[karlosdeville]

In July I was fortunate to have visited the Czech Republic, one of the most beautiful places I have yet seen. A wonderful mix of old world charm coexisting with the most fashionable modern architecture, it is truly a delight to walk about and take in the sights and sounds.

While walking down the main streets of Prague I was rather pleased to see this impeccably maintained stylish Škoda Felicia roadster rumbling down the cobble-stoned streets.




Soon I spotted a couple more classics, and on enquiring whether there was a show about I was informed that these could be rented for sightseeing tours lasting about an hour. Mainly Model A Fords (a good choice considering its rugged construction and practicality), though I did see a few vintage Škodas and other local marques like Tatra and Praga. At 1200 crowns for less than an hour these weren't exactly cheap, so, regrettably, I gave it a miss.









Also spotted this cool Subway mobile advertisement, based on an old Škoda 110, a rather neat looking coupe.



And no visit to East Europe is complete without seeing a beat up Trabant, and surpringly there were still a fair amount to be seen on the roads, especially in the smaller cities.

[karlosdeville]

During my visit while talking to a friend about my fondness for old cars, he arranged a surprise visit for me, telling me I should meet his friend. We drove out to a picturesque small village a little outside of Mlada Boleslav (headquarters for Škoda worldwide). And there stood this freshly restored early '60s Škoda Felicia roadster, in a delightful shade of bright yellow, which the owner tells me was a colour offered only cars exported to Canada.









He bought the car as a basketcase a few years back, and it took him 2 years for the restoration. Everything was done by himself singlehandedly, barring the paintjob and interiors. The result as you can see is simply stunning. The only thing incorrect in the COMPLETE car he tells me are 2 screws on the dash - even the tyres were NOS.





Attention to detail was superlative, and you could literally eat of the enginebay. The job was certainly no mean feat for one man to do in his backyard in his spare time. I noticed many components marked Autopal - a brand we are very familiar with in India. Didn't know it is originally Czech.









The gent was kind enough to take me for a spin through the countryside. Beautiful Czech summer weather, perfect countryside roads with not another car in sight, and a neat little roadster to putter about in - what more could I ask for?

[karlosdeville]

And no visit to the Czech Republic would have been complete without seeing a classic Jawa (quite a few are still used as regular runabouts). Along with the Felicia, he had also restored his 1950 Perak, and what a job it was.





As much as I wanted to, I couldn't visit the Jawa museum, though I did spend some time at the Škoda museum. More on that later.

[KPS]

Karl this is so beautiful. Czech is a dream destination and I sure it must be some trip. Thanks for sharing these wonderful snap. Superb quality of restoration

Waiting for more.

Cheers

KPS

[ariesonu]

I simply love that pink skoda & that subway skoda 1100. The pink & the bright yellow skoda's are same model but few things seem different, here & there. Nonetheless eye poppers.
What bliss it would be to go sightseeing in these vintages..

Karl I cant accep't the fact that these are all the photographs you have. There must be more.
We are waiting..

Raab Rakha.

[anjan_c2007]

Karl the restoration levels show work of a high calibre and excellent taste of all concerned.The most astounding fact is that the Czech Republic was an erstwhile member of the Eastern Bloc of socialist states where "socialism" was in vogue.They seem to have got over it.
Cuba is also still a leftist ruled country, but just observe the old pre 1961 wealth of American made imports there still running, but in awful condition.Apart from the body shell hardly anything in these cars look original.

[issigonis]

>>> karl,

Your thread and pics at last

The yellow Felicia roadster has been very lovingly restored, the Jawa too.
Did you get to see any Tatras or any of the old Soviet era cars? The Volga? Zaporozhets? Or may be if you were extraordinarily lucky the Zil limousine meant for the top apparatchiks of the Politbureau?

Is there a Skoda car museum in the Skoda HQ? If so did you take pics?

Regards

[karlosdeville]

Here is one I missed out earlier - a 1920s Praga tourer.



Incidentally the tour guide driving tourists around was an Indian

More pics of the museum later.

[karlosdeville]

Here are a few pictures from the Škoda museum in Mlada Boleslav. Very well presented, there is a large selection of bicycles, motorcycles and cars made by Laurin & Klement which later went on to become Škoda. The displays included period prizes/awards won for races, faithfully recreated office spaces, scale models, period literature, engine cutouts and more. Some displays also showed a car in various stages of restoration (some cars are restored in house). There is a great 20 minute AV that is screened which even showed some footage of Škoda's drive to Calcutta in the 30s to promote the new 'Popular'.

[karlosdeville]

Continuing where I left off

[karlosdeville]

Some more pictures of later cars including the original Superb, some military vehicles, and the Presidential car.

[karlosdeville]

Continuing from where I left off. Besides race cars, there was also a section dedicated to cars yet to undergo restoration, which I think is a very neat touch.

[karlosdeville]

And here is the last set from my side.

[SuperSelect]

Beautiful pictures Karl. The sixties / seventies cars make me wish I lived in that era !!
The scale models are stuff to rob banks for.
I can see you had a fantastic time in the Czech republic !

[V-16]

Great Pics Karlji. Thank you for sharing. Doesn't the steering wheel remind you of the Batwing steering wheel of the old Beetles? The President's car looks fab. Which Skoda is it? Which is the 30s white Limo? Great!!