Czech’s best mate
The article in April’s issue about the Skoda 1000MB was a brilliant read. I had two of these cute and idiosyncratic cars. That spurred an interest of Skoda rear engined cars for well over 20 years. I had just about them all from the MB through the S100, S110L, S110R Coupe, 105S, 120L, 120LS, LSE and the brilliant 135Ric Rapid. The head gasket issue was really the dealers fault. As the cars were made the head would be torqued up (40 lb ft main bolts and 18 lb ft for the four bolts on the head flange). Part of the PDI was to re-torque the bolts and set the valve clearances but this was
often not done. I drove all my Skodas hard often way above the rev limit – 6500 -7000 rpm – with no issues at all. For a three-bearing engine they were virtually unburstable. Thanks for the memories! Trevor Goodenough, Kilmarnock