The Škoda VOS is a
full-size luxury car produced by the Czechoslovak automaker
AZNP at their plant in
Mladá Boleslav between 1949 and 1952. For a few years it was the preferred car for senior political and military personnel in Czechoslovakia. It was never sold to the general public.
Background
In 1949 the plant at
Mladá Boleslav assembled the last
Škoda Superbs, large
six-cylinder limousines evoking the style of American cars in the late 1930s. The authorities needed a more modern replacement and instructed
Škoda
Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to:
Czech brands and enterprises
* Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav
** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
to develop one. This was the car that would become the Škoda VOS. The letters VOS indicated a "special car for the government" in Czech or Slovak (''Vládní Osobní Speciál'' or ''Vládny Osobný Špeciál'').
The car
The car went into production in 1950 with the coach builder (even then better known as a producer of
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es)
Karosa: final assembly took place at Škoda's own plant. The form of the car was unremarkable, despite having been designed by
Oldrich Meduna whose reputation till that point came from his work designing
military tanks. The mechanical architecture was also conventional, with a front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels.
More remarkable, at least in terms of European cars of the time, was a large 5.2-litre engine delivering . The engine came from a
Praga truck. Because of the weight of the armour plating, the standard car weighed nearly 4 tons, however. The top speed was restricted to 80 km/h (50 mph) on the orders of the interior ministry. A "Light-weight" version without all the armour plating was also listed.
Unusually for the time, the car was fitted with air-conditioning. However, the air conditioning mechanism occupied most of the space in the boot/trunk, and it became common for dignitaries moving by VOS to travel followed by a second car to carry luggage.
Celebrity connections
Famous owners included
President Gottwald
Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman from ...
,
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
,
Zhu De,
Ana Pauker and
Mao Zedong.
Ana Pauker, the infamous female communist leader of the
Romanian Workers' Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...
(later to become the
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...
) had a Škoda VOS built for running on tracks, reaching speeds of up to 115 km/h with a total weight of 5 tons. The model is now up for display in the train Station of
Sinaia. The driver's secure wind shield is smashed after a supposed attempted attack on the lady also known as "Stalin with skirt" near the
Roşiori Nord train station.
The end
Production of the VOS ended in 1952, by when 107 had been built. Škoda were not invited to replace the car, and the nation's political elite switched their allegiance to the
Tatra 603.
References
Sources
*Bernard Vermeylen, Voitures des pays de l'Est, Boulogne-Billancourt, ETAI, 2008, 239 p. () (OCLC 470767381)
*KRÁLÍK, Jan: Utajené projekty Škoda; GRADA Publishing 2007,
*CEDRYCH, Mario René & NACHTMANN, Lukáš: ŠKODA – auta známá i neznámá; GRADA Publishing 2003,
*Škoda VOS: Pro bolševiky od Prahy po Peking
External links
Škoda VOS in Škoda Auto museum 2003Picture of Škoda VOS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda VOS (1949-1952)
VOS
1950s cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Full-size vehicles
Luxury vehicles
Sedans
Cars introduced in 1949
Cars discontinued in 1952