Skoda ute concept is a modern take on a late-90s oddball

The Skoda Felicia Fun is latest in a series of digital concepts from the automaker’s Icons Get a Makeover series.

Made from 1997 to 2000, the original Fun (bottom) took the contemporary Felicia Pickup and gave it a “beach vibe”. All were painted yellow, with colour options limited to green, yellow or orange for the bumpers, wheel arch protectors, side sills, spoiler and other trim bits.

The Fun’s most unique feature was the partition between the cabin and cargo tray, which could slide back to reveal two emergency seats. If the weather a got a little iffy, those seats could be covered by a canvas roof.

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Other distinguishing features included an integrated nudge bar, wood plank lining for the cargo tray, and a rear wing.

Penned by automotive interior designer Julien Petitseigneur, the concept blends the company’s Modern Solid design theme with the “pure fun” of the original.

The modern Felicia Fun has a Tech-Deck Face very clearly inspired by the 2022 Vision 7S concept. Similarly the tail-lights and the car’s surfacing are all from Skoda’s latest design language.

Like the original, the modern concept is a two-door car-based ute, although Skoda makes no mention of which vehicle the concept is theoretically be based on.

Mr Petitseigneur says he approached the concept with a realistic mindset, which is why his car doesn’t include a sliding rear partition or a pair of alfresco seats. The concept also misses out the original’s nudge bar, but gains black wheel arch extensions and cladding, large wheels, and larger doors.

The dashboard is designed to look like an old CRT monitor with a series of screens featuring retro video game graphics.

The Felicia was the last car from the company to use a platform developed in-house by Skoda. Launched in 1994, it was essentially an updated Favorit with a new body, interior, and some Volkswagen diesel engines to complement Skoda’s own petrol engines.

Produced until 2001, over 1.4 million Felicias were produced, but only 4216 of them were Funs. The rest were hatches, wagons, vans and the regular ute. The latter was sold in some markets as the Volkswagen Caddy Pickup.

The Felicia Fun concept is the second Icons Get a Makeover concept revealed by Skoda this year, following on from the Favorit shown off in May.

It’s also the second ute concept in 2025 from the Czech brand, with the L&K 130 designed to be a support vehicle for bike races and featuring a sliding rear door.

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