Driven: Skoda Rapid - Telegraph It was probably 25 years ago, but the memory feels fresh. One day, a Skoda Rapid turned up in the car park - an event that might nowadays seem mundane, but this was long before Volkswagen patronage, when Skodas were crafted from cocoa tins and trimmed with fabric MFI rejected. They were far more likely to attract jokes than sales. At the time, I was working with several past and present Telegraph Motoring contributors for Fast Lane magazine (a title some considered a misnomer, although it probably wouldn't have sold well had it been christened Outside Lane). As the name implies, performance cars were its raison d"être... yet here was a Skoda, snuggling between loaned exotica and stuff from the more extreme end of mainstream manufacturers" catalogues. I can't remember precisely what else was being tested that week, but there was soon a queue for the Skoda keys. It was less the fact it was a top-of-the-range 136 model, with 61bhp, more that it was an absolute hoot to drive, with a benign manner that enabled it to keep pace with imposing reputations. The modern Rapid shares few of its forebear's cues, other than keen pricing, and is a solid, C-segment compact designed to draw custom from such as the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra. Like most contemporary cars, it appears to have been hewn from granite and is blessed with a rock-solid road manner, the ability to do almost everything quite well and ample cabin space for five. It's a little plain behind the pillars, but not in a bad way: you'd choose it for value, not velvet. Colleagues say the petrol-powered model is a little more nimble than the 1.6 diesel we tested, but if you want agile I'd recommend a 136 Rapid from the late 1980s. You'll need to hurry, though: last time I checked, only 26 were still running. Skoda Rapid 1.6TDI Price: £17,100 Telegraph rating: Three out of five stars