80 YEARS AGO
After the start in Czechoslovakia Procházka
and Kubias drove through Germany, Poland,
Lithuania and Latvia and further to the former
Soviet Union. Following the stage from Moscow to Baku, Azerbaijan, the ŠKODA RAPID
took a day of rest in the Russian city of Kaluga. Today the new ŠKODA RAPID, a grandson
of the globe-trotting model, rolls down the assembly line in the ŠKODA plant there.
After sailing over the Caspian Sea the RAPID crossed Iran, where the crew had to endure a sandstorm. The resulting time loss forced Prcoházka and Kubias to complete the
stretch from Quetta, Pakistan, to Mumbai in
three days, so that they would not miss the
ferry from India to Sri Lanka. Having driven
through Malaysia and Singapore they were taken aboard a ship via Hongkong and Shanghai to Kobe, Japan. Passing through Honolulu
the pair reached San Francisco. After 5,300
kilometres, 100 hours and 55 minutes they finally conquered the Big Apple, breaking the
current record by more than nine hours. The
last stage took them from the French city of
Cherbourg to France and further via Paris and
Nuremberg to Prague.