"It was 1980 and I was itching to get my own car. Trouble was, I couldn’t afford a new one. And along came a used Popular for 3500 CSK.

She was built as a people’s car with no frills. But she had everything I needed. In all these years, I’ve done my best I could to keep her in shape. A new engine, a new paint job, but her soul is still the one she was fitted with.

And she has rewarded us well with being dependable even on the longest journeys. I remember once, around 1987, we drove to West Germany all the way to the Baltic Sea. It was a hot summer and so many other cars kept breaking down. But not us, not my Popular.

Some years later as I was driving in the mountains, a shiny new Opel Kadett passed us by. We stopped our cars, a German driver got out of his car and made a stunning proposition - he wanted to exchange his Opel for my Liduška. I guess you know what my answer was."

"When I first saw her, she was sitting under a plum tree and time was slowly tearing her apart. One day I found an old man from the village who introduced himself as the owner of the rusty lady. It took me 2000 CSK to take her home. In temperatures of -15° C, my friend helped me tow her with me in it.

When we got home, I was frozen to my bones but that couldn’t stop me for stripping her down to its parts and putting her back together, step-by-step.

I learnt to become a carpenter, body worker, auto mechanic, painter and electrician. I stopped living for an entire year to bring her back to life.

At the end of that year, I finally started the engine. Hearing her hum made me feel like the king of the world. And like a king, I drove down to the Prague Castle square, where we were almost mobbed by her admirers."

"She was built in 1977 and I’m the fifth man in her life. It was all fate, I guess. There I was at an old-timer gathering, sitting next to a couple who happened to be talking about this car.

Eavesdropping on their conversation revealed that the car was on sale. That was it. We sealed the deal right there.

The car is still in its original pristine condition. I only added a new lacquer coat. But other than that she’s as good as she was back then. But I realise that spare parts are hard to come by. So I keep buying them when I can, you know, just in case.

In these 8 years I have driven 9,000 km. We’ve been to Austria twice and recently to the Dolomites in Italy. And like every old lady, she has a few tricks up her sleeve. When I push her, she can still run up to 110 km/h."

"The ŠKODA 1100 MB has a heroic history. Originally a workhorse vehicle, it was modified by a former ŠKODA factory driver, Karel Šimek, for an old-timer marathon racing competition. He reinforced the body, installed the safety structure and swapped the old seats for the sporty ones. And that became its resurrection.

In 1993, Karel drove her from London to Sydney. Braving the often unpaved roads, the resilient car traversed the London-Mexico rally in 1995, capping it with the London-Cape Town marathon three years later.

But then it suffered an unscheduled interruption and sat on wooden supports for the next 15 years. And that’s when I stepped in this year. An oil change and brake inspection later, it was ready to hit the road again.

Together we’ve participated in the rally races in Zlín and Sumava in the Czech Republic.

I call her ‘Karel’ after her former driver who rewrote her destiny."

"The car was a total wreck. Just scrap, really. We bought her just for her spare parts. But then a friend came along and developed a soft spot for her. So we restored her for him and it’s been thirteen years since.

I remember seeing this model for the first time when I was 4. I was returning from kindergarten with my mother when a new turquoise 445 parked on our street. I was stunned. Pushing myself up on my tiptoes, I tried taking a peek inside. I still remember falling in love with the white gauges.

When we drive her around, people stop, turn, smile and wave. But once we were stopped by the police. They checked our papers, then bent over and said, 'we just wanted to see your car'.

You see, this isn’t just a car, it’s my ticket to childhood."

"I found the Faeton in the classified section of a magazine. Back then she cost 3,000 CSK. I didn’t have the money. But I had a plan. I convinced my friend to buy it, hoping one day I would buy it back from him. But he didn’t want to sell and I couldn’t really blame him.

But I wasn’t one to give up. I got my chance 30 years later when a collector friend of mine persuaded him to sell it. The same day, this other friend sold it back to me. Sweet revenge.

I replaced the engine, repainted the body and gave her expensive new chrome parts.

After restoring the upholsteries and the roof, she was ready to roll again in the spring of 2014.

Soon, we’ll be ready for old-timer shows where the Faeton can reveal all her beauty and grace."

"ŠKODA 160 RS MTX is a racing prototype. Only four of them were made and only two raced.

I saw the car for the first time in 1984 in a race where the factory driver Václav Bahna squeezed incredible results out of her. Little did I know that one day I would be replacing him in the driver’s seat.

But after a brief period of anonymity, the car was restored and added to my collection about six years ago.

She can still give her contemporaries a run for their money, accelerating to about 170 km/h. And that ability hasn’t gone to waste. Even today I race the car mostly in the Rally of Legends races.

It’s funny how going fast can sometimes slow down time."

"In 2010 I was looking for a utility car, more specifically the ŠKODA FUN pickup addition. A few days later, I found one and brought her home.

