Most retro concepts replicate surfaces. The 1000 MBX concept replicates a spatial problem and solves it differently. When Škoda’s original 1000 MB coupe arrived in the late 1960s, its most distinctive feature was a near-vertical rear windshield that prioritized headroom and cargo access within a compact footprint. Antti Mikael Savio (exterior) preserves that upright greenhouse geometry in this 2025 concept while replacing the glass entirely with a continuous body panel. The spatial intent remains identical, but the execution inverts the original’s logic. The rear window omission serves dual purpose: honoring the original’s distinctive vertical glass while creating substantially more cargo volume by extending the hatch opening nearly to the roofline.
Exterior Designer: Antti Mikael Savio
Interior Designer: David Stingl
Savio studied brutalist architecture before sketching this shape, and that influence defines every surface decision. “Modern sports cars often appear overly aggressive, while those from the ’60s and ’70s carried a certain elegance, even endearing charm, and that’s what I wanted to preserve,” Savio explains. The result challenges the aggressive sculpting that dominates modern electric concepts.
Brutalist Geometry Replaces Gentle Curves
The original 1000 MB spoke through soft volumes and chrome-trimmed edges. Surfaces curved gently across the hood, fenders, and roof in the rounded language of 1960s European economy cars. The MBX concept eliminates that softness entirely. Flat body panels meet glass at sharp transitions with no chamfer or radius to ease the eye. Tall bodysides rise with minimal curvature, creating walls rather than sculpted forms. The matte champagne finish erases reflections, forcing the car to read as geometric volume instead of painted metal.
Brutalist buildings use exposed concrete and sharp angles to emphasize material honesty and structural clarity. Antti Mikael Savio applies that philosophy by stripping decorative elements and letting proportion carry the design statement. The front fascia uses LED patterns to create depth without a physical grille. The rear panel integrates taillights as textured surfaces rather than applied graphics. Chrome trim disappears. Character lines vanish. What remains are planes, edges, and the tension between mass and void.
This represents a complete reversal of current automotive design trends. Where competitors add creases and sculpted haunches to suggest speed, the MBX uses restraint. The tall, flat sides create a formal stance that recalls the original coupe’s upright posture while reading distinctly modern through geometric precision. The wheels pushed to absolute corners act as sculptural anchors rather than rolling stock, grounding the visual mass at each corner. Positioning wheels at the furthest possible points from the vehicle’s center creates visual stability and maximizes interior space by eliminating wasted bodywork between wheel and cabin.
Where most EV concepts add drama through convoluted surfaces or faux performance cues, the MBX achieves presence via geometric restraint and architectural honesty. The design outcome is a vehicle that doesn’t beg for attention through aggression. It earns presence through confident geometry and material reduction.
Split Sliding Doors Solve Access Without Conventional Hinges
The most radical spatial innovation appears in profile. Instead of conventional doors or a single massive sliding panel, the MBX divides each side into two horizontal sections. The front panel slides forward, the rear panel slides back. This creates pillarless access to both rows while maintaining structural rigidity and reducing the travel distance each panel requires. A single full-length slider would need nearly the entire vehicle length to open fully. The split configuration cuts that requirement in half.
This solves the practical problem of a 2+2 coupe: rear seat access typically forces front passengers to exit or requires awkward gymnastics through a narrow opening. The split sliders eliminate both compromises. The rear section opens independently, providing direct access to the second row without disturbing front occupants. For a compact footprint vehicle, this represents genuine spatial problem-solving rather than stylistic novelty.
The execution also preserves the clean bodyside aesthetic. When closed, the panel divisions create horizontal lines that emphasize the car’s width and low visual center of gravity. The dark roof and pillar treatment extends down to meet these lines, further compressing the perceived height while maintaining actual interior volume.
Interior Spatial Flexibility Through Material Reduction
The cabin architecture continues the brutalist material reduction philosophy. A continuous bench seat spans the full width with no console dividing the space. This wasn’t purely nostalgic tribute to the original 1000 MB’s bench seating. The flat EV skateboard platform eliminates the transmission tunnel that typically necessitates a center console. David Stingl (interior) uses that width for social seating arrangements rather than defaulting to isolated bucket seats. Where the original coupe’s bench seat resulted from mechanical packaging constraints, the modern interpretation transforms that limitation into intentional design strategy, using material reduction to enhance spatial flexibility rather than merely accommodate hardware.
The rear seats fold upward to create cargo volume behind the front bench. Škoda demonstrates this with a bicycle stored vertically alongside luggage. This transforms the 2+2 configuration into a genuine utility space when passengers aren’t required. The upright greenhouse geometry that defines the exterior silhouette pays dividends here with vertical clearance for tall cargo. The solid rear panel extends cargo access nearly to the roofline, creating an opening substantially larger than conventional hatchback designs despite similar overall length.
The floating dashboard reinforces the material reduction strategy. Rather than a full-width structure anchored to the door panels, the dash appears suspended, revealing the floor’s continuity and emphasizing cabin width. This suspended design creates the perception of greater interior volume by eliminating the visual barrier between left and right sides of the cabin, making the space feel wider and more open than conventional dashboard architectures. A projection display replaces physical screens, projecting information onto surfaces rather than embedding technology into the architecture. The geometric steering wheel uses squared-off top and bottom sections with rounded sides, creating design continuity with the exterior’s angular vocabulary.
Vertical HVAC vents use ribbed detailing that echoes the textured surfaces found in brutalist concrete work. The material palette of sage green leather and matte black surfaces maintains restraint. Every element serves spatial utility or tactile function rather than decorative purpose.
Two-Tone Strategy Manipulates Perceived Proportion
The exterior color blocking uses a technique borrowed directly from brutalist architecture. The matte champagne body contrasts with a glossy dark roof, pillars, and upper structure. This creates visual separation between the greenhouse and body, making the tall cabin appear to float above the lower mass. Brutalist buildings frequently use this strategy with concrete bases supporting glass or metal upper volumes.
The design outcome lowers the car’s visual center of gravity without sacrificing interior spaciousness. The dark upper structure recedes visually while the lighter body comes forward, creating the perception of a lower, wider stance than the actual proportions suggest. This allows Savio to maintain the original 1000 MB’s upright greenhouse geometry while avoiding the formal, almost sedan-like aesthetic that defined the 1960s coupe.
Design Intent Versus Brand Reality
The MBX concept exists within Škoda’s “Icons Get a Makeover” series, reinterpreting heritage models with no production intent. This creates a peculiar tension. The design demonstrates genuine problem-solving around spatial utility, access innovation, and material honesty. The split sliding doors, bench seat flexibility, and vertical cargo strategy represent practical design thinking rather than show car spectacle. Yet Škoda’s current lineup consists of rebadged Volkswagen Group platforms with minimal differentiation.
A production version of this design language could establish genuine brand identity beyond badge engineering. The brutalist aesthetic and spatial flexibility align with European urban use cases where compact footprints and cargo versatility matter more than acceleration metrics. But concept exercises without production pathways ultimately document what brands could build rather than what customers can buy. The MBX demonstrates that Škoda’s design team understands how proportion, geometry, and material reduction create presence. Whether that understanding reaches showrooms remains the unanswered question.
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