(first posted 4/10/2018) “What the hell is that?!” Brendan Saur exclaimed after I shared with him my latest find. What the hell, indeed. Even in the context of the European market, full of tall-boy wagons like the Renault Scenic and converted vans like the Citroen Berlingo, the Škoda Roomster was a curious creature.
So curious, in fact, that only 385 of these were sold in Australia over the course of four years. When the Czech brand was relaunched here in 2007, the initial range consisted of the Octavia hatchback and wagon and the Roomster. Although Škoda has seen incremental growth here since 2007, the Roomster was an outlier. Its slow sales led Škoda to discontinue it here in 2010, only to bring it back in 2012 with sharper pricing… and then discontinue it again the following year.
Clearly, it just wasn’t going to take here in Australia. Blame the weird styling and the unpopularity of its segment. Compact European MPVs have never managed much success here.
If you ignore the ghastly side windows, the Roomster’s styling wasn’t really that controversial and neither was the car itself. The Roomster used a mixture of Volkswagen components: the front section was sourced from the subcompact VW Polo and Škoda Fabia, the rear from the Mark V Golf/Škoda Octavia, while the midsection was unique to the Roomster. The front suspension used McPherson struts while the rear utilized a torsion beam axle.
There was a wide range of engines, from a 1.2 naturally-aspirated three-cylinder up to a 1.6 naturally-aspirated four-cylinder and a 1.9 turbo diesel four. The latter two engines were the initial offerings in Australia, the petrol mill always feeling a little overmatched and the diesel’s popularity limited by the lack of an automatic. Later Aussie Roomsters used a turbocharged 1.2 four with 103 hp and 129 ft-lbs and a choice of five-speed manual or seven-speed DSG auto.
The optional panoramic sunroof was covered by only a thin mesh shade. Not great for a car sold under the hot Aussie sun!
High performance wasn’t the name of the game. The name of the game was contained in the name of the car: room. The Roomster was designed to provide maximum cabin space for its dimensions and, accordingly, packaging was terrific for a car the same length as a Golf and three inches narrower.
The rear seats – dubbed Varioflex – could be folded in a 40-20-40 configuration and could also be removed entirely. You could also remove the center seat entirely and move the two outboard seats closer together, freeing up shoulder room for rear seat occupants. With the rear row of seating removed there was 63 cubic feet of volume.
Nobody was left wanting for headroom, either—at 63.3 inches tall, the Roomster was almost a foot taller than a Golf. There were also plenty of storage compartments as well, including drawers under the front seats. Hey, the brand’s tagline is “Simply Clever” for a reason.
(clockwise from top left) Lancia Musa, Citroen C3 Picasso, Skoda Roomster, Nissan Note, Renault Modus
The Roomster bombed in Australia but, hey, we’re a small market so it didn’t hurt Škoda’s bottom-line too much. Unfortunately for Škoda, the Roomster didn’t sell very well in Europe, either. After a strong start – 56,253 units in 2007 – the Roomster settled down to between 25,000 and 40,000 units annually in Europe, about as well as the Lancia Musa and Nissan Note. Small MPVs like the Renault Modus and Citroen C3 Picasso were well ahead.
In 2015, photos leaked of a second-generation Roomster that had been canceled at the eleventh hour. It was no great loss, however: the second-generation Roomster was simply a Volkswagen Caddy (above) with a Škoda front clip. And yes, the windows were symmetrical and completely unremarkable. See, the Roomster’s daring aesthetic simply didn’t fit in with a Škoda lineup that was otherwise handsome, crisp, stylish, and just a tad conservative in appearance. Besides, VW executives said they wanted to focus on the similarly-sized Yeti crossover which, given the explosive growth of that segment, was undoubtedly a smart decision.
A VW Caddy with a waterfall grille would have been a poor follow-up to this delightfully quirky Czech people mover. Ok, ok, so those side windows are still atrocious to look at. But to look out from them – from inside the bright, airy, spacious, functional cabin – is to truly understand the Roomster’s purpose.
Photographed in March 2018 in Spring Hill, Brisbane, QLD.
Yipes! Looks like a Chevy Lumina APV had a fling with a Skoda while on vacation….
Thanks, MoparDave…. Now I can’t unsee that! ?
It looks like a cargo van that has been converted (at the last minute), to passenger use.
I remember CAR magazine talking these up as a decent set of cheapish wheels, if that is what you needed. However, the magazine has, I suspect, a bit of a soft spot for the Skoda brand.
