So, at least in Europe, Russia and China, the car was sold for a few more years. And then there was the Rapid developed specifically for the Indian market, a different car in reality, it was produced between 2009 and 2021.
Of course, the name Rapid can be found several times in the history of the Mladá Boleslav car company. It first appeared in 1934, when the Škoda 420 Rapid was launched, which was replaced a year later by a car sold only as the Škoda Rapid.
The name Rapid has a rather imaginative origin. It is derived from the Latin rapid meaning fast, and was simply intended to indicate to customers that the Rapid was more powerful than the Popular model. The Rapid was then produced until 1947.
In the 1980s, the Czech carmaker returned to this name when it chose it for the well-known two-door coupe with rear engine and rear-wheel drive, derived from the Škoda 742 sedan. At that time, it was a modernized version of the Garde model, whose production started in 1984 and remained in the range until 1990.
Then there was another longer pause before the Rapid arrived in 2012, which is mentioned in the introduction – first as a liftback and soon after as a hatchback, in both cases equipped with two pairs of side doors, whose dimensions ranged between small cars and lower middle class.
Although it was (and still is in the case of used cars) a relatively popular car, Škoda decided to give its successor a different name – at the end of 2018, the introduced novelty received the name Scala. And it was only expected to have a hatchback body.
However, the importance of the Rapid name in the history of the successful Czech brand and its familiarity give hope that it could return again someday. That’s why we thought, what could such a comeback look like?
And so we called in the young designer Daniel Novák, who has already prepared several interesting concepts for us in the past. This time he received the “assignment” from us to design a new generation Škoda Rapid, which could arrive on the market in the next few years.
Such an assignment thus meant clearly defined boundaries. In order for the result to be believable, Daniel had to be inspired by the most up-to-date Škoda concept of the future, the Vision O studio. And thus work with elements of the Modern Solid design language, which Škoda currently professes.
The modern Škoda style is particularly evident on the front fascia, the shape of the headlights at both ends of the car or the design of the front hood.
Photo: Daniel Novák
However, Daniel was also inspired by the past, especially with the last two “generations” of the Rapid model. The concept thus represents a practical five-door liftback with a distinctly sporty attitude, which is contributed by the “muscular” rear fenders and the sloping roof, which is connected to the large rear window. This solution clearly refers to the coupe of the 80s.
However, this is not the only detail inspired by the socialist Rapid, others include, for example, indicated openings in the front and back. The front ones refer to the typical Škoda mask of the 80s, the back ones to their engine cooling. Otherwise, Daniel’s study is a distinctly modern car. So what do you say, would you like the return of the Škoda Rapid?