Skoda Favorit – Driving Test – From the Old Box

In a sense, the successor to the Favorit, the Felicia, is the last Skoda of the old stamp, but when it came out, Volkswagen already had a firm finger in the pie. The Favorit really dates back to the time when the Czechs did it themselves. Well, with western technology on board Bosch, for example, and in addition, Porsche was involved in the engine at a detailed level; that designed the engine mounts. The design was not Czech either, because it came from Bertone’s design studio. In addition, with the Favorit, Skoda got rid of the old principle of the rear engine and rear-wheel drive. The whole thing moved to the front. In short, the Favorit was already a car in which a lot of the old Skoda disappeared from behind the iron curtain.

Nevertheless, the Skoda still radiated on various fronts that it came from a former Eastern Bloc country. For example, in terms of material use, but also the noise that entered the cabin. The latter was not only a result of substandard sound insulation, but also of the rather archaic engine that lay in the Favorit. A further developed four-cylinder that Skoda basically had on the shelves for many years.

What Skoda did have done well, however, was the handling of the Favorit. Compared to the competitors, that was certainly not great, but it was not too bad compared to what you might have expected from a Skoda at that time. The Favorit aroused quite a bit of confidence in that regard and was even quite comfortable, although the carriage did want to hang quite obliquely when it went a bit harder in the corners. That in turn ensured that with impending understeer you noticed that it was going too fast due to a lit wheel on one side than that you really started to slide out of the corner over the wheels.

Skoda Favorite

The interior of the Favorit was not bad at all, quite spacious even, although it was again not so bad compared to other Eastern Bloc cars. The hard and somewhat strange-smelling plastic and the not-too-bright design gave away its origins. The seating comfort made up for a lot, especially in combination with the comfortable and fairly soft adjustment of the suspension.

All in all, we could conclude that the Czechs had done a relatively good job and that the Favorit was a very serious attempt to join in with what had happened in the West in the meantime. The Favorit didn’t quite make it there, but it came close enough to be an interesting offer in combination with its very reasonable price. Anyone who took the image and the rough edges for granted could put a brand new car in front of the door for the price of a second-hand Favorit competitor. Just under 6,000 Dutchmen made that choice.