ŠKODA HERITAGE: ŠKODA 1100 MB RALLYE (1967)

"The ŠKODA 1100 MB has a heroic history. Originally a workhorse vehicle, it was modified by a former ŠKODA factory driver, Karel Šimek, for an old-timer marathon racing competition. He reinforced the body, installed the safety structure and swapped the old seats for the sporty ones. And that became its resurrection.

In 1993, Karel drove her from London to Sydney. Braving the often unpaved roads, the resilient car traversed the London-Mexico rally in 1995, capping it with the London-Cape Town marathon three years later.

But then it suffered an unscheduled interruption and sat on wooden supports for the next 15 years. And that’s when I stepped in this year. An oil change and brake inspection later, it was ready to hit the road again. Together we’ve participated in the rally races in Zlín and Sumava in the Czech Republic.

I call her ‘Karel’ after her former driver who rewrote her destiny." Stanislav Kafka