› Made in 1974, the Škoda 200 RS competed as a prototype
› Exactly 50 years ago, the Škoda 200 RS established the RS designation, which today adorns the sportiest Škoda road cars
› The 200 RS came with rear-wheel drive, a two-litre rear engine delivering more than 170 horsepower and light bodywork
Mladá Boleslav, 16 September 2024 – Former World Rally Champion Petter Solberg and son Oliver Solberg, who currently leads the WRC2 category of the FIA World Rally Championship, had a very special rendezvous: The rally drivers put the legendary Škoda 200 RS through its paces.
The Škoda 200 RS and the 2003 FIA World Rally Champion Petter Solberg plenty of things in common: Both were born in 1974 and both are still fast and in good shape as a recent meeting between them showed. Petter Solberg also brought his son Oliver, the 22-year-old competes in the WRC2 category of the FIA World Rally Championship with a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 and currently leads the overall standings.
The Škoda 200 RS was very innovative at the time, it features aluminum body panels reducing the curb weight to roughly 800 kilograms and disc brakes at all four wheels. The 2.0-litre engine delivers more than 170 horsepower to the rear wheels. The car reached top speeds of up to 240 km/h, depending on the gear ratio.
“It must have been a special experience to drive it in competition,” Petter Solberg said as he took to the wheel of the 50-year old car. The former World Rally Champion’s verdict after some hot laps: “The torque of the engine makes it easy to control when you go sideways. The weight of the engine on the back gives a great traction and the balance is very good which makes it easy to drive.”
The Škoda 200 RS made its debut in May 1974 at the IDA Rally in what was then Czechoslovakia. A few weeks later, Škoda also entered two cars into the Barum Rally and into the Rally Škoda in Mladá Boleslav. There, the two red and white painted Škoda 200 RS competed side by side with their sister car, the Škoda 180 RS.
The Škoda engineers had developed a first-rate rally car that could hold its own against the strongest competition. But things turned out differently. New regulations brought the careers of the 180 RS and 200 RS to a premature end: Homologation of prototypes was no longer possible for rallying. Instead, only cars based on production models were allowed to compete. As a consequence, only two Škoda 200 RS and one Škoda 180 RS were ever built.
However, enough experience had been gained to develop a new rally car based on the Škoda 110 R, the Škoda 130 RS. With this model, Škoda drivers achieved success in national and international rallies until 1983. Today, Škoda uses the RS designation for the brand’s sportiest road cars.
MediaBox