It should be noted that with the lack of success of the Roomster, Skoda switched to an SUV type vehicle, the Skoda Yeti.
The Yeti is a totally different beast and was sold concurrently with the Roomster, it didn’t replace it. It is far more expensive.
Funny, if I said the Yeti REPLACED the Roomster, that wasn’t my intention. I meant to give the impression that Skoda changed direction, moving from minivans to SUVs and crossover type vehicles.
I don’t think it really represents a change in direction, most of their range is pretty much as it was – they made an ugly car and nobody bought it so they stopped. The Yeti was coming anyway.
I would argue you’re both right. The Yeti didn’t replace this however when the 2nd gen Roomster project was cancelled, Skoda said it was because they wanted to focus on the Yeti which they’d effectively switched their focus to.
Possibly neither are right also. There is no sign of a new Yeti (I think), but Skoda has launched the similarly sized Karoq that looks a lot more conventional/generic.
Wow, it looks like two different halves of cars welded together. I rather like the treatment of the way the front side windows seamlessly transition into windshield.
But that back section reminds me of those “carved” hearses of the 30s.
It looks like a Popemobile.
Did the guy who designed the front ever talk to the guy who designed the rear? With my snarky comment out of the way, I’ll admit that I like it, both for the quirky styling and the practicality of it. I especially like the way they hid the rear door handles on the pillar, like an old Chevy Beretta. Not a cookie cutter conformist car by any measurement!
Theres a companion driving franchise here called Driving miss Daisy that appears to use these Roomsters exclusively all in pale metallic blue, I havent noticed any others about or any other colours though no doubt they exist.
Quirky. Endearing. Functional.
Liked these when they first came out, but then I like quirky.
I liked it too. It’s actually styled with great care and attention to detail. The curvature of the upper front corner of the rear door matches the curvature of the lower rear corner of the front side window. The belt line of the rear door extends into the character line of the front door and front fender and matches the corner of the headlight cluster. Very well done.
Same here, Fiat Multipla, Roomster, I like cars that think and look outside the box. Driving a 1st gen Honda HR-V myself, most people think that is weird too.
Me too, love the side window profile.
I hated the Juke and Cube but find this one adorable! And that interior looks very spacious.
It’s certainly interesting looking but a Fiat Multipla with 2 rows of 3 seats seems like a better deal, even the styling is less jarring. Also a Mazda5 offers 3 row seating in a similar footprint since it’s built on the Mazda3/Ford Focus platform. With those handicaps I can understand the poor sales of the Roomster.
I like that second gen cancelled Roomster / VW Caddy, but then I like symmetrical & boxy Ala Ford Transit Connect.
Honestly, between this and the Fiat Multipla, the Aztek doesn’t seem to have deserved so much bad press. But in some ways they’re all interesting, and I gotta admit that even the Juke is growing on me. Or perhaps I’ve just accepted it. Frankly, I was surprised to read that any Skoda are sold in Australia … I would have thought that VW and Audi provided sufficient brand differentiation for a fairly small market so far from the manufacturing location.
The original modern day pre-facelift Multipla was just inexplicable. Nothing comes close.
Funky/quirky, but kinda cool. A welcome, airy departure from the high belt line “gun slit” look that permeates so much of the automotive design landscape these days. How do you say “vive la difference” in Czech?
ať žije rozdíl
Funnily enough a saw one of these followed by a Yeti going round the same local suburban roundabout last week. Both in white as well. Glad they didn’t debase the name by using a van as a replacement.
Generally I hate cars with discordant styling, but somehow this one manages to come down firmly on the side of Quirky. Thumbs up from me.
My reaction to this car still is “what the hell!” haha. It just perplexes me.
Let a cat ride on top and call it a Roomba.
Maybe that would sell more.
It would make about as much sense!
I’m with Brendan.
This definitely was a case of a deliberately quirky “car of two halves” execution, no doubt working on the basis that some people would find it interesting and individual and rush out to buy. I haven’t seen one in ages which is supported by the sales numbers so I’m glad you’ve written about this one Will.
The Yeti is an interesting vehicle in itself – almost zero rear overhang with the subsequent relatively poor cargo space (2/3 the Octavia wagon’s). Also it looks like the Yeti is being replaced by the more conventional Karoq.
The Karoq is indeed sadly a VW style consevative and conventional SUV.
