The 60th, that's a proper jubilee. And today it is celebrated by Skoda 440 Spartak , a model of the people's car. It replaced the 1101 and 1102 Tudor types, which were built on the pre-war basis of the Skoda Popular .
The first car was unveiled on December 19, but the public saw it for the first time only on May 1, 1954. However, the AZNP automaker dropped the name Spartak and kept only the numerical designation 440 (four-cylinder engine with 40 horsepower). However, the 1.1 liter OHV engine also had pre-war roots in the Popular and drove the rear wheels. Self-supporting bodies were then the music of the future, there was a central support tube with swinging semi-axles. Above it was a backbone frame that supported the bodywork.
The car went into production, however, more than a year later. The price was very high at the time, but the cars were still just a voucher. In addition, cars for the Czech market initially had significantly worse equipment. Later, the equipment situation improved, with the addition of a 1.2 l engine from the Skoda 1201 , the versions with it were named 445 . A total of 85,000 cars were produced, but only a fraction of them have survived to this day. The model was then supplemented with a 450 cabriolet. The 440 Sport and 440 Roadster prototypes were also created with an aerodynamic body from Karosa in Vysokmyth. The serial version of the 450 did not have an attractive appearance, but it got 2 carburetors under the hood, which increased the power of the basic engine to 37 kW.
The end of production caught " Spartak " in January 1959. However, it was not a complete end, but rather a facelift and renaming, when the sedan was named Octavia , the more powerful version was given the suffix Touring Sport , and the cabriolet was renamed the Felicia type, when the more powerful version was again named complete with the word Super . In addition to the name and appearance, the technique also partially changed. But that's another story.
Photo: coachbuild.com, skoda-auto.com, autowp.ru
