60 Years of Škoda Octavia

Today Škoda is a well-known and popular car manufacturer, at least in Europe. As one of only a few brands, it successfully survived the time of the Cold War behind the Iron Curtain and still exists today, while competitors such as Sachsenring, Wartburg, Tatra or FSM don’t. Already in the early days of the Soviet era, Škoda launched the 440 ‘Spartak’ as a pontoon-shaped sedan for the lower middle class market. Four years later, a major facelift happened, paired with a name change to ‘Octavia’. Production began in January 1960, which is exactly 60 years ago.

Octavia means ‘the Eigth’ in Latin, which also had its meaning: the first Octavia was the eigth new model of Škoda after World War 2 and also the eigth vehicle of the brand with a modern independent suspension all around. Initially, there was only a two-door sedan with a 1.1-liter, 40-hp four-cylinder engine available. A manual four-speed gearbox transmitted the power to the rear wheels and allowed the car to reach a topspeed of 110 kph (86 mph). At the same time, Škoda officially stated an average fuel consumption of only 7.7 liters per 100 kilometers. Within the debut year Škoda launched asymetrical headlights and a larger engine in the Octavia Super with 45 hp from 1.2 liters. A year later, at the Geneva Motor Show, the Octavia TS (Touring Sport) debuted with 50 hp, which was homologated for the class of unmodified production cars in racing and rallying by the FIA. It was used by the Škoda factory team to achieve class wins at the Rallye Monte Carlo in 1961, 1962 and 1963.

In September 1960, Škoda expanded the model range with a three-door Combi (station wagon) version with a horizontal split two-part tailgate. It can accomodate up to five passengers and then still has a load compartment length of 0.965 meters and a loading volume of 690 liters. This increases with folded rear seats to 1.050 liters. While the production of the sedan ended in 1964 in favor of the newly developed Škoda 1000 and 1000 MB, the Octavia Combi was produced until December 1971. Thus, the number of produced Octavia climbed to a total of about 360,000 copies, including about 54,000 Combi. More than 70,000 of them arrived in the former GDR. In New Zealand they based the plastic-offroad car Trekka on the platform of the Octavia.

Under the direction of Volkswagen Group, Škoda started development of a new mid-range model in 1992, for which the name Octavia was chosen again. It debuted on the market in 1996 and was supplemented with a Combi in 1998. By 2010, around 1.44 million copies of this first model generation were produced, topped by generation two, of which 1.6 million vehicles were produced between 2003 and 2013. Since 2012, Škoda builds the third model generation, of which by now already more than 2.5 million copies drive on roads around the world.

Images: Škoda Deutschland, Škoda UK