Faults:

1) The brake fluid was leaking from above the clutch pedal and down into the driver's side foot well. It took nearly a year to put this right.

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2) The main light switch burned out after the car had been out all night for a drive in the countryside.

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3) The radiator fan turned itself on automatically during the night (when the heavy snow got in around it) and run down the battery. The thermo switch for the fan was at fault and needed replacing and I reconnected the supply wire for the fan to fuse no.2 (the fuse that's only live when the ignition is switched on) instead of fuse 1 where it was originally connected.

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4) The original four-speed gearbox gave up (several of the gears chipped teeth and wore away because of the lack of sufficient oil in the gearbox). This gearbox was replaced by a five-speed gearbox was (along with the engine) taken together with the engine from a crashed 136 Rapid). I had to make the gearbox tunnel bigger to get the five-speed gearbox to fit.

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5) When the original engine needed a cylinder head gasket, a distributor and a carburettor, I decided a more cost-effective method was to fit the engine from the 136 Rapid.

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6) Both sills had some welding done due to severe rust and the driver's side front wing had to be replaced - also due to severe rust.

General Comments:

The small 1.3-liter engine in this car gives good performance for all it's size.

The seats are comfortable and the driving position feels almost modern.

The handling is a bit too light, but otherwise precise.

This seems to be the only car of its type used everyday in the whole country now.

Faults:

Rotten exhaust pipe, a rusty right headlight reflector, and bad sweeper blades.

General Comments:

Well, I think this car is really fun to drive, despite it's lack of performance. It's too early to judge about the reliability, but at this moment it is still running well.

Faults:

Apart from normal service and normal wear and tear like exhaust, speedometer, clutch, brakes and a couple of eletrical faults, nothing has ever stopped the 105 from completing it's journey.

General Comments:

I think that the 105 was the best built car in the world ever. Considering the high mileage and the jokes I had to go through, and that it has never ever let me down, it's just the best built car in the world!

Today I own other Skodas, but the 105 is just my pride and joy.

Faults:

You name it:

Cracked head.

Powderised 2nd gear sprocket.

Total wiring loom failure.

Seizing brakes.

Oil loss.

Spring collapse, etc, etc.

General Comments:

Girtie, as she's affectionetly known, has had a tough life, I haven't treated her very well, but after all that has happened, and all that I've done, I still love her, she's a good car deep down.

When the head cracked, I had my 6 week old daughter in the car, it was winter, we were at least 14 miles from the nearest safe place, where we could contact relatives, Girtie ran all 14 miles with no water, gave all that she had to get us there, the noise was frightning, finally giving up 15 feet from the phone box. Totally seized. With that amount of effort I had to keep her, and I will always do, no matter what it takes.