TREKKA – PRECURSOR OF THE ŠKODA SUV

Mladá Boleslav has welcomed the arrival of the TREKKA, a car that helped to shape the history of motoring on the other side of the world. Carrying a healthy dose of ŠKODA DNA, the first TREKKA was made in New Zealand in 1966.

Nearly 3,000 of these cars, which could be described as a forerunner of ŠKODA’s current crop of SUVs, came off the production line in the kiwi town of Otahuhu. Only a handful of specimens have made their way to Europe in recent years. One of them is joining the ŠKODA Museum, while another – in full working order – is in the hands of an owner from South Moravia.

The TREKKA, the first ever car to be designed and made in New Zealand, was a joint effort by ŠKODA, ŠKODA’s New Zealand importer, and local companies with the right expertise. Complete technical kits of ŠKODA OCTAVIA components (comprising an engine, gearbox and axles) were dispatched from ŠKODA headquarters in Mladá Boleslav, along with adapted chassis differing primarily in their wheelbase, which had been shortened from 2,389 mm to 2,165 mm. The body, a team effort by the British designer George Taylor and Josef Velebný, who had previously served as ŠKODA’s head of bodywork development, was then built on top.

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