Euro car & TdF watchers. What can you tell me about Skoda?
I've been watching the Tour de France on TV for years, and several teams have support vehicles we don't get in the US. The one that caught my eye is the Skoda. I remember these were products of a Soviet block country (Poland?) back in the 50s and 60s.
Where are they made, what model am I seeing in the race, and what are the specs?
Tagged with: 50s • 60s • poland • skoda • soviet block • support vehicles • tour de france • tour de france on tv
Filed under: Watch Live Tour de France
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Skodas are made in the country that was formally known as Czechoslovakia. They have been manufacturing cars for over 100 years! They were taken over by the Volkswagen Group. So basically Skoda, Seat, VW and Audi all share common floorplans and engines. Skodas are very reliable (interestingly more reliable and cheaper than a VW or Audi).
Most of the supporting Skodas in the Tour de France are Octavia Estates. These have a 1.9 or 2.0 litre turbo diesel engine (depending on model). You can also get 2.0 petrol engines, but most people buy the diesels as you can get nearly 60MPG out of the diesel engines. They are great cars - I have a 2002 Octavia 1.9TDi estate. It has done 164,000 miles and still drives okay. It should be good for 300,000 miles! That’s why the taxi drivers in the UK tend to use Skodas - they are fairly cheap to buy, reliable and also cheap to run.