American Reacts to Fascinating Things You Didn't Know about ŠKODA

Comments · 704

• FI

  @fifi23o5 · 2 years ago (edited)

  In my language (Slovenian) škoda means damage, pitty, shame.<br>People don&apos;t realize or admit Czeckoslovakia was an industrial superpower before WW2. Without their tanks Germany probably wouldn&apos;t be able to conquer France. Just check at Panzer 38. It was a Chechoslovakian tank adopted by Wehrmacht, they were in use untill the end of the war.<br>Few people realize Checkoslovakia was industrial an cultural superpower before the WW2. Germany was industrial, France was cultural power, Checkoslovakia was both. At the end of WW2 they retained their position, Germany transfered a lot of production there and it wasn&apos;t destroyed in the war. At the end of the war they had capacities to produce Me-262, the first operational jet fighter in the world. Yugoslavia wanted to purchase them. Even for emerging Israel. The intervention of Soviet Union brought the deal down.<br>Without Soviet intervention European map would be much different now. But they produced a few really remarkable things, regardless.<br>My field is aviation. Nobody will ever produce more gliders of one type than Checkoslovakia. They made a two seat, metal glider, the L-13 Blanik, the most widely produced glider ever, more than 50% of all glider pilots in the world learned their skills on it. They produced the Zlin &apos;&apos;26&apos;&apos; series of aerobatic aeroplanes, Zlin 526, the plane I learned to fly on, was the best aerobatic plane in the world when it appeared in 1965, leter they set new standards and made a blueprint for all modern aerobatic planes when they made a Zlin 50 in the early 1980s. The most widely produced jet trainer in the world, still in use today in many air forces is Aero L-39 Albatros.<br>Škoda was in rank of Mercedes before WW2, Tatra was close to Rolls-Royce then, so, Škoda today doesn&apos;t come as a surprise to me, it is just a continuation of the heritage and history, it is a revival. True, they were not widely known and popular, but they were always innovative and quality company, I wish them success. <br>Greetings from Slovenia.

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• DU

  @Dukenukem · 2 years ago

  The video is mixing ŠKODA industrial works (based mainly in Pilsen) and L&amp;K (based in Mladá Boleslav) companies, the Škoda bought L&amp;K as their car division. Todays the car division is owned by VW while the rest of the heavier production (mainly locomotives and bus/trams) is by company Škoda Transportation. Think of it as some US corporations, that merged to form a gigantic conglomerate that was split later into separate companies again (Rockwell International)

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• CA

  @CaptainGarisen-bl3vp · 2 years ago

  The thing is &quot;Škoda&quot; is not that rare name in Czech Republic. Its more like common and I guess most of Czechs dont even feel that word negatively in connection with the brand but just a name of someone who founded the brand. Of course foreigners dont know what does it mean so there was no reason to change the name, right? :D

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• OE

  @Oelwannski · 2 years ago

  In Germany we say &quot;If you want a good VW, buy a Skoda&quot;

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• MI

  @mikulas_zach · 2 years ago

  Škoda brand is actually the 5th oldest car brand in the world. Funny thing, Tatra, the other czech car manufacturer (makes only trucks today) is the 2nd oldest car brand in the world. We&apos;ve got some history. In the 30s Tatra made the first ever &quot;aerodynamics-based car, the Tatra 77, shortly followed by Škoda 935 Dynamic and then the rest of the world with their aerodynamic cars.

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• VO

  @volcano1979 · 2 years ago

  they forgot to say that Škoda cars were widely sold abroad as police cars, because Škoda offers ready-made cars with the necessary equipment, if you need a police car for a dog, it will already have a cage from the factory, if you need a car suitable for transporting organs, it will already have all the equipment from the factory. It is therefore cheaper for the states to buy Škoda cars than another brand, for which they would still have to install equipment separately. And yes, they also have a bulletproof Škoda Superb to choose from.

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• DA

  @davidpelc · 2 years ago (edited)

  Actualy the word &quot;škoda&quot; doesn´t mean &quot;too bad&quot;, but its more like the word &quot;pity&quot;. 🙂 But yes, the meaning can be also &quot;damage&quot; for eample in fraze &quot;damage caused&quot;, &quot;způsobená škoda&quot;.

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• JO

  @josefferda6282 · 2 years ago

  It&apos;s great to see an American so interested in our car brand. You should visit Czech republic. There are Škoda cars everywhere. Love your content.

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• AR

  @archereegmb8032 · 2 years ago

  I&apos;m in UK. I love my Skoda. I&apos;m on my second Octavia (with all the toys). My favourite trinkets....the ice scraper in the filler cap, the parking ticket holder, and the USB connector in the mirror (to connect a dashcam), and the fold-away tow ball has saved me from battered shins.

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• MR

  @MrToradragon · 2 years ago (edited)

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpAid1Da7aQ&amp;t=474">7:54</a> Back in 50&apos;s Škoda had produced fastest Czechoslovak steam locomotive class 498.1 (nicknamed Albatros) with speed record of over 101mph, one operational is preserved in Bratislava, another one is currently being rebuild. If you would be interested, there should be more than enough videos available.

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• JO

  @johnvender · 2 years ago (edited)

  I spent the first twelve years of my life in Czechoslovakia and when we said &quot;to je škoda&quot; we were saying &quot;it&apos;s a pity&quot;. My understanding about Lamborghini is Lamborghini who was making tractors thought of ideas that would have improved the cars Ferrari was making. He went to Enzo&apos;s house and when he told Enzo he had ideas that would improve Ferrari&apos;s cars. Enzo sent him away telling him to stick to making tractors. Naturally Lamborgini was offended and decided to start making cars better than Ferrari&apos;s.

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• TH

  @TheTalkingHeadYT · 1 year ago (edited)

  In many EU countries Škoda is the best car you can buy in terms of quality/price. I drove Škoda on CNG gas as a taxi cab and they are amazing and very reliable. Also 47 mpg (5kg/100km) is a no joke. With today&apos;s CNG price in Estonia it is less than $5/60 miles. Quality and comfort is on the top and Škoda has some own quirks that VW don&apos;t. Škoda on CNG is my choice now when I will buy my own car.

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