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The 1977 Skoda Estelle was the car that bore the brunt of all those old Skoda jokes (example: what do you call a Skoda with no roof? Answer: a skip) but it was the 1000MB that started it all in 1964 - first of a dynasty that would continue right up until 1992. Nobody seems to have told Skoda that rear-mounted engines were becoming just a little passe by 1964, and that this configuration would be abandoned even by Renault and Fiat within a few years. Neatly styled and spacious (the seats folded down to make a bed) the 1000 - and even the later 1100MB - luckily didn't have enough urge to exploit the potential for lift-off oversteer that the swing-axle rear suspension promised.
Later came the more powerful, disc-braked S110 and S110L, and the brand's profile was lifted a little by the introduction of a nifty coupe version called the S110R, which was good for 90 mph from just 52 bhp. The cars confounded their critics to some extent with their rallying exploits, delivering class wins in the RAC for many years. Today, Skoda is just another bland, identikit euro brand: the rear-engined cars may have had their idiosyncrasies, but at least they had character.
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