Skip to main content

Tiny Vintage Skoda Racer is Adorable

Volkswagen Group budget brand Skoda isn’t exactly well known here in North America, but the automaker is actually one of the oldest around. Skoda started building cars in 1895. For 116 of those 122 years, they have been involved in racing. A big part of that history is this car, the tiny 1100 OHC racer that marks its 60th anniversary this year.

“The Skoda 1100 OHC is a prime example of Czech engineering and construction,” says Andrea Frydlová, Director of the SkodaMuseum. “The car is one of the milestones in Skoda’s 116-year involvement in motorsport.”

The 1100 OHC moves away from the production-based Sport and Supersport that proceeded it. This is a purpose-built tube-frame car.

At just 38-inches tall but is 56.2-inches wide, the 1100 OHC looks flat and stretched – and the driver looks like he’s towering over it instead of being tucked inside. Thanks to a fiberglass body it weighs just 1,210 lbs.

It’s low and smooth for improved aerodynamics. The original pop-up headlights were traded for fixed lights with smooth covers. The car was capable of a top speed of 125 mph, despite the flyweight engine under the hood.

skoda-1100-ohc-anniversary-22

That 1,089 cc four-cylinder engine had dual overhead cams and put out 92 hp at a screaming 7,700 rpm. It could rev all the way to 8,500. But to generate that power from that displacement in 1957, aviation fuel was required.

The 1100 OHC won the first race it entered, in June of 1958. Politics of the time meant that the car was only raced in socialist countries, but it found successes there.

Skoda built just two of the 1100 OHC roadsters, both in 1957. The automaker assembled two coupes in 1959, wearing aluminum bodies. Both of the coupes were damaged in road accidents, but both of the roadsters remain in company hands. One residing with Skoda UK, and the other lives at the brand’s HQ in Mladá Boleslav. Unless they’re doing what they were built for – Skoda takes these to vintage races around the world.

The post Tiny Vintage Skoda Racer is Adorable appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2zVMQPm
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan

Filed under: Government/Legal , Green , Mitsubishi , Fuel Efficiency , Japan Mitsubishi says its shady fuel-economy test practices may have been used on all vehicles it sells and has sold in Japan. Continue reading Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2016 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments from Autoblog Volkswagen http://ift.tt/21X3bHv
Post a Comment
Read more

More 3.0-Liter TDI Settlement Details Expected by January 31

Volkswagen and the TDI Plaintiff’s Steering Committee were in court today for another status conference following the agreement in principal reached earlier this week. Little new information was given at the conference held before Judge Charles Breyer today, but the court ordered the parties to develop a formal settlement agreement, class action notices, and a class notice plan by January 31, 2017. For now, though, owners still don’t know how much to expect in compensation. Elizabeth Cabraser, lead Counsel for the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee reaffirmed in a statement today that the compensation would be “substantial.” The potential cost to Volkswagen is widely reported to exceed $1 billion, though, with an additional $225 million going into an environmental trust to help offset excess emissions. Buy back offers are still only expected for the oldest 20,000 of the roughly 80,000 VW Group vehicles sold in America with the 3.0-liter TDI engine. Those vehicles are mostly SUVs, like ...
Post a Comment
Read more