Hi all , my name is Ivan Visanich from Malta and this website is dedicated to the restoration of my 1985 120Ls-resto pictures can be viewed by clicking on the picture link at the left of the page.I became a fan of these czech cars when my dad bought a brand new 120L in 1988 ,the car still in the family always kept in a mint condition still wearing it's original paint, I  was only 11 at the time the only thing I could  was wash it and pretend I'm driving it.When I got my driving licence at the age of 18 I could not find an estelle that was in my price range,cash was very short as I was still at college only receiving stipend until I came across this 1979 Estelle Mark 1 that although it had some surface rust and a poor respray in non original green,was complete had a one owner and ran beautifully withe the exception of rumbling noises from the gearbox bearings.Lm300 and a week later the car was my pride and joy until an accident with a Bus in 1998 forced me to take the car off the road and which was initially the end of the car.It had been repaired poorly and was resprayed poorly in its original white colour.It was eventually sold to make way for a brand new Felicia in 2001.Bored by the driveability of these FWD cars that although are modern and have all the necessary equipment of modern cars I feel that they are not quite an enjoyable drive as the rear engine models.A hunt for a rear engine model got me in to a 1976 110r I bought from a friend of mine which I thought it was quite worth saving for the rarity of these cars alone.The car was in need of total restoration although mechanically it was very sound.I started dismantling the car until one day annual in April 2005 I met an old friend of mine and knowing that I am Skoda freak asked me if I wanted to have his 120 for free as he was going to scrap as it had been hit at the front and rear in an accident.I thought it would have made an excellent spares car for my 110 as it had a five speed gearbox and a set of alloys I thought I would fit in my project but when I accepted to take the car and the car was towed to my garage I changed my mind and decided to restore this car and use it as a daily transport.The interior was missing half it's carpet but was otherwise in a fair condition wearing a set of re-trimmed Rapid seats although it needed quite a good clean up and a rear panel,rear bumper,both taillamps,both front wings,driver's door,front bumper,luggage boot and front valance needed replacing as these were either rusty,dented or collision damaged.Being a huge hit in the market here in Malta during the eightees as they were the cheapest car, parts for my new project were not very hard to find second hand.The engine fitted in my project was a 1300cc from a favorit complete with electronic ignition but it was knackered as it had run without water after a water pump failure.This was no problem as I had a spare correct 1200cc engine in my garage I took off a scrapped car some years before.All that was needed was a head gasket,timing chain and some fresh oil. Bodywork sorted I chose to finish the car in an Orange shade slightly different from which Skoda used.The car was sprayed for free by a good friend of Mine provided that I flattened the old paint and carried out the necessary repairs.Re fitting everything togeteher was no big deal and missing trim parts were bought for silly money from breakers yards.For the bumpers,grille and rear spoiler I used special black plastic paint to give them a new look since they were slightly faded,the alloys received a good clean up by my five year old daughter whose hands are small enough to clean those small alloy designs,the front was dropped by around 30mm and clear front and side repeater lenses were fitted.The car passed the VRT test ( local test similar to the MOT ) with flying colours in June 2006 and has been in daily use ever since.The car has been reliable ever since only requiring an exhaust an a starter motor.That 110R is still in the garage,maybe this winter I'll have time to continue work on it !!!!!.