Škoda resurrects a cult saloon from the sixties and the result looks surprisingly timeless
Škoda’s design team has once again played with an old question, what if a classic model were born today. This time they turned to the 100 Series, the saloon that conquered much of Eastern Europe and became the first Škoda to break the one million production mark. The car has been revived for a moment, although only in digital form.
The project’s author, senior Škoda designer Martin Paclt, whose portfolio includes the Enyaq, Karoq, Kamiq and Kodiaq, said he remembers the 100 Series from childhood, which made it the natural choice. He kept the car’s straight edged silhouette and classic proportions, a signature of late sixties European saloons, then wove in Škoda’s Modern Solid design language.
The render greets the viewer with a sculpted bonnet and a light band that stretches across the entire front. The same motif continues at the rear, which received a completely new treatment. An air intake sits on the roof and vents appear on the rear wings, a nod to the era when Škoda saloons kept their engines behind the cabin. Paclt decided that a modern 100 Series would house its electric motor in the same area. As a result the grille section shrank and the car’s overall balance shifted. He believes such a saloon would end up wider than the current Superb, a hint that his vision aims for an electric grand tourer rather than a compact daily runabout.
The original Škoda 100 entered production in 1969 and remained on the line until 1977. In that time 1 079 708 cars were built. It carried a one litre engine with 47 horsepower. The larger 110 offered 53 horsepower and the LS version reached 63. Those figures raise a smile today, though a fond one, because these were the cars that taught a generation what independent mobility felt like.
Škoda’s new design study shows how manufacturers interpret their heritage through a future facing lens. The wider Volkswagen Group has taken a similar route with the ID Buzz, which revived an iconic van in electric form. Škoda’s decision to reimagine a saloon follows the same instinct, a desire to underline national identity and show that Modern Solid is not merely a styling direction. It is a conversation with the past. Projects like this may not signal imminent production, yet they shape a brand’s voice and confirm that nostalgia has a place in the electric era to come.
