Skoda Estelle

Can 1.4 million people all be wrong? Well, if they are the 1.4 million who bought Skoda Estelles they can. The car that bore the brunt of the Skoda jokes was launched in 1977 ,supposedly as a response to criticism of its predecessor, the S100, which was rudimentary and downright dangerous. Unfortunately, the Estelle shared these traits, along with the S100's rear-engined layout.

This gave the car tricky handling characteristics which often saw the rear overtaking the front on roundabouts and slippery bends under the control of lead-footed drivers not used to having so much weight hanging behind the rear wheels. Skoda attempted to address the Estelle's pendulous handling in 1979 by giving the car wider wheels. This hardly helped and, perhaps unsurprisingly given their lemming- like tendencies and appalling build quality, very few Estelles survive, making them, by dint of their scarcity alone, kind of classic, I suppose. Quite amazing, really, to consider that they made almost as many Estelles as MkI Fabias.

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