The repairs started immediately but I started facing more bottlenecks than planned. I had to admit that my original idea to have a utility vehicle had to be sacrificed. Instead, the Felicia FUN promised to be exactly what its name suggested.

This car has been sheer joy. In the summer, I just take a nap on the pickup bed. She draws attention wherever we go. There is one danger though. Given my hobby to drive pretty girls around in the back, quite often they receive a nasty sunburn.

I only take her out a few times a year and when the weather is nice. Though I originally wanted a workhorse, I just can’t let her, you know, get dirty."

"Back then I only rode my motorcycle. But after becoming a family man my needs grew. I bought an Octavia off my friend, tuned her up a bit and have been driving her for the past 15 years.

We drove her everywhere, even all the way to Germany. The odometer reads 45,000 km - so she’s as good as new. Now, of course, we only head to old-timer gatherings.

This is a car of my childhood. Back then the Octavias were everywhere. The highlight was when my uncle drove me in his Octavia but forbid me to eat anything inside.

And now my granddaughter fondly calls it ‘the ice cream car’ because we often took the car out in the summer to buy ice cream.

Unlike my uncle though, I always let her enjoy it in the car."

"I bought the Favorit as new and she has stayed pretty much like that ever since. The paint is original, and so are the tyres. 19 years on, it is slowly ageing into a vintage beauty.

I use it sparingly, having clocked just over 30,000 km. When it’s summer and the weather is fine, we take her out on the road. The furthest we ever went was 200 km and back.

But we never drive her in the winter. When the snow comes, we put her into hibernation. Probably the reason why she’s in such good health.

I’ve retired now but my Favorit hasn’t. My son drives her. And sometimes my granddaughter. The Favorit really is loved by all the family."

"The Popular was back then what the RS is today: fun, fast and a real head-turner. My dad should know. He started learning to drive in this very car.

And since there are only ten of these left in the Czech Republic, we picked one up at the first chance we got. For dad, it was a drive down memory lane.

And now it’s a family member. The entire family loves driving in it, whether it’s a summer trip or old-timer meetings.

But it’s also what happens outside the car that makes it so special. People always surround us the moment we stop.

They wave, take pictures and refresh their own memories of having a car like this once.

I guess whoever gave the car its name could tell the future."

"I’ve had the pre-war Rapid for a long time now. And then I thought she could have company if I added the Rapid from the 80s, along with the 2012 model. After a short Internet search, I found the middle sister. I went to see her with my mom. It was simply love at first sight. And while moms are always right I didn’t let her talk me out of it.

Another encouraging sign that this was simply meant to be, was this Rapid shared the same colour of the one I already had. So within a week, I had both of them sitting side-by-side in my garage.

What makes this even more special is that it was the last ŠKODA model with the

engine in the back and rear-wheel drive. But I don’t drive it all that much. I’ve only done about 100 km over two years.

And now I’m busy planning the third addition to the family."

"I bought the Rapid in the autumn of 1986. Funnily, we used our smaller ŠKODA 100 to tow it more than 200 km home. Onlookers were amused, to say the least.

It desperately needed restoration and it took me 9 years and hundreds of hours in the garage to get her in shape. What was repairable was repaired and restored. I never used new parts or replicas.

The only qualm I have is that the steering wheel on the right side makes overtaking difficult. But then, with an old-timer you hardly get a chance to pass other cars anyway. About five times a year we go to old-timer gatherings, exhibitions and weddings - 

without any breakdowns. I already had to tow my regular vehicle a few times, but never an old-timer.

Do I ever think of selling it? I can’t. I’ve already promised it to my grandchildren."

"I always dreamed of this car. And that dream came true in 2002 when I was able to pick-up a partially restored model. Funnily, the owner refused to let me drive it back home, especially in the rain. So I had to move mountains to arrange for a last-minute towing service to bring the car home 120 km later.

The car needed work. The engine compartment had to be painted, tuned, the brakes had to be repaired, the front axle had to be completely rebuilt and of course, the upholstery repaired.

She still looks sharp in her rosehip red. She even posed for the Cosmopolitan

magazine and gave several brides a run for their money at their own weddings.

Every once in while, when the weather is nice, we go for a gentle ride. After all, it’s not a car, it’s a family jewel."

"Cycling is my life. I am still as excited to get on a bike as I was when I won the Tour de France in 1987. And even though I’m no longer a professional cyclist, that feeling hasn’t dimmed one bit.

Even today when I visit the Tour de France, I see the passion of the riders and the fans grow

from race to race. I get to follow the cyclists efforts and soak up the atmosphere from the comfort of a ŠKODA Superb team car. And that keeps me inspired.

Riding gives me energy to push myself forward. It’s in my genes. And even though these days I spend more time in my car, I hope I can pass on my love for cycling to the next generation.

My name is Steven Roche and my story began the same way as ŠKODA's - on two wheels."