FAO PetrolHeads

[StevenRaith]

Chaps and chapesses,

In the near future I will be looking at getting my first car.

I am currently giving one of these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1989-Skoda-136-Rapid-Estelle-Coupe-Red_W0QQitemZ4614606909QQcategoryZ18275QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem) very serious consideration.

What interests me however, is:
Would you have one?
wouldn't you have one?

And

why?

The car, is a Skoda Estelle 136 coupe.

I have put this up on a couple of forums, one of which laughed it out completely, and the other decided it was the epitomy of cool, and infintely better than a Ford Ka/Fiat Punto/Uno etc as a first car.

Sidenote - Americans - we aren't all lucky enogh to live in a country where you can have a Mustang as a first car, just so you know - insurance costs and fuel are crippling in teh UK...a midsized saloon of the Mondeo variety would cost me well over £2000 to insure...this is more like £700 :cool:

Further note:
Rear engined, rear wheel drive...;)

[Cadwell]

The Skoda Estelle has a long and glorious history as a rally car... point that out to laughers.

Actually, the thing shares something in common with the Porsche 911. The engine is in completely the wrong place hanging out behind the rear axle. Whilst Porsche has spent decades and billions sorting out the 911s handling, Skoda never bothered. This means that the Estelle does have a tendency to go into pendulum mode if the back steps out whilst cornering hard. This inevitably ends up with a visit to the local ditches and hedgerows. It also lacks grip at the front due to there being not much weight to hold the wheels doing the steering down (engine hanging out behind the rear axle remember?). Consequently if pushed, it suffers from both dreadful understeer and near terminal oversteer in lift off situations. An almost unique cocktail of bad handling characteristics.

[defordphoto]

Doesn't sound like he's going to be running WRC though. Sounds more like a personal car dontchya think? ;)

VW makes a great car. We have had two Jettas and now have an Audi TT. Love em. Wife wants a Toureg when we trade in the TT. We can't get Skodas over here but I'd certainly like to drive one for a thrill.

[Cadwell]

Unfortunately the Estelle pre-dates Volkswagen's involvement with Skoda. What you have with the Estelle is good old fashioned Czech engineering... no German techno-wizardry involved.

Also unfortunately, you don't need to rallying to encounter the wilder side of the Estelle's handling. Just being "mildly spirited" along public roads is enough. The basic moral of the story is this; don't push this car. If you do, it will bite back and unless you are a very, very skilled driver it will probably end in tears.

[GSH]

That's a Rapid, the Estelle was more "Saloon" shaped ;)

Buy one by all means. If you find a good one and take care of it then it might well turn out to be a wise investment. They're getting harder to find and prices are beginning to rise..

BUT

Make sure you check all the nooks & crannies for Rust. Once they start to go they go in a big way.

If you have ANY basic mechanical knowledge it should be a doddle to look after, unlike my Octavia RS :rolleyes:

Also, Glenn is spot on about the handling, they're a hoot if you don't get too silly but if you overdo it they have a very nasty sting in the tail.

[StevenRaith]

I have a plan to do trackdays in a Rapide - and once I have the NCB to get a better car, take the car off the road an do an engine/box transplant - 1.8Kseries or Fiat TwinCam trackday toy, stripped out, caged, seam welded, and the rest :cool:

A handling course day will be the first thing however.

A mate had an Estelle as his first car and reckoned it was brilliant - realy, really teaches you to respect the cars weight and momentum, which outwith the bovious ones such as observation and reading the road correctly, is one of teh major ways of making you a a safer driver.

None of this tratiocn.stability cotrolled ABS'd crap - manual steering and brakes a go-go.

I'm fairly good with my hands [IT tech] and have changed the cams and radiator on a sierra before without too much trouble so the mechanically simple, eastern block motor should be easy.

Just got to get the license first, and then find a fairly clean one...insurance is so cheap it's unbeleivable!