring, Its basic design and rugged construction ensure a fitness for purpose that is the car’s strongest quality” – that is, it did what it was supposed to do. You could argue that this is damning with faint praise, but then what was the VW Beetle, Morris Minor or Ford Anglia if not basic, functional transport?
Other basic, functional family transport was also available.
Our car is for sale via a private owner, and must be one of very few surviving RHD examples. It’s been subject to a full professional nut and bolt restoration – in itself remarkable in that Škoda’s have surely not been deemed worth the investment in money and time until now, except perhaps for the enthusiastic amateur. Indeed, I have a feeling this is one of those cars that will never see the expense recouped. The photos accompanying the sale details are not great – surely good photographs are a prerequisite in this internet age if you want your car to stand out – but as far as one can tell, it does look pretty near perfect. The exterior is finished in cream with a chocolate brown roof, and the interior is trimmed in a two-tone combination of the same colours.
As well as the fact of this Škoda’s restoration – fully documented with hundreds of photos – another remarkable aspect of this Octavia is its exceptionally low mileage, a warranted 10,244 at the hands of just two previous owners, so not only has the car been rebuilt to as – possibly better than – new standards, but its barely been used.
The final remarkable aspect of this Škoda is the asking price…a fairly staggering £19.750, and as such, I have a strong feeling that this car will not be seen much on the road, since a fair chunk of it’s value is surely in its low mileage, and the advert is clearly targeting either a collector or Škoda dealer, for whom this rare and seemingly immaculate Octavia could be a good promotional tool. Still, if any of our readers are interested in rescuing this piece of Czech motoring history as a car to use, you can see the full advert here, and as usual, we recommend prior inspection before parting with your cash if at all possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk
1964 Škoda Octavia Super 1221cc For Sale (carandclassic.com)