Kaskadéri - Devil riders in Czechoslovakia
03/13/2024
Anyone who thinks that there wasn't much going on in terms of car culture in the Soviet Union, which had a limited planned economy, is very much mistaken. There was a lot on offer not only in motorsport, but also in completely non-competitive entertainment with cars. Around 1980, for example, around 70 part-time "devil drivers" ("Kaskadéri") were active in Czechoslovakia, spread across five demonstration teams.
Three of them traveled the world with their circus, even going as far as Japan. The other two entertained local audiences, for example in Prešov. It was there that the photos shown here were taken of Václav Šroub's troupe, who - when he wasn't performing daredevil driving maneuvers - restored historical monuments. Of course, film producers also occasionally benefited from his breakneck driving skills.
In Šroub's opinion, a car cannot only be fun at full throttle. That is why the focus of his devil-driver troupe's demonstrations is not on the spectacular destruction of the vehicles, but on their precise control in extreme situations. Nevertheless, one might wonder how long the Škoda 105 and Ford Anglia have endured this endurance test.
