The unique MTX Roadster to Barcelona: A rarity across Europe for the Olympics

For over eight years, you have seen photos of Jiří Pekárek on the World of Motors website, most often in motoring reports. During their implementation, Jirka and I spent hundreds of hours locked in a car, and what do you want to do on the road other than gossiping? Jirka usually speaks and we enthusiastically devour his stories. He devoted his entire life to sports photography, and for two decades the magazine Stadion became his home in 1972. He also shot his first Olympics for him. He went to Montreal in 1976 accompanied by editor Jiří Pechr. That the name is familiar to you? Not to. He was the father of the current editor-in-chief of the World of Engines, Zbyšek Pechr.

Our photographer traveled with President Václav Havel to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Japan, where he met the emperor in person. He has experienced so much that we are no longer surprised at how many people get to know him in our work. Jirka ended his journey on sports holidays in Nagano in 1998. He was at the golden goal, which also became the point behind his sports-photographic era, before he set out on a "free leg" and after the sixties he settled in the World of Engines with his former son. colleagues.

Are you saying that now?

We get to the core of today's article by a big detour. Once again, I had stories told from behind the scenes of big sporting events, and Jirka just by the way remembered how he went to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 with the favorite convertible that Metalex did. I became sharper because it is a relatively rare piece of Czechoslovak automotive history, with which many people do not have personal experience.

"How did you come to him, please?" I ask. "Vašek Král offered it to me if I didn't want to take a trip and bring some interesting photos to Metalex."

"You mean the legendary designer, whose works, led by the supertatra, I swallowed as a little boy and attended his voluntary lectures while studying at CTU and enjoyed every chance meeting in the buffet over meatloaf?"

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Jirka did not expect my enthusiasm and just added dryly: “Vašek and I lived for thirty years in a house in Roztoky near Prague. At first it was just a neighbor, then we started working together when I helped him get some motoring topics and his cars to Stadion magazine, and in the end we became friends, "Jirka recalls with a nostalgic tear in his eye, and I just stare at what after years of cooperation, I pull for treasures. Personally, she never told him much about cars, so he didn't even realize that his friendship with a famous designer might actually be of interest to anyone.

He perceived the hundreds of drawings and drawings he saw after Václav Král's apartment as a natural backdrop during neighboring visits. "Vašek set up a studio in the living room, where meetings with his friends from the car industry and the media also took place. Unlike the drawing board, you would look in vain for a TV in your room. He called it a eater of time, so his children came to see us in the evening. Vašek also refused the phone, but from time to time he also needed to call, which used to be our guest. Over the years, people have become accustomed to this and left him messages with us, which from today's point of view must seem incomprehensible, "Jirka pulls out personal memories of the famous designer who left us fifteen years ago.

How was Barcelona?

"When Vašek found out in 1992 that I was going to take pictures at the Olympics in Barcelona, ​​he came up with the idea," Jirka comes to the subject of our interest. "That he will lend me a free MTX Roadster service, which he designed, and I will take exclusive photos for Metalex in the center of the Catalan capital. In retrospect, I actually perceive the whole thing as nonsense. At that time, it never occurred to me that the area around the stadiums would be sealed for security reasons, and I would not get anywhere by car without the Olympic atmosphere, ”Jirka reveals cracks in the plan.

"It simply came to our notice then. In the end, I only took a few moments along the way to bring anything at all. Cars have always been stolen from me. At that time, I already had a favorite at home and perceived MTX as just another, less practical version. I didn't see any exclusivity in it, so I didn't take any details and honestly, he finally slackened off the pictures a bit, when it was clear that the original intention wouldn't work out, "admits Jirka after almost three decades.

An unforgettable journey

How does a car designed mainly for short corsation travel across Europe? "First of all, I was embarrassed when I left," the photographer knows immediately. "Vasek gave me the keys and went home. I started and a giant red light hit my eye. I knew it was always a problem. So I ran after Vašek and told him it was after the Olympics. That there is a glitch. He just smiled to let go of the handbrake - how was I supposed to know? There was nothing like that in my favorite from the first series, "Jirka defends himself.

"Otherwise, I soon realized that flying a plane would have been so much more comfortable. The favorite itself is not anything on the highway, the roadster was even noisier after the roof amputation. From about seventy-eight, the roof with plastic windows was slapping terribly, and at 130 km / h there was a terrible riot inside. And 2x 2000 km was waiting for us, fortunately always with an overnight stay in France. Eventually, my wife and I emptied our suitcase and stuffed various clothes between the pipes and the roof so that it would spring up and not slap. We kept adding more and more pads, we came to Barcelona like carousels, "Jirka doesn't hide embarrassment.

"But I must admit that an attractive car unknown to the Spaniards caused a stir. My friend Tony, with whom we lived and parked for over a month, was not enough to answer his neighbors' questions. Fortunately, Metalex provided me with a brochure, so Tony could answer them. At that time, it was said that one applicant from Spain had already registered one in Mělník. Who knows, maybe I added one, "the photographer speculates after years.

Sin from youth

We will find out where there are some photos without a roof. "You know I have less than a neutral relationship with cars. When I saw that I would not take anything exclusive for Metalex, I did not go to bigger events. In addition, I had no confidence in the attachment mechanism twice, and aware of my technical 'talent', it was clear to me that I would just grab something and the way home would be even more hell. So we never took down the roof in that month and more than four thousand kilometers, I'm sorry, "Jirka apologizes for the thirty-year-old stepped.

"With all due respect to Vašek and today's MTX Roadster fans, I'm glad I never had anything to do with that car again. How I was looking forward to the wheel of our quiet favorite at the time, "concludes Jiří Pekárek of memories of a rare car, the price of which has more than doubled from the original CZK 340,000 today.

MTX Roadster

The two-seater two-door roadster based on the Škoda Favorit, designed by designer Václav Král, was introduced in October 1990 as the MTX 7-06 Favorit roadster. From 1991 to 1997, it was manufactured by the Metalex company in Mělník under the more elegant name MTX Roadster, and in 1993 it expanded its range of hardtop roof accessories. There are disputes about the exact number of born specimens, around 200. So today it is a rare collector's model.

Five bonus

On January 1, 2019, MTX alias Metalex celebrated its 50th birthday. On the occasion of the jubilee, five annual MTX Roadster Edition 50s were created according to the original recipe. The technology came from carefully selected used favorites, underwent a complete renovation, and a number of parts were replaced with new ones. For the annual edition, those interested could order electric windows, remote central locking, parking sensors or a multimedia system with navigation. MTX offered the following three options: