Skoda Fabia R5 Rally Car Takes A Second Job As A Taxi

With the World Rally Championship coming to an end, the Skoda Fabia R5 decided to take a second job to fill up its spare time and signed up as a taxi in Prague. Keeping the motorsport livery while adding a taxi sign on the roof, the rally car hit the streets of Czech Republic's capital with Jan Kopecký behind the wheel, a five-time Czech rally champion, who covered a total of 165 kilometers (102 miles) after taking 23 passengers to their desired destinations.

Needless to say, this was merely a publicity stunt from Skoda to mark the Fabia R5's rally success after securing the title in the WRC 2 category and winning no less than 14 other national and regional titles. Those who had the privilege of sitting on the passenger seat had to perform the same job as Kopecký's co-driver Pavel Dresler, meaning they had to read the pace notes and even turn on the wipers.

Billed as being the most successful rally car in its category, the Skoda Fabia R5 is far from being the typical taxi considering it packs around 290 horsepower and 310 pound-feet (420 Newton-meters) of torque from its turbocharged 1.6-liter gasoline engine. Unlike the road-going, front-wheel-drive Fabia, the WRC2-spec model has an AWD arrangement receiving power through a five-speed manual sequential gearbox. Having to move only 1,230 kilograms (minimum weight), the rally-spec engine derived from the 1.8 TSI built in China, turns the Fabia R5 into a pocket rocket.

But without rear seats and a small trunk, it's not what you would call the ideal taxi. Perhaps a more suitable alternative would have to be the Fabia R5 Combi concept introduced a couple of years ago during the GTI meeting in Wörthersee or the more recent Kodiaq WRC presented for this year's April Fools' Day.