Like hen's teeth: Skoda Superb 3.6 V6 for sale
Sure, there are faster, fruitier wagons - but the Czech cruiser is still from a land that time forgot
Anyone who worked on a car magazine in 2008 will likely recall the second generation (i.e. B6) Superb with some fondness. The first generation had seemed like a mostly forgettable clone of the Passat, and Skoda failed to even bother with a wagon variant. Its follow-up though was the real deal: better looking, much better appointed and, most importantly, invested with its own identity - one that spoke to Skoda's place in the world. It was also, famously, as spacious as an empty football stadium.
Predictably, photographers with kit to shift fawned all over it. But so did hacks, and in subsequent years the model walked away with some coveted gongs. To call it the thinking man’s large exec car is arguably pushing it a bit - nevertheless, it was another notch in Skoda’s relentless march up the appreciation scale, and unlike some previous attempts, proved the manufacturer had learnt to make the best of the VW Group’s resources.
Moreover, it finally had a model that was not only worthy of the Laurin & Klement name - a nod to Skoda’s pre-war history - but also the 3.6-litre V6 made famous by several deep-throated installations elsewhere in the conglomerate. The EA390 unit was certainly capable of producing more than 256hp (the Passat famously earned more in rascally R36 format) yet the lower output befit the Superb’s more leisurely way of doing things while still accessing 6.5-second-to-62mph performance.
Paired with the six-speed DSG transmission and four-wheel drive, the Superb easily earned its all-weather fast wagon spurs - though it’s fair to say that you only really grasped the full picture as you watched things disappear into its voluminous 633-litre boot. And if you managed to exhaust this space, the estate provided up to 1,865 litres with the seats folded, which seemed impossibly vast when you compared it to the cars that rivalled the big Skoda’s price when new.
Of course, we’re talking about the era roughly commensurate with peak diesel, when ‘bigness’ was also a measure of your mpg - a figure that no naturally aspirated V6 owner could brag about. Thus, the range-topper was regularly overlooked in favour of the smaller engines that proliferated beneath it, typically the all-conquering 2.0-litre TDI that would eventually rival it in torque output.
This made it a rare old bird even at the time; now it is a very seldom-seen reminder of the fabled old school, when characterful engines would find their way into all manner of box-fillers. The fact that this one, looking suitably Q-car-ish in pearlescent black, has made it to 2025 with just 65k on the clock is even more notable, and doubtless accounts for what seems like a fairly punchy valuation. But you won’t find another Superb like it on PH, and if it’s a curious itch you’ve always wanted to scratch, it might really be a case of now or never….
No link to the listing?
This is still Pistonheads and it's great that things like this are around as an option ... so
from me for the person that bought it in the first place No link to the listing?
Also this is going to drink fuel 25mpg if your lucky
You might think, ‘Oh, I can stomach the mediocre mpg as I don’t do too many miles’, but then you’re paying £735 in VED for it to be sitting on your drive for most of the time. Conversely, you might say ‘Well, if I’m paying all that tax, I might as well use the bugger’, and then have the double-whammy of a big old fuel bill on top.
All for a car that while being very capable, isn’t exactly exciting.
Like so many cars now, a worthwhile motor crippled by the policies of the government (and it really doesn’t matter who’s in power).
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