There are a few people that know that the Rapid moniker was not invented a few years ago with the budget-saloon Czech model. Back in 1935, Skoda was also selling a Rapid model. Between 1984 and 1990, the Czech car manufacturer had another Rapid with rear-engine and rear-wheel drive.
But there are few people that know that back in 1936 Prague entrepreneur Bretislav Jan Prochazka, with Jindrich Kubias started a trip around the world in a Skoda Rapid. They have completed a 27.700 kilometer trip around the world in 97 days (44 days of actual driving).
All started in Czechoslovakia on April 25, 1936. They go in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, entered into the former Soviet Union and then from Moscow down to Baku, Azerbaijan. After that, the two guys took the car across the Caspian Sean and into Iran.
After that, the trip went to Quetta, Pakistan, Mumbai, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. After a short trip in Hong Kong and Shanghai they arrived in Kobe, Japan. The car was put on a ferry and sailed in San Francisco. The two guys managed to conquer the Big Apple and the last stage of this adventure took them from Cherbourg, France, via Paris and Nuremberg, back to Prague.
In this journey, this Skoda Rapid crossed the Europe, Asia and North America and used 2,820 liters of fuel achieving an average consumption of 10,2 l/100 km.
