Help with "Poor man's Porsche"

[Sporting Bear]

Autocar, at the time, called this the poor man's Porsche and featured the model on the front cover with that headline

I know a few Porsche owners and it would be nice to show them this front cover as proof, anyone got still got that issue please ?

[tossbag]

I remember that issue very well, although I can't say I still have it, but for the doubters, that is pretty much EXACTLY what the review said, it was a very very nice review in the rapide's favour as I remember it.
Very much written in the style of 'the underdog done good!' - but a positive review indeed! (Tail out, rear engine, rear wheel drive lead them to compare it to the 911)
To be fair, they did critisise the build quality and interior fittings etc etc etc though.
Thanks for reminding me of it

Edited by tossbag on Monday 12th March 02:49

[Sporting Bear]

Thanks for your remarks

Build quality wasn't that bad, probably trying not to upset their advertisers (tho' the seat coverings were poor and wore after 3 years)

Skodas at that time, 1986, had a two warranty, I can't remember any other manufacturer offering this, I might be wrong, certainly Ford and the other popular makes of the time did not

The Ford Escort of the time was twice the price and its fittings (plastic, I was used to old bangers with wood and leather) were no better quality finish than the Skodas

The Estelles had no real acceleration but on the back roads they could suprise many people, well Skoda had many Rally wins at the time

Edited for spelling (as usual)

Edited by Sporting Bear on Monday 12th March 12:03

[si_j]

Jalopy magazine (if you could call it that ) always referred to the Rapide as the closest production car to a 911.

[Sporting Bear]

si_j said:

Jalopy magazine (if you could call it that ) always referred to the Rapide as the closest production car to a 911.

Sorry Simon I'm lost with the Jalopy reference but good to hear from you

tossbag has proved I didn't imagine it

[danhay]

I think I do have that issue! It was a black Rapide 136 on the cover I think? It's buried somewhere in the garage I'm afraid.

[Sporting Bear]

danhay said:

I think I do have that issue! It was a black Rapide 136 on the cover I think? It's buried somewhere in the garage I'm afraid.

Dan are you teasing me ?

If you ever found it I'd love a copy

If you wanted to photocopy it I'd sent you a SAE, or you could scan it and email

Go on you know the garage needs a tidy up

I'm the sole member of the Should be able to buy it at a reasonable price but pays over the odds, spends large amounts improving it, to sell it cheap or buy newish and suffer high depreciation Club

[Transmitter Man]

Don't talk to me about Skoda Rapide's.

At the time when they 'were' winning rallies in their class I was embarrassed while trying to overtake one in a mates MK1 Escort on the M1.

My friends Ford had had a 2L pinto shoe-horned in and mildly tuned. He worked at an engine reconditioners. I remember the rolling road results up at Luton, 136bhp at the rear wheels.

We did succeed in finally over-taking the rapide but it was a struggle. Ever since then I've had respect for them.

Phil
79 de Tomaso Longchamp GTS

[Sporting Bear]

Thanks Phil

Your mate done well with a 136bhp at the wheels for a 2.0 pinto, in mild tune, definitely nothing to be embarrassed about there

I once travelled back from London on a very quiet M1 in my white 130LS and just kept my foot to the floor all the way back to Northampton, I overtook everything and unusually nothing overtook me. The next day I was told that they now had speed cameras on the M1 (a new thing then) and each one you passed was 3 points, I kept thinking that was a license gone. Of course it wasn't true but it did make me think about how easy it was to do

[jonnylayze]

I had a 136 Rapid when all my friends had boring Astras and Escorts. I traded my Fiat 126 for it and actually sent off to Autocar for a copy of the 'Just Like a 911' article. I may still have it - I'll have a root around.

I loved mine and used to compete in 12 car night rallies and autotests, as well as doing the Prescott Hillclimb Drivers school in it - I'll post some pics on here if I can find them/work out how. Eventually rust got to the sills. It was a sad day when it finally went to the scrapyard.

[Sporting Bear]

Thanks jonny if I could get a photocopy or scan of the front page or headline on the actual article just for a bit of fun with the Porsche owners

Any old photos would be excellent

I think I had my white 130 LS for about three and a half years and and 60-65,000 miles and the bottom of the sills did get scruffy but as most of the mileage was fairly local you can image that the car was really used a lot

Edited by Sporting Bear on Tuesday 13th March 17:50

[flat16]

Who was it that drove the fully race-prepared Rapide? I remember seeing photos of it in Autosport in the eighties. It was proven to be quick and I don't think anyone ridiculed its pedigree.

