It is largely believed that most car companies have moved away from tradition and have focused on mass production. This is even truer in these times of mass electrification, which is why it is good to see manufacturers working on preserving their past. Such is the case with the Czech manufacturer Skoda, which celebrates 120 years of Skoda Motorsport, by restoring an iconic racing model – the 1959 Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe.
The project is a collaboration between ŠKODA Museum and ŠKODA Auto Prototype Center, with the goal being a full restoration of one of the only two Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe race cars, ever made. The car with internal designation 968 started life, in 1956, as an open-top racer. A total of three open-top cars were built, with their main purpose being endurance racing.
Work on the Skoda 1100 OHC continued well into 1959 and 1960, which is when the coupe version came out. Only two coupe examples were built, but, unlike the open-top versions that had plastic bodies, the coupes had bodies made of aluminum.
Unlike its predecessors, the Skoda Sport and Skoda Supersport, the 1100 OHC was based on a semi-monocoque chassis with an additional frame of thin-wall tubes. It also featured a trapezoidal, double-wishbone front suspension, and a coupling axle with trailing arms was used for the rear suspension. The chassis was rigid, yet lightweight, and resulted in the Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe having a curb weight of just 1,223 pounds (555 kg).
In addition to being extremely lightweight and rigid, the Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe came with a longitudinally-mounted, 1.1-liter inline-four engine that sat behind the front axle. This made the 1100 OHC a front-mid-engine car. The unit was longitudinally mounted and mated to a five-speed manual transaxle.
The cylinder head, crankcase, and crankshaft were shared with the engine of the 1955 Skoda 440/445/450 Spartak. However, while the engine made only 40 horsepower at 4,200 RPM, in its original form, it was significantly improved for the Skoda 1100 OHC. Thanks to improved combustion chambers, 9.3:1 compression ratio, OHC valvetrain as opposed to the original OHV (pushrod), twin-carburetors, and a dual dynamo battery ignition from Bosch, Scintilla Vertex magnetos, and a lot more.
The end result was 92 horsepower at 7,700 RPM, which gave it a specific output of 85 horsepower per liter, and a redline of 8,500 RPM. This allowed the Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe to reach a top speed of around 124 mph (200 km/h). Dual-circuit brakes ensured efficient stopping power, and the in-board, rear drum brakes reduced unsprung weight.
The people at ŠKODA Museum and ŠKODA AUTO Prototype Center are executing a ground-up restoration on one of the two 110 OHC Coupes, ever built. This one is, reportedly, located in Mladá Boleslav, which is the hometown of Skoda, and to this day, is one of the highlights of the museum’s collection. The only other example is part of ŠKODA UK’s heritage fleet.
Originally, it was intended for the coupe’s chassis to be displayed alongside the open-top 1100 OHC. At the end, it was decided that the 1100 OHC Coupe should be restored into a fully-functioning vehicle. Both modern-day techniques and traditional methods are being utilized for the restoration. The entire process is being carried out according to the original factory specifications. ŠKODA Museum has preserved almost the entire documentation of the car.
The most difficult part of the project was reconstructing the aluminum body of the car, designed by the former factory designer, Jaroslav Kindl. The design started out as a wooden model and later, the metalworkers created the aluminum body, from hand-beaten aluminum panels. After that, the separate body panels were welded or riveted together.
The most difficult part of the project was reconstructing the aluminum body of the car, designed by the former factory designer, Jaroslav Kindl. The design started out as a wooden model and later, the metalworkers created the aluminum body, from hand-beaten aluminum panels. After that, the separate body panels were welded or riveted together. For the restoration, 0.8 and 1.0 mm aluminum sheets were used, which were manually welded and beaten to shape, just like in the old days.
Preserving the highlights of an automotive brand is an important task, especially when it comes to vehicles with a highly-limited production. The Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe raced between 1960 and 1962. In 1966, both coupes were sold to private owners, due to a change in regulations, which, effectively, ended the class under 1,100 cc.
Unfortunately, both cars were destroyed in accidents. At some point, the owner of the first coupe replaced the engine with a production unit, featuring the OHV valvetrain from the Skoda Felicia, which was, essentially, a newer version of the aforementioned Skoda 440/445/450 Spartak. All surviving components from that car, including the engine, were used in the restoration.
The second 110 OHC Coupe had caught fire in an accident, which destroyed the entire bodywork. The only surviving component of the car was the rear axle with an integrated gearbox, which was donated to the ŠKODA Museum, 25 years ago, and subsequently used in the restoration. The dismantled frame, front axle, and other parts were sourced from a private collector, in 2014.
The team involved in the project relied on scans of 2D drawings, in 1:1 scale, through which a 3D grid was created. The restoration also involved painstakingly examining the shapes of all individual parts and correcting where necessary.
Restoring a car is no easy task and in the case of the Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe, numerous parts had to be sourced from various places. Moreover, with the two cars, ever made, being involved in accidents, a lot of fabrication was required, especially when it came to reconstructing the body to original specifications. Skoda may not be a brand of global significance, but in Europe, it has a long and glorious history. The 1959 Skoda 1100 OHC Coupe is among the highlights of that history.
To mark the 120th anniversary of ŠKODA Motorsport, employees from the ŠKODA Museum and ŠKODA AUTO’s Prototype Centre collaborated on a project to reconstruct the ŠKODA 1100 OHC Coupé racing car. The teams began by reconditioning the original frame, chassis and engine and rebuilt the body according to historical documentation. In the process, they used state-of-the-art technology as well as traditional techniques in body construction.
