1931 Tatra T80

Ignatz Schustala and Co was originally founded as a carriage maker in 1850. They specialised in luxury carriages for the wealthy. In 1890, after Schustala's death, the company was renamed Nesseldorfer and expanded into railway rolling stock. They retained their reputation as a luxury builder, manufacturing and fitting out the carriages for the Simplon-Orient Express line as well as private carriages for Austro-Hungarian royalty and elites. After the company moved into automobile manufacture (as a sideline to their primary rolling stock business), they continued to target the wealthy elite. The Nesseldorfer cars were huge, luxury affairs sold in very small numbers to the very rich.

When Hans Ledwinka introduced the rugged, budget Tatra T11 in 1923, it led to a wholesale redesigning of the company's luxury car range. The heavy chassis rails used in the big Nesseldorfer's was replaced with the Ledwinka's trademark central tube chassis and independent suspension, and in 1931, Tatra's the big, front-engined luxury car models hit the market. Two big Tatra models were revealed - the T70 with a 3.4 litre six cylinder inline engine and the T80, with a 5.9 litre V12.

The T80 was Tatra's flagship model, affordable only to the very elite. One car was built for the president of Czechoslovakia, which is now in the Prague Technology Museum designated as a national treasure (there are four Tatra's so designated in the museum). Another was ordered by the Ringhoffer family, who would go on to purchase Tatra in 1935. In total only 22 of these luxury cars were ever built. After the Tatra T77 was debuted in 1934, interest in the conventional T70 and T80 waned and production ceased in 1935.

Translation:

"AUTOMOBILISM is undeniably responsible for the growth of tourism. Nowadays it is always on the agenda that holiday trips are made by car - and above all, it is the mountains that motorists visit the most, because only by driving by car allows one to fully enjoy all their natural beauty. Although the high mountains are so abundantly visible, they are much fewer accessible ones when you travel by train.

However, for long journeys and for overcoming big climbs, you need a truck that meets all the demands placed on it: fast, strong enough and comfortable. All these features are perfectly combined in the car that Zavody TATRA brings to the market as its latest model, with the new luxurious two-wheel drive. The strong and flexible engine allows the car to overcome almost all hills.

For direct engagement, the frameless chassis with fully adjustable semi-axles and springs guarantee the car a smooth ride even on rough roads. Today, the generally appreciated and recognized advantages of the TATRA car: absolute road holding, stability in corners, resistance to skidding, etc., have been improved and brought to the highest possible level on this new two-wheel drive car.

The TATRA factories have been building cars for almost 35 years, without starting mass production. The buyer now has a full guarantee that with the new [model] he gets a perfectly designed vehicle, concentrating the fruits of many years of experience. The TATRA two-wheel drive is equipped with all the modern conveniences of the automotive industry, and of course the bodywork is designed and laid out in such a way that even the most experienced driver will be comfortable even on long journeys.

The chassis of this car also has the great advantage that, without any changes, instead of a two-cylinder engine [a reference to the revolutionary Tatra 11], a [more] powerful engine can also be installed."

The new 12-cylinder TATRA at the Paris car show.

"When introduced, you will not need a dictionary to express your admiration.

Frameless chassis with supporting central tube. All 4 semi-axles are swingable and completely independent of each other. Steering with 2 separate connecting rods. Hydraulic brakes.

Thanks to the reports in the French magazines, Zävody Tatra's stand received exceptional attention as this year it was the only Czechoslovak company to participate in the Paris Motor Show.

L'intransigeant on 8. October writes:
"During his visit to the auto show, the President of the Republic stayed for a long time at stand 20, where Tatra, a well-known Czechoslovak factory, exhibits all its latest models. He was very interested in the new twelve-cylinder chassis with swinging semi-axles and heartily congratulated the directors of this famous company for both the technical sophistication and the design of the exhibited cars."

L'Oeuvre on 7 October:
"As we have already reported, Mr. Doumerge also stayed at the booth of several foreign companies, of which we cite two that interested him the most: Mercedes..... and Tatra, a large Czechoslovakian company headquartered in Prague which exhibited at the Grand Palais this year.

The large model exhibited on stand 20 was rated 40 CV (editor's note: according to our designation 23/100 KS) and its characteristic features are the following: instead of a deformable frame, a completely torsion resistant medium bearing tube. All 4 semi-corrections are swingable and operate independently. The chassis is equipped with steering with two separate connecting rods and has hydraulic brakes. The weight of the complete chassis does not exceed 1200 kg. It's the car of the future.

It should be noted that a passenger car with an air-cooled engine, owned by Mme Junko, a famous sportswoman who triumphed in so many great European races, is on display at the stand.

The unique design of this car aroused the keen interest of M. Doumerge, who warmly congratulated the representatives of the TATRA company."

The success of the TATRA plant is equal to the success of our domestic industry, but in this difficult test on the international forum, namely in France, the cradle of motoring, it passed with such a road ambassador."

1937 Tatra T87 Czech Brochure

1937 Tatra T97 Czech Brochure

Tatra's T97 model is possibly one of the most misunderstood of all their vehicles - and that's saying a lot considering how much misinformation there is about Tatra in general. The Tatra T97 was an attempt to bring the modern features of rear-engined streamlining to a wider market by slightly reducing the vehicle's size and using a smaller engine. It was in no way intended to be a 'people's car' or 'like a Volkswagen.' The similarities to the Volkswagen are superficial at best.

