While last year Czech Television broke viewership records with the crime series Devadesátky, this year it went back two decades in the field of period series. The Volha series begins in the 1970s and tells the fictional story of driver Standa Pekárek, who drives for Czechoslovak television. It is therefore not surprising that, just like in the Nineties, cars play an important role in the new series.
“We used about 160 cars in total. Mostly borrowed from private individuals or from museums,” says Michal Srb, who was looking for cars for the Volga series – similar to last year’s Nineties. The majority of the series car park consists of cars of Eastern European brands. Wartburg, Trabant, Lada, Tatra, Škoda – and of course GAZ Volha.
Given the title of the five-part series, which was created based on the book by Karel Hynia and filmed by director Jan Pachl, it will come as no surprise which car is the central one in the series. The main character of the driver Standa Pekárek, played by Kryštof Hádek, already has one big dream when he joins Czechoslovak Television: to drive the Volga and drive “Gotťák” in the back seat. A Soviet limousine nicknamed the Tsarevna appears on the scene right from the beginning of the series.
It is turquoise and of course has the Czechoslovak Television logo on it. But before Pekárek works his way up to it, he has to drive something to the “same place”, i.e. Škoda 1202 STW. “Kryštof Hádek is a very skilled and technical type. He knew how to drive practically everything right away, including the ‘same’ with reverse gearing,” praises the Serbian actor.
In addition to the Škoda and the Volga 21, the character of Standa Pekárka in the later episodes, when the development moves forward and in time, will also see, for example, the newer Volga 24. Also due to the gradual time shift in the later episodes, a very interesting cross-section of what actually happened in Czechoslovakia will appear on the scene used to drive.
By the way, in the second part, the Volga 21 gets involved in an accident with the Tatra 603 television director. Although in the shot you can hear the screeching of sheets, of course the cars did not collide in real life. If only because it would mean practically incalculable damage.
However, Czechoslovak Television has a lot of other cars in its fleet, which is managed in the series by the character of Míla Vyhnálek played by Jiří Lábus. One of the most characteristic is the beige-brown Robur, which is used by TV crews for filming in exteriors, for example.
It is not a classic minibus or van, but a kind of combination of both types that was actually used by the television. She carried cameras and other necessary equipment in the cargo area. According to the Serb, a total of four different Roburas will appear in the entire series, including the most famous one – a flatbed with a sail.
By the way, it was the televised Robur, Volha and Škoda 1202 STW, i.e. the three central models from the series, that had to be repainted according to the period’s swatches according to the requirements of the architects and the director. All, of course, in agreement with their owners.
Cars of lesser-known socialist brands also appear in some scenes. This is the case, for example, with the Yugoslav IMV ambulance. For one particular scene, according to Michal Srb, it was necessary to get a period ambulance with a higher roof, which the commonly used Škoda 1201 or 1202 did not quite fit. That is why this otherwise rather unconventional car will appear.
Not only socialist cars raced on Czechoslovak roads in the 1970s and 1980s. And so you can see, for example, a Citroën DS parked on the street, a cream-colored Ford Cortina will also appear on the screen, and fans of Italian cars will certainly be pleased with the brown Lancia Beta. “That car was driven by ‘Estébáci’,” explains Michal Srb. “Perhaps we bought this particular car, although not directly for the Volga series,” he adds.
