Škoda 1101 and 1102: the postwar Tudor

The Škoda 1101 and its short-lived relative the Škoda 1102 were small family and light commercial cars built by AZNP in Mladá Boleslav, Vrchlabí and Kvasiny. The 1101 went into production in 1946 as a modernised version of the prewar Popular 1101, the 1102 followed in 1949, and between them roughly 67,000 cars were made before production ended in 1952.

Škoda 1101/1102 at a glance

History of the Škoda 1101/1102

From Popular to 1101

The 1101 was in effect a modernisation of the Škoda Popular 1101 of 1939, and it even kept the factory type number 938. Development went on secretly during the war, and a 1944 brochure already showed a body very close to the production car. The shell was new, although it kept the traditional mixed construction of a wooden frame covered with steel panels, and it brought a new grille with fully recessed headlamps and thin horizontal ribs. Inside there was a new dashboard with a combined instrument cluster and a preparation for a radio, hydraulic lever shock absorbers replaced friction dampers at the front, and Hardy couplings gave way to cross joints in the propeller shaft. Heating was still not standard, except in the ambulance.

Bodies for every job

Production began in 1946, and the first prototype, completed on 6 March 1946, was a tudor — a two-door saloon. The name stuck and was used for the whole family whatever the body. Through 1946 and 1947 the range grew to include an estate, a two-door cabriolet, a van, an ambulance, a roadster and a military open four-door called the 1101 VO, of which 4,237 were built between 1948 and 1951. All versions could be had with left- or right-hand drive, and the bulk of production was exported, above all to Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. A five-rib grille arrived on roadsters and saloons in 1947 and on the other passenger versions from 1948; a two-spoke steering wheel came in mid-1950 and round instruments borrowed from the 1200 in June 1951.

The 1102 and the end

The 1102 appeared in April 1949 and was almost identical, except that the gear lever moved from the floor to the steering column, the front bumper was integrated into the body and vent flaps appeared on the sides ahead of the indicators. It did not replace the 1101: saloons, especially four-door ones, were built mostly as 1102s, while vans, estates and ambulances stayed on 1101 chassis. The 1102 was made until the end of October 1951 and the last 1101 left the works on 23 May 1952. Škoda also built a handful of racing specials, the Škoda Sport and Supersport, on 1101 mechanicals.

Design and features

• Wooden-framed body: a traditional mixed construction that was slow and costly to build by hand.
• Many body styles: from a two-door tudor to an estate, van, ambulance, roadster and military tourer.
• Export car: about 50,000 of roughly 67,000 went abroad.
• Column gearchange on the 1102: the easiest way to tell a late car from a 1101.

Škoda 1101/1102 versions

• 1101 Tudor: the original two-door saloon of 1946.
• 1101 four-door saloon and estate: family bodies added from 1947–1949.
• 1101 van and ambulance: light commercial and medical versions.
• 1101 roadster and tudor cabriolet: open cars in small numbers.
• 1101 VO: military open four-door, 4,237 built in 1948–1951.
• 1102: column gearchange, integrated bumper, made 1949–1951.

The 1101 was replaced by the Škoda 1200, and its prewar ancestor was the Škoda Popular. More cars are in the Škoda collection.

Video: A bord d’une Skoda 1101 Tudor de 1948

Video by Matthieu Turel on YouTube.

Sources

• Škoda 1101/1102, English Wikipedia: production dates, engine, suspension, military version, totals
• Škoda 1101/1102, Czech Wikipedia: body styles, 1102 changes, equipment updates, production figures