It’s quirky but I like it-and the interior looks very spacious!
We test drove this car when we were looking for our aging Skoda Felicia’s replacement in 2012.
Me and my father were observing Roomster both in auto show and in showroom. For its size, the interior felt quite airy and variable. But the engines we wanted were not much powerful – 86 horsepower naturally-aspirated, but reliable 1.4 or 1.2 turbocharged engine with 105 HP and a rattling timing chain, later fixed or just improved by recalls. Not sure about it.
I remember the demo car not having much fuel and therefore the test drive took only around 10 minutes. My father likes to sit high in cars and he particularly liked the Scout trim level, with lower plastic body-cladding.
We ended up with a used Ford C-Max, a car with more conventional design, but the Roomster was memorable for sure. 😀
relatively ordinary here in the People’s Republic of North London, and notable for being one of the Skodas still actively featuring brand identity in its styling, the swept up corner-less front door glass.
Oh, come on, you lot!
I love these. There’re a nutjob styling effort, ofcourse they are, and all for the better for it. What’s wrong with a private jetliner front and an architect-designed bum (or somesuch, forgotten the blurb of the time)?. VW is usually the home of respectably nice, and frankly, no-one remembers the respectably nice. I’m almost suspicious that VW wanted to get their sub-brand some attention by whacking this wacky thing out, and hey, the sales figures are fine for such an effort. How the hell they expected to sell such a device to the well-conservative Oz market is another thing. To offload 385 of ’em here really isn’t too bad all told.
That, John – which sounds like “william” if said slowly, and no, still haven’t got over the embarassment of doing that on another occasion – is one hell of a find. Showrooms apart, I’ve seen literally one in traffic in all that time. Nearly had a prang trying to look at it, in truth.
This made me look on Carsales. Just two for sale in Aus, neither in Victoria.
Oh yes, I would.
Great find, great post.
By the look of the interior it certainly lived up to its name. Toyota had a vehicle based on the first generation Yaris called the Yaris Verso in Europe that had a similar shape. Was this Skoda’s version of the Touran (the Golf equivalent of the Megane Scenic) or was it based more on the Polo, which would have put it in line with the Yaris?
The Skoda Roomster was in the same segment (sub-compacts) as the Toyota Yaris Verso. So smaller than the VW Touran and Renault Scenic, which are both compacts.
The front of the car looks very similar to a Fabia because that’s what it exactly is – from the A pillars forward.
Here in Israel these were extremely popular. The diesel ones served thousands of TV/cable/Sat/phone technicians, who liked them for of their go-anywhere ability (they got them onto dirt roads if needed), acres of room and as “attached” vehicles (you kept them during the weekend), they easily stuffed a family of five and went on trips (not that kind of trips…). It also was much more comfortable than the rival small Utes, the Citroen Berlingo / Peugeot Partner or rival Renault Kangoo (which also took Israel by storm).
Private owners usually went for the Petrol units, which indeed were slow but frugal at the pump- and reliable, VERY reliable (particularly in the face of VAG’s own DSG/TSI cars). Today those are still in demand at the used market, for their sheer practicality and reliability.
Last word about those side windows- It’s not about being quirky. Place a child there, particularly a small one and see how satisfied he is, being able to look out instead of the crenels you see on new cars today. Toyota CHR, anyone?
Speaking of backseat kids enjoying the view out via the large and low rear side windows, I’d reckon that may also reduce incidents of motion sickness, which I gather is typically triggered by a mismatch between the motion one feels vs. the static scenery one sees within the vehicle, whereas being able to see the exterior motion you feel mitigates that.
As much as they’ve got a hideous countenance, they’re extremely practical. My father-in-law’s current partner used to have one, as her mother could easily get from her wheelchair into the back of the Roomster without any kerfuffle or additional lifting. I once sat in the back of it and was incredibly impressed at the room available. The Nissan Note pictured would not have competed on room. I have personal experience of this, as one was my daily driver until 2 years ago. It was a supremely practical wee car, but the Roomster eclipsed it on interior room. The little Nissan still lives, as my sister-in-law bought it from me and is still providing service.
Six years after the first print of this article, our members I think have said all that can be said save for being redundant. Love the looks. In the States, I would never think of owning such a small vehicle.
Arrangement of the rear windows is pleasant for this format. Much better than on a Toyota Yaris Verso and if we compare this to a Nissan Cube, we have here a miss universe.