In 1936 Tatra was finally able to have full steel car bodies pressed which opened up a whole new world of development. Prior to this, all Tatra cars were coachbuilt (steel on wood framing). This was not a problem for the company's luxury products, such as the T77 and T80 limousines as customers expected high quality, custom construction, but it limited the company's ability to mass produce its budget car range. Pressed steel bodies commenced with the Tatra T57b, which helped make that model the most successful car in the Tatra range.

Steel pressing allowed the company to develop the significantly improved T87 streamliner, which addressed many of the problems of rear weight distribution in the earlier T77 and T77a models. A lighter weight but more powerful engine also helped. At the same time, the company decided to build a slightly smaller version, the T97. Some extraneous features of the T87 were dispensed with, such as the third headlight. Interior fittings were less luxurious. To save cost, the T97 reused the same rear engine bootlid.

A newly developed 1790cc four cylinder flat four engine was installed in the car. However, this did not make the T97 a budget car by any means. It was still a very expensive vehicle targeted at the upper middle-class.

At any rate, the T97 was not a major seller during its 2 years of production. Only some 500 bodies were pressed, and sales were slow. In 1938, when Bohemia and Moravia were 'absorbed' into 'Greater Germany', the Ringhoffer-Tatrawerkes were incorporated into the German nationalized automobile industry. Under the Schell Plan, so-called 'surplus' models and minor manufacturers were removed from the market. Tatra were permitted to continue production of the Tatra T87, the budget T57b and two models of heavy truck. All other model lines were shut down. For Tatra this included T80 front-engined V12 limousine, the company's most exclusive and luxurious model, the T97 streamliner, the T75 middle-class car as well as a number of light trucks. This decision had nothing at all to do with the Volkswagen.

Link to the complimentary Tatra T87 Czech brochure: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2022/07/1937-tatra-t87-czech-brochure.html

1936 Tatra T87 German Brochure

English version of this brochure: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2022/04/1936-tatra-t87-english-brochure.html

1934 Tatra T77 - Omnia Revue pratique l'automobile - November 1934

The first two Tatra T77 were shipped all across Europe in the 1934 motor show season, appearing first in Prague, then Berlin, Paris, Brussels and Zurich. They created a sensation wherever they went. What's interesting about this period was that the two cars were constantly being test driven and worked on in an attempt to iron out the many bugs and problems the cars had. Nevertheless, the cars were highly desirable and both were purchased by wealthy Austro-Hungarians and then leased back to Tatra for the exhibitions. The motoring press everywhere were extremely interested in the vehicles and numerous articles were written about them. Below is a lengthy French article.

1943 Tatra Type T27B Lorry with Holzgas

In the Second World War, Germany was never really able to sustain an extended conflict due to its critical shortage of strategic resources, such as steel and gas. Consequently, German foreign policy objectives were planned to be achieved via short, intense conflicts along its borders for limited objectives. Against all expectations, Poland was completely subjugated in a very short campaign. France completely capitulated in six weeks and subsequently most of Europe fell under German sway. All of these rapid early victories were fueled by massive gasoline imports from the Soviet Union and Romania. Even then, gasoline supplies were extremely tight and in late 1941 the National Socialists were forced to wind down armament and industrial production due to lack of fuel. This pause helped lull many people in Germany and elsewhere to believe the war would soon be over and negotiated peace would be settled. They were to be sadly, tragically disappointed.

Nevertheless, the wheels of industry still needed to turn and alternative fuel sources, such as coal gas, synthetic gasoline (derived from coal) and holzgas were developed as substitutes. Holzgas was generated from charcoal and Like many German truck manufacturers, Tatra developed a conversion process for its heavy diesel trucks to use Holzgas as an Holzgas generators were installed on many different models. https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2021/01/1944-tatra-type-81-holzgas-truck.html

1939 Tatra T57B Brochure

Tatra is rightly renown for its streamlined, rear-engine supercar range, but these were never the company's bread and butter. For its entire history Tatra was primarily a truck and commercial vehicle manufacturer, building everything from heavy trucks, buses, trams and railway cars. While the T87 and others drew the attention of the crowds, its passenger car range was in fact dominated by the relatively conventional - at least in comparison to the T87 et al - front-engined, air-cooled budget sedan cars. The T57, introduced in 1932, was the company's most successful vehicle, produced in far greater numbers than any other vehicle they ever produced.

The T57 followed the same template as the pioneering T12, but with a larger four-cylinder air-cooled engine (the T11 and T12 had a twin-cylinder). As originally built, the T57 looked externally identical to its predecessors, but it received a substantial facelift in 1935 and was redesignated the T57A. The modernized T57A looked far more conventional with a scalloped false radiator grill, steel body and much improved fittings.

In 1938 the model recieved another facelift, with a slightly more conventional false radiator grill. This model, the T57B would remain in production until 1949.

The military version Tatra T57K Kubelwagen: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2022/09/1941-tatra-t57k-kubelwagen.html