Are crash tests really that interesting? If they happened in the 1970s and involved a rocket strapped to the back of a Skoda, then yes.
The first car Skoda ever submitted for crash test approval was the 1972 100 sedan. The Czech maker wanted to sell it in Western markets, and to do so it had to meet EEC Regulation 12— which involved one crash test analysing the movement of the steering column into the car.
The Czechoslovak Motor Vehicles Research Institute (UVMV) was the official testing centre for the Federal Ministry of Transport of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic at the time. Crash testing was a new thing and all the equipment had to be created by the UVMV.
Key to the test was a steam rocket that accelerated the car to the required speed, before it slammed into the barrier (also built by UVMV staff). The rocket tank was filled with water, which was heated with coils to create high pressure, and boom!
The Skoda was sent down a track at around 50km/h; five metres from the wall, the rails ended and a wedge brake snapped the rocket off the car, which carried on to crunch into the concrete. Two versions of the rocket were developed, HRB-01 and HRB-02.
The initialisation stands for Hot Water Rocket of the Security Group of the Central Ministry of Defence, which is awesome. Sadly, the devices exist only in period photographs now: 02 was stolen when the facility was moved and never seen again, although a replica has since been built.
French authorities observed the 1972 test, which was filmed with a “high speed” 35mm camera. The sole evaluation was whether the intrusion of the steering column was “within the norm”, and couldn’t be completed until the film was developed and examined (the Skoda passed). And the name? Fodrsamarupusopr, written on the rocket, was a mega-mashup of UVMV team member names: Fogl, Drmota, Satchin, Majetic, Rublic, Pucalka, Soucek and Prazak. Obviously.