Skoda Recreates Czechoslovakia’s Favorite Transporter For The 21st Century

Skoda has been asking its designers to mine its back catalog to render modern interpretations of its classic cars. The latest is a modern version of the Skoda 1203.

Although it did not reach the international heights of the Volkswagen microbus, for Czechoslovaks, the 1203 was the utility van. Sold as ambulances, hearses, delivery vans, and more, it was ubiquitous on streets of the country before it its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

And that ubiquity is why user interface designer Daniel Hajek chose it for his design study. “We have a flatbed version like that in the garden of my grandparents’ house, but it’s not roadworthy anymore,” he said. “It was kind of my first car, we used it on our farm, and when I was fifteen they let me start the engine now and then and drive it around the field.”

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Hajek didn’t just want his 1203 to be a nostalgia machine, though. “I wanted it to be clear from my study that this is the same vehicle, but I didn’t want it to be too obviously retro. I designed a modern vehicle that pays homage to the legend,” he said. “I wanted it to be timeless.”

Indeed, Hajek said he thinks a vehicle like this would fit right into Skoda’s lineup. That’s an idea we’re having a hard time letting go of. Based on VW’s MEB, this would make a fine counterpart to the ID.Buzz. With Volkswagen requiring much electrification of its vassal manufacturers, an electric 1203 would actually be pretty cool.

In his imagination, Hajek said this would be a pop-top camper for regular people, not just businesses.

“This kind of car has been gaining in popularity recently, so in the end, that’s the kind of design I went for,” he said. “But my first idea was to design a peloton escort vehicle for the Tour de France.”

Curiously, the interior has no infotainment system. As a user interface designer, you would think that Hajek would start there. But according to the designer, he figures people will just use their phones with an app designed by Skoda.

Unfortunately, Skoda has expressed no desire to actually produce something like this, but it would be interesting to see them do it.