Was it based on the road car, or was it - as I suspect - fully space-framed, with a Rapide shell on top?

edit: Was it a "Thundersaloon"? It had wild arches and packed a large lump (turbo? Yank-based engine?). The old memory's not what it was...

Edited by flat16 on Tuesday 13th March 19:36

[flat16]

BTW - Even in this day and age, with VW engineering, the Rapide is still the coolest Skoda in my book.

Fitted with a decent engine such as a tuned Fiat twin-cam and decent shocks, I would expect it to be quite nippy too.

[flat16]

Ok. A quick Google tells me the Skoda was owned by Tony Sugden and was a silhouette racer, not a Thundersaloon.

The engine was a Cosworth with a turbo. Front suspension was based on a March F2 car. The car was not slow...

www.ten-tenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78201&page=2

Sorry for the thread-creep, Bear!

Edited by flat16 on Tuesday 13th March 19:47

[Sporting Bear]

Love the enthusiasm

I just remember Skodas were tested on the roads just outside the factory as they were mud roads

And seeing on TV one time the whole Skoda team, car, parts and budget was equal to one shelf of parts for I think the Mitsi team

Was it Stig Blom . . . sory can't remember his name that drove the near showroom Skodas to ? 19 out 20 RAC class wins ?

[jonnylayze]

I will have a look through later to see if I Still have it.

I remember Lola F5000 based (I think) 130RS Skoda's competing at Weston Super Mare speed trials in the mid-80s.

[flat16]

Skoda did win their class at the RAC for an unparalleled series of consecutive years, but I don't think it was Blomqvist at the wheel.

Stig Blomqvist is best known for one of the most remarkable 3rd place slots, when - at the age of fifty - he took a guest drive in a Felicia equipped with a whopping 1600cc engine and managed to bruise the egos of competitors in 300BHP / 4x4 machinery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stig_Blo

The name of the driver who became famous for taking Skoda to many class victories is on the tip of my tongue - I'll be annoyed when someone else remembers it!

Quite surprisingly, Skoda's Wiki entry doesn't seem to dwell much on this motorsport pedigree... I suppose it's because the victories were pre-VW...but still...

While we're at it, I've always had a soft spot for the Rapid's predecessor, the 110R: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sk

The 110 looks like a Tatra 603 that's had the middle taken out

BTW - When I last looked at Blomqvist's Wiki entry, it claimed he was the test driver for a well-known British TV show...

[danhay]

Found it! It's the 28th September 1988 issue (price 95p)

Autocar said:

What handles like a Porsche, costs only £4200 and is more fun than a GTI?

Answer and full test page 52

[Balmoral Green]

flat16 said:

While we're at it, I've always had a soft spot for the Rapid's predecessor, the 110R

I took one of those in part exchange against a Triumph Acclaim back in '82, I ran around in it for a few days. It was entertaining, but a bit crap TBH, I kept cutting my fingers on sharp plastic edges everywhere, if you can call them plastics, more like creosoted cardboard, as far as eastern block plastics technology went.

[Sporting Bear]

flat16 said:

Skoda did win their class at the RAC for an unparalleled series of consecutive years, but I don't think it was Blomqvist at the wheel.

Stig Blomqvist is best known for one of the most remarkable 3rd place slots, when - at the age of fifty - he took a guest drive in a Felicia equipped with a whopping 1600cc engine and managed to bruise the egos of competitors in 300BHP / 4x4 machinery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stig_Blo

Thank you, of course you're right, I remember now you've told me

flat16 said:

The name of the driver who became famous for taking Skoda to many class victories is on the tip of my tongue - I'll be annoyed when someone else remembers it!

Well, it wont be me I'm afraid

flat16 said:

Quite surprisingly, Skoda's Wiki entry doesn't seem to dwell much on this motorsport pedigree... I suppose it's because the victories were pre-VW...but still...

I warn everyone about believing that German build quality is/was alway good

flat16 said:

While we're at it, I've always had a soft spot for the Rapid's predecessor, the 110R: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sk

I've never driven one but I'd heard there were fun

Edited by Sporting Bear on Wednesday 14th March 22:43