New Skoda 100 concept unveiled: a retro, rear-wheel-drive electric saloon made to turn heads

Between 1969 and 1977, Skoda produced over one million units of its 100 sedan and now the Czech firm has reimagined it as a modern-day EV. 

The 100 sedan concept features a sharp, angular design that brings a futuristic twist to a shape from the sixties. The man responsible is Skoda exterior designer, Martin Paclt, who said, “I wanted to work with a car that people know well – and that many once owned themselves. The Skoda 100 appealed to me with its clean, timeless lines, which resonate strongly with the current Modern Solid design direction.” 

Skoda has been looking to its classic cars for inspiration recently with several concepts as part of its ‘Icons Get a Makeover’ series. So far we’ve seen a two-door coupe,  21st Century interpretation of the Favorit and the achingly cool 110R concept. 

The new concept follows this trend, but there’s some influence from Skoda’s current models too. “I drew from the proportions of the Superb, and the resulting concept turned out slightly larger”, said Paclt. 

He also said he didn’t want to do a “retro-styled recreation”. The concept comes with a few modern design cues like the indented bonnet line leading to the ‘Skoda’ script and a four-headlight signature. 

The stand-out part of the concept’s design comes towards the back. The original Skoda 100 was rear-engined and Paclt wanted the concept’s rear-drive layout to have an impact on its looks. “I wanted to create a concept with a certain degree of realism,” said Paclt.

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That can be seen in the cooling: there’s a roof-mounted intake in the place of a back window and to the side there’s more air intakes, similar in positioning to the original car’s. Around the rear the full-width slats mimic the cooling required for the Skoda 100’s 1.0-litre four-cylinder. 

As with the other creations within the Icons Get a Makeover series, the 100 sedan concept isn’t destined to make production. However, with Paclt previously getting involved with the design of the Kodiaq, Karoq, Scala and many other production Skodas, we’ll wait and see what influence he and the 100 sedan concept will have on future models. 

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