Czechoslovakia in the 1950s was a vastly different country than the modern day Czech Republic. Still, that never limited her people’s productivity. Skoda was founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement, and in the spring of 1956 the company began to develop an open-top two-seat racing car.

The first example of the sports prototype, the Skoda 1100 OHC, was built 60 years ago. The race car is fairly mini, with a total length of 3,880 mm and a width of 1,430 mm. It is also lightweight at just 550 kg, thanks to a glass-fibre reinforced plastic body. Its 1089 cc, four-cylinder engine outputs 92 hp at 7700 rpm and offers a top speed of 200 km/h.

Only two examples of this historical 1100 OHC are left: one is owned by the British importer for events within the UK, and the other one is kept inside the Skoda Museum at the automaker’s headquarters in Mladá Boleslav. Two 1100 OHC Coupes were also built in 1959 with a closed aluminium body. The two coupes were destroyed in accidents but the Skoda team is currently restoring one example with its drivetrain and a preserved chassis.