1952 Tatra T600 Tatraplan

Every car enthusiast has that special car, the car that they desire above all others. For me, that car was a streamlined Tatra from Czechoslovakia. Tatra, the third oldest automobile manufacturer after Daimler-Benz and Peugeot, had been building cars since 1897. Led by their technical director, Hans Ledwinka, Tatra were at the cutting edge of vehicle design from the mid-1920s through to the 1960s. I had never expected that I would ever be in a position to own one as they are quite rare cars internationally and extremely rare in Australia. The most desirable model, the Tatra T87, fetches crazy prices, well beyond my meagre budget. A 1948 Tatra 87 was put up for sale in Sydney in 2012 for A$350,000. Rarity however is never a guarantee and the car found no buyers and, after two years, it was shipped overseas to be sold at auction at Pebble Beach. I was surprised to find that the York Motor Museum in Western Australia, about an hour's drive from Perth, had a 1952 Tatraplan in its collection. At the time I saw it I told my wife that was my dream car.

In 2012 the York Tatraplan was put on display at Celebration of the Motorcar, a prestige motor show in Perth, along with a 1974 Tatra T603 and 1986 Tatra T613. It was probably the only time in Australia that the three post-war Tatra models were on display together.

Shortly after Celebration of the Motorcar, the York Museum decided to put the car up for auction. The car was sent to Melbourne's Motorclassica, which culminated in an auction of collectible cars. The asking price was well and truly out of my price range so I expected we would never see the Tatra again. However, as the seller of the Tatra T87 found, the market for these unusual cars is pretty small and the Tatraplan was passed in without any bids. The Tatra then passed through several auction houses, each time failing to attract any interest.

Then, a chance conversation I had with a friend in the classic car scene led to me say something rather foolish. My friend said he'd assessed the condition of the Tatraplan and advised that in his view it was only worth x dollars. That number was substantially below the auction price and closer to something that I felt comfortable with. I boldly stated, that if the seller would accept that price, I'd happily pay it. My friend said he'd ask. I walked away assuming this was all just talk and there was no way the seller would agree to the price discussed, but the next day the seller phoned me and agreed to the offer. My God, I was now owner of the Tatraplan! I was so unprepared for this outcome that I had not even mentioned this possibility to my wife, Shelly. We were in the process of completing the restoration of her Karmann Ghia so the timing wasn't great. However, these opportunities only come around once in your life so you just have to seize the day.

The history of our Tatra
My Tatraplan was one of the dozen or so Tatraplans shipped to Australia in 1952. The car's early history is unknown but in 1983 the car appeared in Restored Cars Magazine.

The star of the article was George Stelhig's's T603 but there was a small amount information about his T600.




Photos of the interior of the T600 show that in 1983 it still had column shift. Sometime after this article the car was converted to floor shift by Tatra Repairs Company in Melbourne. The reason for the conversion are unknown, but it was probably due to the impossibility of finding spare parts for the shift linkage in Australia. The Tatraplan was only built for four years and in relatively small numbers. Spare parts are in short supply. All the other Australian Tatraplan that I know of (as many of the original shipment have survived) have also had this conversion.

In 1987 the York Motor museum bought the T600 from George and for the next 26 years it was one of their feature cars. Occasionally the car was bought out for vintage events in York and Perth, including the 2012 Celebration of the Motorcar. http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/celebration-of-motorcar-2012.html


Photos courtesy Zig Pasznicki.

The Tatra was serviced at one stage by Jerry Heldt of the Karmann Ghia Company of Australia, who has supplied many parts and provided advice for the restoration of Shelly's Karmann. He posted photos of the car on his website: http://www.karmannghia.com.au/tatra.html

In 2013 the Tatra was sent for auction at the Motoclassica in Melbourne, but it did not sell. It was then sent for auction with Shannon's, but again passed in before I bought it. http://www.shannons.com.au/auctions/lot/U9C3O8F30T9ZO17E/#.U7qTRDpZrMw

1.9 litre boxer engine

Beautiful art-deco styled interior



My research leads me to believe that eight of the dozen or so Tatraplans sent to Australia, have survived. One is running but is now on loan to Charlie's Auto Museum, Arthur's Head, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. The others are all under restoration.