[bantic]

Skoda's engineers recognised that the company needed to produce a modern, front-engined and faster car if it was to maintain export volume. The proposal was the 720, a replacement for the old Octavia designed in collaboration with Italdesign. The 720 featured new 1300cc (67bhp) and 1498cc (87bhp) engines, and was suitable for saloon, coupe and estate bodystyles. The unstable political climate, however, and the subsequent occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces in 1968 to crush the Prague Spring uprising meant that the project was suspended, and the rear-engined models remained in production. Other experimental cars of the period included prototypes with Wankel rotary engines, and a joint project (the 760) was planned with East German company Wartburg, but despite eight years of talks and the construction of 1100cc prototypes, this too was shelved after Wartburg ran out of money to take it any further.

1975 brought the first of the updated 100/110-series models: the 130 RS coupe. A new-generation iteration of the 110 R, it became the most successful rally car in the 1300cc class, taking first and second places on the 1977 Monte Carlo Rally, and even managing a victory in the European Touring Car Championships in 1981, despite low engine power and only a four-speed gearbox.

Mainstream saloon models, the 105, 120 and 130 (indicating 1050cc, 1200cc and 1300cc engines, increased-capacity versions of the 1000/1100 unit) were launched in 1976. Although the basic recipe remained the same, these featured a larger body, more comfortable cabin, better luggage space and - crucially - better rust-proofing, and a radiator repositioned to the front helped weight distribution and handling. Further upgrades followed on into the 1980s, including rack-and-pinion steering, a five-speed gearbox and trailing arm suspension - and given that an entry-level Skoda 105 undercut the Citroen 2CV, these cars had their fans. They were tough and simple to maintain, coped well in wet and slippery conditions, and were, for the time, reasonably well-equipped for the price. The British liked them, anyway: in 1987 alone, towards the end of their lifecycle, UK dealers still managed to sell 17,000 rear-engined Skodas including the popular Rapid coupe, the replacement for the 110 R. A handful of cabriolet versions of this model were produced in Germany and in Czechoslovakia.