Sporty Spirit – from RAPID to RAPID

The ŠKODA brand has been firmly connected to motorsport since its very beginning. Have a look at how that sporting spirit was infused also into vehicles for regular customers until the 1980s.

15. 2. 2018 Models

In 1934 ŠKODA launched the POPULAR, a car that soon became the country’s best-seller. This success story was continued by the luxury ŠKODA 640 – SUPERB and the lower-medium-class RAPID.

In a way, the RAPID was ŠKODA’s first-ever series production sports car. Its name comes from the Latin word “rapide”, which means fast. The car was fitted with an inline four-cylinder engine (26 or 31 HP), its fuel consumption was 8 litres/100 km and its maximum speed was 90 km/h. In 1938, under the name RAPID OHV, the power output grew to 42 HP and the maximum speed to 110 km/h.

The “building of socialism” was not exactly an era for sports cars, and although the brand did produce some prototypes and race cars, the first post-war series-production car with a sporty spirit was the ŠKODA 110 R of 1970, a two-door coupé manufactured by the Kvasiny plant.

The rear-mounted engine drove the rear wheels, and the car’s maximum speed was 140 km/h. The frameless side-door windows were a unique thing at that time. The brand produced more than 56,000 cars of this model over ten years. The 110 R was used as the base for producing the 130 RS, the country’s most successful rally car for a long time.

The success story started by the 110 R was followed by another two-door coupé, the GARDE, whose production was launched in 1981, again in Kvasiny. In 1984 this car was slightly modernised and renamed to RAPID. From May 1982, the GARDE was also assembled in the BAZ plant in Bratislava, thus becoming the first series production passenger car manufactured in Slovakia.

Kvasiny produced the modernised RAPID 135/136 until 1990. The car featured an independent rear wheel suspension system with trailing arms and four-piston callipers on the front brakes.