Czech it out: Skoda icons reimagined as EVs for 130th birthday celebrations

This year has been a great one for Skoda. As well as launching its new Elroq to critical acclaim, the much-loved Czech brand marked its 130th anniversary and 117 years of producing electrified vehicles.

As part of the birthday celebrations, Skoda allowed its designers to reimagine a line of its historic icons as EVs. As well as making them electric, the only stipulation was to use the newly introduced Modern Solid design language, which debuted with the Elroq.

From May 2025 to December, this series of electrified Skoda concepts included modern interpretations of everything from 1899’s Slavia B café racer and the blood-sucking Skoda Ferat, to the Bertone-styled Favorit and the race-winning 110 R – a car that earned the nickname ‘the Porsche 911 of the East’.

Unfortunately, Skoda maintains that these vehicles will remain concepts for now. Don’t worry, diehard Škodiàks out there – we feel your pain.

Skoda 100

Built from 1969 to 1977, the Skoda 100 was the Mlada Boleslav-based manufacturer’s first car to exceed a million units. This popular family sedan was powered by either a 1.0 or 1.1-litre, four-cylinder engine producing anything from 47 to 62bhp. For his addition to the ‘Icons Reimagined’ series, Skoda designer Martin Paclt chose the four-door 100 for its “clean, timeless lines” and added his own Modern Solid take without falling into pastiche. Immediately striking are the four-element headlights, along with front and rear lightstrips, which nod to the original’s chrome front end and rear air vent. An air intake sits atop the roof to cool the rear-mounted motors and battery, while there is the distinctive omission of a rear window. Moreover, the Skoda 100 concept’s “body behind the back doors” draws on the original’s distinctive C-pillar. According to Paclt, his take on the 100 draws on the proportions of the Czech brand’s rather superb Superb. Be nice, wouldn’t it?

Skoda 110 R

The original Skoda 110 R was a rear-wheel drive, two-door sports coupé with a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. It also served as the basis for Mlada Boleslav’s Monte Carlo and European Touring Car Championship-winning 130 RS. Little surprise that the 110 R garnered the nickname ‘the Porsche 911 of the East’. In line with its heritage, the reimagined Skoda 110 R electric gets 130 RS-inspired fenders, centre-lock aero wheels, a ribbed hood, and a roll cage. Up front, the original’s round headlights have been dropped in favour of Skoda’s ‘Tech-Loop’ lighting signature, which debuted on the Skoda Vision O concept earlier this year. Move down towards the rear of the car, and the air vents beneath the rear windows serve to cool the battery, rear motor, and other electrical components. At the blacked-out rear of the car, a standalone illuminated Skoda logo dominates. Known colloquially as the ‘Erko’, the original 110 R was produced at Skoda’s Kvasiny plant from 1970 to 1980. Today, the site is responsible for its Kodiaq, Karoq, and Superb models.

Skoda Felicia Fun

If you are of a certain vintage and/or ilk, you’ll remember the Skoda Felicia Fun of the 1990s; a brightly coloured pick-up version of Skoda’s dependable Felicia hatch. As part of its 130th birthday celebrations, Skoda revived this particular icon as an EV, seemingly based on the Skoda Vision 7S – a car widely expected to reflect the upcoming all-electric version of the Skoda Kodiaq. In this new take on the Felicia fun, Skoda has done away with the Vision 7S’s second and third rows of seats to create an open flat bed. The recognisable ‘Tech Deck’ face – a key part of Skoda’s Modern Solid design – remains up front, but inside, a dash-wide screen with ’90s-style graphics and pink colourways riffs on the lighthearted nature and time period of the original.

Skoda MBX 1000 Coupé

Skoda has a strong reputation for creating versatile cars – its electric Enyaq and Elroq SUVs are proof of that. In the 1960s, the 1000 MBX Coupé previewed the crossover trend by combining everyday practicality with outdoor adventure. According to designer David Stingl, “this car should inspire its crew to explore without hesitation.” With cinema-style, fold-away seats and Citroen-inspired air suspension, it emphasises a ‘go anywhere, do anything’ spirit. When designing the interior, Stingl aimed to preserve the original minimalist, console-free layout while maintaining the sleek Modern Solid aesthetic. Opening the sliding doors reveals an oval motif throughout, and the dashboard features a glass-covered oval with projected images. Although an electric version of the iconic Skoda Yeti doesn’t exist, if it did…

Skoda Favorit

The Skoda Favorit was a landmark car for Mlada Boleslav. Produced from 1987 to 1994, this much-loved hatchback ushered in a new era of ‘modern’ Skoda thanks to a wedgy Bertone-penned body, and a ‘Western’ transverse-mounted four-cylinder engine up front. For the 130th birthday bash, Skoda designers Ljudmil Slavov and David Stingl – who we met earlier – brought it back as a contemporary EV with a difference: instead of adopting the blacked-out ‘Tech Deck’ front-end, the minimalist Favorit’s face gets two ultra-slim LED headlights set behind semi-transparent covers reflecting those of the original. According to Slavov, his creation is a “tribute”, and he “didn’t want to rely on current design elements”. For the speculatory-minded, this all-electric Favorit appears to have roughly the same dimensions as parent company Volkswagen’s ID.3 and sister brand Cupra’s Born.

Skoda Slavia B

Skoda began life in 1895 as a bicycle maker called Laurent & Klement after its founders’ surnames. The Skoda moniker was adopted a handful of years later, but that’s another story. The Slavia B was introduced in 1899 and powered by a 1.8 bhp engine. Instead of a gearbox, the bike’s power was managed by a clever system using a flat belt directly connected to the 240cc, one-cylinder motor. The Modern Solid Slavia B was the first EV in Skoda’s 2025 ‘Icons Reimagined’ line, and brings together elements of the original bike’s ‘café racer’ aesthetic with modern design cues such as a floating seat and a hollow frame derived from the Czech language’s ‘haček’ diacritic.

Skoda Ferat

The Skoda Ferat isn’t real. The Skoda Ferat can’t hurt you, even if it is based on a blood-fuelled Skoda 110 Super Sport, a one-off prototype that starred in the 1982 Czechoslovak horror film – Upír z Feratu. Inspired by the original car’s moody black and red colour scheme, designers Giuseppe Campo and Stanislav Sabo sought to create “something mysterious, slightly dangerous, and striking emerging from the darkness”. With the Modern Solid design language, they redesigned the Ferat’s liftable driver/passenger compartment to “literally engulf the crew.” The pair also brought the car’s all-threatening aura firmly up to date for the niche automotive horror fanbase.  Thankfully, the Ferat no longer draws its power from human blood from an accelerator pedal offset with a pair of fangs. In fact, Campo and Sabo were keen to stress that this new, non-vampiric Ferat is a purpose-built EV, and the driver can keep an eye on the battery level via an illuminated red strip along the centre console.