Skodas Ancient and Modern.
clicker, BEagle and camlobe,
Re: Skodas. I've been digging a bit more since fingering the "Octavia" as the model which the Luftwaffe (supposedly) forbade their young "Prunes" to drive. It seems that the pre- and early wartime "Superb" is by far the mostly likely suspect, and Wiki will tell you all about it.
It appears that it had a performance which would not shame today's supercars, and those who can still remember the steering, braking and roadholding characteristics of the things we then drove can only shudder at the possibilities.
Danny.