Škoda 110 R: the affordable rear-engined coupé

The Škoda 110 R is a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé that AZNP built in Kvasiny between 1970 and 1980. It replaced the slow-selling 1000 MBX and 1100 MBX coupés, used the familiar 1.1-litre four in a more powerful form, and became the starting point for Škoda’s rally cars of the 1970s.

Škoda 110 R at a glance

History of the Škoda 110 R

Why Škoda needed a coupé

The two-door coupé versions of the 1000 MB family, the MBX cars, were built on a body that did not suit the role and sold badly. Škoda looked for a more convincing sporting model and took the body of the Simca 1200S as a reference; tests of one of those cars helped to speed up the work. The first 110 R prototype was running in 1968, and the production car was derived from the 110 saloon, with which it shared the front end almost unchanged, but with frameless doors, frameless opening rear quarter windows and a fastback rear. The cabin had two proper sports seats and two occasional places behind them, and the dashboard carried a tachometer, an oil pressure gauge, a fuel gauge and a temperature gauge.

Detail changes, model by model

The 1971 model had two headlamps and chrome strips on the front wings borrowed from the 100/110 saloons, with a wood-effect dashboard and no head restraints. From August 1971 the 1972 model lost the strips, gained head restraints and vent grilles on the rear pillars, and had its fuel filler rebuilt under a steel flap. Early in 1973 came the 1973 model with the four-headlamp nose, the filler moved about 10 cm higher and a two-speed heater fan. After the 105/120 family arrived the 110 R received a taller final drive, from 1:4.444 to 1:4.22, a newer Jikov fuel pump and a newer carburettor. The last cars, built from August to December 1980, had an electrically heated rear window and 13-inch wheels with 165 SR 13 tyres instead of the earlier 14-inch wheels.

Racing and the end of the line

The 110 R was the basis of Škoda’s competition programme: the 110 R Rallye, the 130 RS homologation special, and the one-off 180 RS and 200 RS with 1.8 and 2.0-litre overhead-camshaft engines. The ultimate version was Bořivoj Kořínek’s fuel-injected 2000 MI of 1975, known as the Grenade, with about 250 hp. A small batch of civilian 130 RS cars was even sold through Tuzex and exported to West Germany, in pea green with a sunroof and a 100 hp engine. Production of the 110 R ended in 1980, a year before its successor, the Garde, appeared. Many cars were heavily modified after 1990, with Favorit engines and body kits, which makes original examples the most sought after today.

Design and features

• Coupé body on saloon mechanicals: the same rear-engine layout, but two doors and a fastback tail.
• More power: the 1,107 cc engine was tuned to 62 bhp SAE, enough for 145 km/h.
• Frameless glass: doors and rear quarter windows without frames, a rare touch in the class.
• Rally pedigree: the basis of the 130 RS and of Škoda’s international competition cars.

Škoda 110 R versions

• Model 1971: two headlamps, chrome wing strips, wood-effect dashboard.
• Model 1972: head restraints, rear pillar vents, new fuel filler.
• Model 1973: four headlamps and a two-speed heater fan.
• Model 1981: heated rear window and 13-inch wheels, built in the last months of 1980.
• 130 RS: rally homologation special derived from the 110 R.

The 110 R shared its engine with the Škoda 110 LS and was replaced by the Škoda Garde. More cars are in the Škoda collection.

Video: Jaroslav Chytil – Škoda 110R – Mohyla Míru 2012

Video by H & M automotive videos on YouTube.

Sources

• Škoda 110 R, English Wikipedia: production, engine, performance, racing derivatives
• Škoda 110 R, Czech Wikipedia: model years, equipment, final drive, production totals