Andreas Hafemann, President of ŠKODA China, took part in the rally in Beijing and attended the award ceremony at the stage destination Zhangjiakou – one of the host cities of the Winter Olympics 2022. “ŠKODA is one the oldest automobile manufacturers in the world, with a legendary history spanning 121 years. We are very glad to share the classic and iconic ŠKODA models, as well as ŠKODA’s unique auto culture and heritage with consumers and auto fans in China,” said Mr. Hafemann.
The Top City Classic Rally China was organized by the German magazines Auto Motor und Sport and Motor Klassik. The rally was divided into two stages: The Beijing stage involved 35 vintage cars from various brands starting in a Beijing suburb, passing by the picturesque grassland of Hebei province and finishing in Zhangjiakou. In the Shanghai stage, 36 classic cars started from the landmark Oriental Pearl Tower, heading through the ancient town of Wuzhen and finishing at the beautiful Thousand Island Lake in Zhejiang province.
ŠKODA took part in the first Top City Classic Rally China in 2014, when two vintage cars from the Czech brand – a ŠKODA FELICIA and a Laurin & Klement – became the stars of the show.
This year, the ŠKODA FELICIA was once again the highlight of the event. The car was originally produced in 1960. Over the last 56 years, the car has been painted in various colours and some parts were lost or damaged. Recently, only with great support from the ŠKODA Museum’s historical archives, technical documents and auto parts was the car fully restored and re-furbished.
The ŠKODA FELICIA is ŠKODA’s most famous open-top car model. Continuing the company’s tradition of manufacturing open-top cars, the ŠKODA FELICIA was series-produced between 1958 and 1964. The car offered elegant bodywork that became a symbol of the Czech social revolution of the 1960s and also appeared in numerous films. Whilst inspired by the classic English roadsters, it surpassed them with its driving features, universal character and driving comfort. With a total of 14.863 units manufactured, the FELICIA became the most popular open-top model by ŠKODA.
2016 marks 121 years since the company was founded, making ŠKODA AUTO one of the longest-established vehicle manufacturers in the world. The company was one of the pioneers in the industry, launching bicycle production in 1895, followed soon after by the production of motorcycles and cars at their headquarters in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. ŠKODA has sold more than one million vehicles for the second year in a row and is present in over 100 markets worldwide. The most comprehensive model range in the company’s history is manufactured at 14 plants in Europe and Asia.
Since entering the Chinese market in 2007 with the first locally produced vehicle – the OCTAVIA, ŠKODA has established a very successful partnership with SAIC Volkswagen. Over the past nine years, the partners have jointly established ŠKODA as one of the major car brands in China, so far delivering a total of 1.8 million cars to customers in China.
