Skoda has certainly come a long way since the pre-Volkswagen days. It’s now the third best-selling automaker in Europe, holding a 6.3 percent share through October. It’s safe to say the company is in the best shape of its 100-year history, not counting the years of the preceding Laurin & Klement. But Skoda is not neglecting the cars built in communist Czechoslovakia before VW took control in the early 1990s.
Through its “Icons Get a Makeover” series, Skoda has been reimagining past models as futuristic EVs. The latest episode focuses on the company’s first vehicle to reach one million sales. The rear-wheel-drive, rear-engined 100/110 returns as an imaginary successor to the sedan sold between 1969 and 1977.
As with the other fictional cars in the series, the electric sedan embraces the brand’s Modern Solid design language. Specialized in headlight design, Skoda exterior designer Martin Paclt resisted leaning too heavily on retro cues, choosing instead to let his imagination run free. For example, the car doesn’t have a rear window. In its place, a body-colored curved panel incorporates a central fin that doubles as an air intake and houses the third brake light.
Despite the radical makeover, there are still subtle nods to the classic 100. Even without an engine in the back, the designer added discreet rear-fender vents. After all, even EVs require cooling. The LED light bars at the front and rear reference the original’s chrome strip and engine vent, respectively. There’s still a fuel cap on the front fender, but it now conceals the charging port.
Photo by: Skoda
At 163.6 inches (4155 millimeters) long, the original Skoda 100 was a relatively small car. Its hypothetical successor, however, started from the current-generation Superb’s foundation and blossomed into an even bigger car. The designer felt a short overhang made sense for a dedicated EV platform. That architecture also enabled a dual-trunk layout, with the rear cargo area mounted above the drivetrain.
As with previous digital concepts, these reinterpretations of historic vehicles are created by Skoda designers purely for fun, after office hours. They’re sadly not indicative of future production models. The 100 wouldn’t fit into today’s lineup anyway, considering both the Octavia and Superb are destined to go electric.
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Source: Skoda
In fact, the next-generation Octavia has already been previewed in electric form by the Vision O, an EV wagon concept to which Paclt contributed ahead of the production model’s launch in the coming years.
At the rate it’s publishing renderings, Skoda will eventually run out of old cars to revive. The make-believe series that modernizes classic nameplates is a fun exercise that more legacy automakers, including parent company VW, should embrace.
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