Background
Škoda began rallying in the 1960s, but international interest took off with the 1985/6 130LR which was built to take advantage of the Group B regulations.
Škoda Motorsport, was at the time a small outfit by works rally team standards and run as a department of the main Škoda factory. Compared to the other cars in the same classes, they were increasingly dated in technological terms, but with strong reliability proved very successful on the longer rallies, with notable success on the RAC Rally in which they took the under 1300cc trophy for seventeen years running. On European Championship events they frequently finished in the top ten, and on events behind the Iron Curtain they were often contenders for outright victory, although against relatively limited opposition.
In 1987 the Škoda Favorit was launched to replace the old 120/130 series. The body shell was designed by Bertone and included a number of firsts for Škoda, it was a hatchback, it was front wheel drive and the biggest departure from the past, it was front engined. The Favorit was available with two different engine versions as Favorit 135 or Favorit 136. Both had the same 1289cc engine, but in road form the 135 had only 54BHP while the 136 had 68BHP and not surprisingly the 136 was used for rallying, where its power was increased to 110BHP.
Like its predecessors, the Favorit was sturdy but, slow. That said it would continue the team’s record of class and category wins, with Favorits finishing first and second in the under 1300cc class in the 1993 Monte Carlo Rally, coming in 18th and 23rd overall respectively.
The introduction for the ‘Formula 2’ category to world rallying in 1993 gave it a chance to chase bigger prizes, as the Škoda Motorsport entered Favorit proceeded to win outright in the 2-litre Manufacturers Championship category of the 1994 FIA World Rally Championship with a total of 43 points. Works driver Pavel Sibera managed to take the Favorit into the overall top ten classification on two occasions, which included the main World Rally Championship category, and his team-mate Emil Triner achieved the same feat, with a highest placing of 9th overall in the Acropolis Rally, and 8th in the Rallye de España.
This Car
Is chassis number P0590050 and was originally registered under its native plate of MBH-82-07, which stayed on the car whilst it was campaigned by Škoda Motorsport.
When the car was registered into the UK by Škoda GB and sold to Stephen Wedgbury, the UK plate of L910ORP and remained with the car until 1997 when he bought a private plate A13FAV. In the hands of Stephen Wedgebury, it secured the 1997 British Championship in class N1.
The car was purchased by its current owner in 2017, in a sorry but solid state and underwent a thorough restoration resulting in the fine example you see before you.
Technical :-
Engine : 1300cc, 8v, SUHC, 115bhp
Induction : Naturally Aspirated, Single Weber Carburettor
Transmission : Front Wheel Drive, Five Speed with LSD
