Škodas for skiing: a snowy scene at the Savoy

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

We found one public relations picture from the mid-1950s showing two ladies with a Škoda 440, very suitable for this time of year with the snowy surroundings. A little search led us to several more shots from the same series, and because we're getting into the Christmas mood, we thought we'd share them all with you as a present.

The 440 model was named after its 1100cc four-cylinder engine which produced 40hp, but it had different model designations, too. Officially it was known as the Type 970, but when unveiled in Brussels in 1955, the car was named the Škoda Orlik, while the ones sold on the home-market and in Russia were known as the Škoda Spartak. Confusing? Well, other export models came with Rapid or Rival badges to make things even more mystifying. If anyone who can explain the logic behind all this, feel free to tell us.

The beauty of this photographic series is that we have been able to identify the location, too. The Hotel Savoy in the background of the last two is in fact the Hotel Savoy in Špindlerův Mlýn, in Bohemia, which was built there in 1881. It's a popular ski destination for those in the know.

Špindlerův Mlýn is only an hour and a half's drive from the old Škoda headquarter in Mladá Boleslav. Well, it is today, if calculated for clement weather. It may have been very much different back in that particularly snowy winter of 1955 and with those skinny cross-plies…

Words: Jeroen Booij; pictures: Škoda PR
 

Aggiunga un commento...