In July 1961, production of the first Škoda Octavia Combi began in Kvasiny. Did you know that it also offered bedding?
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AZNP was still working on a more practical version of the Octavia Tudor, the production of which began in 1959, in the 1950s, and the first prototype in a two-color lacquer finish was completed during September 1959.
The finished Combi was then presented to the public on September 11, 1960 at the International Engineering Fair in Brno, but until April 1961, operational tests were still in progress, homologation took place in mid-May. From July, production started.
Like the Tudor, the Octavia Combi used a backbone chassis frame with independent all-wheel suspension. After all, the name of the model is related to the concept: the Octavia was the eighth in a series of models built in this way, so the basis of its name is the Latin numeral octo, ie eight, or octava – eighth. And from the ancient era, the female name Octāvia was born from it, which the car took over.
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However, the interpretation of the ideology of the time spoke of the eighth Mladá Boleslav model since the nationalization of the carmaker in October 1945. An alternative explanation refers to the position in the development series begun in 1934 by the First Republic model Popular.
The Octavia Combi was a relatively compact car with a length of 4065 millimeters, a width of 1600 mm and a height of 1430 mm. It was equipped with one pair of doors, which were complemented by a rear double door, horizontally divided.
A place to sleep
The lower part at floor level was connected to the loading area of the trunk with a volume of up to 690 liters (measured to the ceiling). After folding down the undivided rear seats, an area 1495 mm long and 1355 mm wide was created, and up to 1,050 liters of luggage could be unloaded on the ceiling when traveling in two.
An interesting element was a separate space for a spare wheel. The designers found a place for him under the trunk floor, access was provided by a separate hinged lid above the bumper.
During the modernization in 1969, this element disappeared, replaced by horizontally placed rectangular combination lamps from the Škoda 100/110. The reserve could then only be reached after unloading part of the luggage, but the penetration of moisture into the “pocket” with the reserve was reduced.
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The practicality and variability of the interior is related to the possibility of bedding, which has been offered by all station wagons at no extra charge since 1961. To create the bed, it was necessary to move the front seats completely forward and fold down their backrests. So she followed up on the seats in the second row. The removed backrests served as a headrest. In 1968, the Octavia Combi was given the opportunity to fold the backrests of the rear seats not only forwards but also backwards.
While the standard Octavia was produced only until 1964, the station wagon in Kvasiny was created until 1971. A total of 50,244 copies were produced, the last piece remained the property of the carmaker.
Roughly two-thirds of the station wagon’s production went abroad, with the exception of countries bordering Czechoslovakia, especially the GDR and Hungary, with hundreds of copies sold to the British Isles or Norway, and dozens more found their way to Australia or Iceland.
The name Octavia Combi returned to the scene in 1998 with the first generation of the currently best-selling model line of the Czech carmaker. But that’s a different story.
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