Škoda Felicia
Red Škoda Felicia Combi at the Bratislava Transport Museum (Bratislava, Slovakia)
The Škoda Felicia (Type 781/791) is a subcompact car (B-segment) produced by the Czech automaker Škoda Auto from 1994 to 2001. It was the last model on Škoda’s own platform, but was one of the first models to benefit from Škoda Auto’s takeover by Germany’s Volkswagen Group. The Felicia was a heavily reworked version of the Favorit, retaining its core structure but with new outer body panels, giving it a fresh, more modern appearance, along with a redesigned front end and a wider range of VW-sourced engines.
The Felicia name had previously been used by Škoda from 1959 to 1964 for a range of two-seater sports cars.
Overview
The Felicia came in a variety of body styles, both for personal and professional use. The base model was a five-door hatchback, which, from June 1995, was joined by a station wagon that replaced the Favorit-based Forman, now renamed the Felicia Combi (Type 795).
It was also a coupé utility version, the Felicia Pickup (Type 797), and a panel van called the Felicia Vanplus. The Pickup featured a redesigned rear axle to increase space in the cargo area. The pickup version was also imported to some countries rebranded as the Volkswagen Caddy Pickup. Pickup model also had a lifestyle edition named the Felicia Fun (Type 796), conceived mostly for the Western European market.
All internal-combustion engines used in the Felicia are inline four-cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled designs. Most are fuel-injected, but a four-cylinder carbureted engine (43 kW) was also available in some countries. The fundamental layout of the Felicia’s powertrain had the engine mounted at the front of the vehicle and oriented transversely. The only transmission was a five-speed manual gearbox, of transaxle design, which also housed the differential and final drive units. Drive was through the front wheels.
The lineup included the old 1.3-liter overhead-valve (OHV) Škoda gasoline engines, now with Bosch Mono-Motronic single-point fuel injection (until 1997) and later Siemens multi-point fuel injection. There were also two engines sourced from the Volkswagen Group: a 55 kW (74 HP) 1.6-liter gasoline engine with Magneti Marelli multi-point fuel injection, and a 47 kW (63 HP) 1.9 D diesel engine.
Characteristics
Manufacturer: Škoda Auto a.s. (Volkswagen Group)
Assembly: Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic)
Years of production: 1994—2001
Length: 3855–4205 mm
Width: 1635 mm
Height: 1415 mm
Engine: 4 cylinders; 1289–1896 cc
Power: 53–72 HP
Max speed: 170 km/h
Fuel consumption: 7 l/100 km
Weight: 920–1060 kg
See also:
