Škoda
720 Ital Design prototype

Why it matters

The 720 ID shows what Škoda's planned modern mid-size car could have been. It was a clean rear-wheel-drive design from Giorgetto Giugiaro's Ital Design that was ready for production planning when politics stopped it.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

History

After five Škoda 720 prototypes with different Czech body designs were built in 1966, management was not satisfied and turned to the new Ital Design studio of Giorgetto Giugiaro. The contract was signed in May 1969 and the first 1.5-litre rear-wheel-drive sedan was ready by 30 August; more sedans, fastbacks and estates followed, with 1,498 cc and 1,236 cc four-cylinder engines. Škoda tested them for tens of thousands of kilometres and found no serious faults, although Ital Design called them mock-ups. Retail prices were even calculated, but political decisions of the normalisation period ended the project and the team around director Josef Šimon. The prototypes were then banned from operation and the survivors sold to private buyers. The later 742-series "105/120" cars have bodies that resemble the Italian lines.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   Creator of famous prototypes Level A Škoda Auto a.s. (Škoda Storyboard) · 2021-12-09

   • 1,498 cc and 1,236 cc four-cylinder engines
   • the first 1.5 litre sedan with rear-wheel drive was finished

   Accessed 2026-11-12