Planning for the ŠKODA 1100 OHC (internal type designation 968), which was intended primarily for endurance circuit races, began as early as spring 1956. By the end of 1957, the first of two copies with open GRP bodywork had been completed. This vehicle is still among the highlights of the ŠKODA Museum exhibition in Mladá Boleslav. It regularly competes in national and international classic car events. The second 1100 OHC is part of ŠKODA UK’s heritage fleet.
In 1959/1960, the designers continued working on the 968 project and created two ŠKODA 1100 OHC coupés with closed bodywork. Tried and tested components from ŠKODA’s production models were used. However, unlike the ŠKODA SPORT and SUPERSPORT, which were created at the end of the 1940s, the vehicle was no longer based on a central tube with forks for an OHV engine to be mounted at the front. Instead, the ŠKODA 1100 OHC Coupé took advantage of a lightweight yet rigid truss frame welded from thin-walled tubes. Trapezoidal suspension, consisting of two triangular wishbones arranged one above the other, was used for the front wheels, while a coupling axle with trailing arms was installed at the rear.
The engine was located behind the front axle and, along with the assembly unit, comprising rear axle differential and five-speed gearbox, achieved an almost ideal weight distribution. The handling of the dynamic racing car was outstanding; the ŠKODA 1100 OHC Coupé was powered by a naturally aspirated in-line four-cylinder engine. The cylinder and crankcase were made of aluminium and were derived from the ŠKODA 440 ‘Spartak’, as was the crankshaft. However, the racing car significantly exceeded the Spartak’s output of 40 hp (29.4 kW) at 4,200 rpm thanks to its optimised combustion chambers and OHC valve drive, a compression ratio of 9.3:1, two carburettors, double dynamo battery ignition from Bosch, Scintilla Vertex magnetos and many other modifications. Its output was 92 hp (67.7 kW) at 7,700 rpm, with an impressive 85 hp per litre of displacement. For short bursts, it could reach up to 8,500 rpm. Depending on the overall gear ratio, which could be adjusted according to the specific racetrack, the two-seater with aluminium bodywork and an unladen weight of only 555 kg reached a top speed of around 200 km/h. Dual-circuit brakes always ensured effective deceleration, and to reduce the unsprung mass, rear drum brakes were mounted on the differential gear.
The racing career of the two ŠKODA 1100 OHC coupés lasted from 1960 to 1962. In 1966, they were sold to private buyers when they were no longer allowed to compete due to changes in technical regulations, which resulted in the end of the under 1,100 cm3 category. Subsequently, both coupés were destroyed in road accidents. The owner of the first vehicle, the surviving components of which were used in the reconstruction, replaced the engine of the 1100 OHC with a production four-cylinder with OHV valve timing from a FELICIA. The original engine was on display for a long time in the vocational school in Mladá Boleslav before it was finally installed in the reconstructed 1100 OHC Coupé. The second coupé caught fire in an accident. The driver managed to escape from the vehicle, but the aluminium bodywork was irreparably damaged. The dismantled, one-of-a-kind rear axle with integrated gearbox had been part of the collection at the National Technical Museum in Prague before it was donated to the ŠKODA Museum 25 years ago. The ŠKODA Museum acquired the truss frame, which had been cut into three parts, along with the complete front axle and other surviving parts from a private collector in 2014.
A legend reborn The ambitious project to restore the vehicle would not have been possible without the experts from the ŠKODA Museum and their experience of working on the open ŠKODA 1100 OHC. The original technical documentation was also crucial to the project’s success. Almost all of it had been preserved in the ŠKODA AUTO archive, including an explanation of each production section and an explanatory drawing for the installation of individual assemblies. The original mechanical components had very little wear, as the car had only taken part in a few races. The renovation of the entire chassis, along with a newly reconstructed radiator, fuel tank and other elements, was completed at the end of 2015.
Originally, the car’s chassis was to be displayed at the ŠKODA Museum next to the open-bodied car. However, it was decided instead to reconstruct the coupé as a fully functional vehicle.
The most challenging task was to reconstruct the aluminium body. The original designer was the former factory designer Jaroslav Kindl. The carpenters of the time built a wooden model according to his documents. A group of metalworkers hammered out the aluminium panels by hand, and the individual parts were then welded or riveted together.
Throughout the reconstruction, the ŠKODA Museum’s restoration workshop team worked closely with colleagues from the Prototype Centre at ŠKODA AUTO. Based on scans of the 2D drawings on a scale of 1:1, a three-dimensional grid was created, which was then post-processed visually. The shapes of individual elements were painstakingly examined and corrected, for example at the front of the vehicle and around the rear lights. Historical photographs were compared with the sketches and the 3D model. The experts were then able to view the car from all sides in the virtual studio and make adjustments. Miniature models were created followed by models of the front and rear body corners on a 1:1 scale. After expert appraisal, necessary adjustments and final approval, ŠKODA AUTO’s engineers started working on the partition walls, the wheel arches and other body elements.
The bodywork was created from 0.8 mm and 1 mm thick aluminium sheets that were manually welded and beaten to shape during the reconstruction. Originally, both coupés were unique, featuring an anodised finish. On the track, however, this surface treatment failed to demonstrate any benefit, and so both cars were painted red in the middle of the 1962 season.
The elaborate project to completely reconstruct the vehicle required numerous smaller components to be sourced that were identical to the parts used in production vehicles at the time. The outer door handles of the coupé, for example, were the same as those on the ŠKODA 1200 ‘Sedan’, and some switches and the ignition lock were also used in the ŠKODA 440 ‘Spartak’ and the OCTAVIA. The three-spoke steering wheel finished in black plastic was adopted from the ŠKODA POPULAR, the bestseller from the pre-war period.
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