Already the Škoda Favorit promised the beginning of a change. It was still no turning point, but remarkable in two respects. On one hand, with the Favorit and the estate car variant Forman arised the first front-wheel drive. Since the plannings got underway not till around 1983 and the predecessors were still produced after the rather antiquated rear-engine design, the second big surprise was the breathtaking short development time for a planned economy.

Actually there was a third turning point to a new design that was continued successfully by the successors. It had become somewhat typical of the brand with its skilful angularity and differed significantly from the rounder predecessors. Marc Decamps of the company Bertone was said to have been responsible for it. He is said to have already drawn the Citroën 2CV. But more similarity the Favorit had with later works by Decamps, e.g. Citroën BX.

It must have been a premonition of the coming political events that have also induced other western companies to cooperate with Škoda. So probably Fichtel & Sachs and even Porsche were also involved. One must not forget that there are still the Warsaw Pact in the production year of the Favorit and the purchase price in the still existing Czechoslovakia accounts for almost 30 average monthly salaries. 10/14