1990 Skoda Rapid
The Rapid was bought new by my son when the Spitfire was nearing its
end and he needed cheap reliable motoring a few years after leaving
university.
The Skoda name was associated with the poor quality Soviet block
products
and was despised by most motorists. In fact the Skoda company of
Czechoslovakia have been world class engineers since the beginning of
the
20th century and they have been producing cars since 1925. The
Skoda
record of success in world class rallying is unequalled by any other
manufacturer.
The Rapid was the last phase of the rear engined Skodas and as such
had various mechanical improvements e.g. all aluminium engine, lead
free
petrol, 5-speed gearbox, new semi-trailing arm rear suspension, 4-pot
front
disc brakes and wider track.
The only problem really was the quality of the interior which was a
bit flimsy and creaked and rattled but performance and reliability were
excellent especially on the Rapid coupe. With its rear mounted
engine
the road holding and 'turn-in' were excellent. It was one of
those
cars where anybody behind immediately had to overtake to prove how good
their car was but usually a few seconds acceleration and a couple of
bends
and they were left behind and did not appear again. The Rapid was
kept for 3 years by my son and was driven all over Britain with no
trouble
apart from a broken gear lever. He then bought a new Favorit and
sold us the Rapid - my wife then used it for the next 5 years everyday
for her work which involves quite a bit of driving. After 8 years
and 70K miles with virtually no expense it was getting a bit scruffy
and
was traded in for the new Felicia in '98.
- OHV slant 4 cyl. 1289 cc all aluminium rear mounted
engine.
- New semi-trailing arm rear suspension.
- 5 Speed gear box.
- 4 pot brakes.
- Quite nippy, top speed about 95 mph.
- Very economical, unleaded fuel.
- Interior was very simple and the trim rattled and
squeaked.
