Skoda: Trekka, the Czech Land Rover 🎥
ONE FOR EVERYTHING In the 1960s, the rustic Trekka was created in New Zealand with components from Skoda - not with four-wheel drive, but still suitable for all roads. We took the all-purpose vehicle for a test drive.
Skoda what? Trekka? Never heard of it! The reaction is always the same, even among experts: Hardly anyone knows this model. This is hardly surprising, as the Skoda Trekka is rarer on this side of the globe than a Ferrari 250 GTO, and its history is as adventurous as its angular design. "It was built in New Zealand, 3000 times in total," says the proud owner of a Trekka, Jiri Valach, who takes us on a test drive.
Production in New Zealand
But how did Skoda get to New Zealand? As in many overseas markets, the brand already had an established customer base there before the fall of communism. The general importer, Motor Industries International, came up with the idea of building an off-road car with robust Skoda technology in the 1960s. The resourceful engineers in Mlada Boleslav helped with the development. A shortened central tube chassis from the Octavia of the time served as the basis. The Trekka is only 3.55 meters long. It was manufactured between 1966 and 1972 in Otahuhu near Auckland. Many parts were supplied by the factory in the distant Czech Republic. A few examples also found their way to Australia, Fiji and other island states in the South Pacific.
Role model Land Rover
The angular Trekka proved itself everywhere - even off-road. Jiri doesn't go easy on his specimen either, letting it rumble through potholes and jump over bumps. The two front seats are still comfortable to sit on. But on the rear benches, which are positioned lengthways to the direction of travel, as in the early Land Rover, it becomes uncomfortable. The angular design of the Trekka, especially the front, is also reminiscent of the English progenitor of all off-road vehicles.
Only with rear-wheel drive
There is no all-wheel drive. A limited slip differential prevents the driven rear wheels from spinning so quickly. The 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine delivers 47 hp to a 4-speed gearbox. All the wheels are individually suspended - Skoda was already doing this in the 60s.
Sufficient ground clearance and the central tube chassis protect the Trekka technology from contact with the ground. The air filter is enthroned high on the left mudguard. River crossings in the New Zealand outback thus lose their terror.
Source: auto-medienportal.net
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