Hi everyone,

 

I can't believe my old login worked! I seem to have last visited in 2015 or so, so thanks for still being here I guess.

 

As I've just put in my profile, my first ever car, in 1990, was a 1988 Skoda 120L in battleship grey that my Dad picked up at the auctions for very little. In 1996-98 I worked for Skoda UK on the motorsport side, doing the British Rally Championship with Steve Wedgbury, the amazing 1996 RAC and 1997 British season with Stig Blomqvist and finally as manufacturer representative on the Skoda Trophy. In that final year we also launched the Octavia WRC at the 1998 Rally GB.

 

Skoda in its infinite wisdom saw fit to give me a new Felicia every year. I had a 1.3, a 1.9 diesel and a 1.6 MPI, all of which were fully branded up in the rally livery and attracted rather too much attention from the XR2 brigade! Did a lot of miles in that time - I think the record was 34,000 miles in the diesel through 1997, until it was savagely assaulted by Harri Rovanpera's SEAT Ibiza Kit Car on a road section of the RAC.

 

After living abroad for a few years, I moved back in 2009 and needed a car. I found a lovely 1.3 Felicia Pacific that served me well until the rot became terminal.

 

Last summer, 2019, I was driving almost 70 miles a day and spending a fortune in fuel. My colleague had inherited a yellow Mk.1 vRS from her granny (!!) and wanted an upgrade when she became a manager, so I gladly took it off her hands. Saved me a fortune in fuel and is without doubt the nicest modern(ish) car I've owned in many years.

 

The car cost me next to nothing as it had been written off due to age in 2018 after a delivery van reversed into the right front corner. Because of the family history with the car from new, my colleague repaired it as it only needed a new headlight unit, and bonnet.

 

It's now been written off a second time after I got rear-ended during lockdown while waiting for oncoming traffic. There was barely any contact and all that happened was the bumper was pushed out of alignment on one side and a couple of scuffs that the body shop polished out. I have no idea what insurers do as a result!

 

Here to chat about nonsense and call upon your knowledge when the little Fabia has a tizzy. So far I've had to fix:

 

New headlight bulb (when purchased)

New turbo (original went 'pop', December 2019)

New brake calliper (nearside rear corroded and stuck on, November 2020)

Heating vent (bottom of the dash fell off, November 2020)

Alternator belt (gave up, December 2020)

Anti roll-bar bushes (clonking noise became unbearable, December 2020)

Multiple tail light bulbs (seems to eat them)

 

The current jobs I've got to do on it are to sort out the radio code, fix the fuel filler door, and find a way to encourage the radio to keep hold of a station for longer than 5 minutes because I spend more time scanning for a signal than anything else. Longer term I'll probably fit a new bonnet (the one that's on it came from a scrappy and is slightly faded compared to the rest of the car), a new nearside wing mirror (currently held together with tape from the previous owner) and get the little nicks and scratches fixed.

 

Overall I'm delighted to be back in the realm of Skoda owners. The car's not perfect but it is original and I want to preserve it. One day I'd like to build a replica Felicia Kit Car for weekend fun, assuming that one is left by then. For now the Fabia does work and play duties admirably.

 

Thanks for reading this far, if you have. Look forward to seeing you on the forums.

Awesome and welcome back. Looks like December 2020 has been a bit of a bummer so far for you. Love the MkI and miss mine still. Pretty easy to work on and if you need any workshop PDF's to help I know a chap  
 

Thanks, Lee. Yes I hope this 'costing lots of time and money right before Christmas' thing is just a phase she's going through! 

 

The main things for 2021 are going to be stereo-related:

 

1) get it going again (the code I had written down was wrong and the previous owner gave me a wrong code so now i'm locked out)

 

2) get the radio to hold a signal

 

3) fit a CD player under the passenger seat

 

After that it will just be keeping the bodywork in good shape. Until the next thing!