Škoda Auto does not build many cars like the Škoda Rapid with Type 901/914: 1386 cc Flathead engine, built from 1935 to 1947 when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together.
The story
The Škoda Rapid is a mid-size car that was made in Czechoslovakia by Škoda from 1935 to 1947. Škoda had first applied the "Rapid" name to a version of its 1195 cc Popular Type 920 made in 1934–1935. From 1935, however, it transferred the name to a new, larger model. The Rapid Type 901 has a 1386 cc sidevalve engine and was built 1935–1938.
It was succeeded by the Rapid OHV (Type 922) which has a 1558 cc overhead valve engine and was built 1938–1947. There was a six-cylinder sister model, the Škoda Rapid Six (Type 910), with a 1961 cc engine, which was launched in 1935. In 1984 Škoda revived the "Rapid" name for the Rapid version of the Škoda Type 742 (120/130). Since 2010, the company has also used the name on a succession of models built in its factory at Pune in India.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits Type 901/914: 1386 cc Flathead engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Škoda Auto's history is not in doubt: it was built at Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Bugatti Type 57, the Chevrolet Suburban, the Volkswagen Beetle. Nearby in the Škoda Auto catalogue sit the HZS-1 and the Trekka.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Škoda Rapid has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.