1943 Motor-Kritik Magazine Tatra T87 Road Test

"Regarding the fuel consumption of the Tatra Type 87.

Attentive readers will notice a consistent fuel consumption curve at 80 km/h in the fuel consumption test chart enclosed with this booklet. Factory measurements on a Reichsbahn (German State Railway) track always showed a consistent curve for the various cars of this type. However, with the car we tested, several measurements at 80 km/h consistently showed a reduction in fuel consumption, the cause of which is likely attributable to the carburetor characteristics. so that, with the required driving performance on a level road (motorway), a particularly favorable mixture ratio results, especially with this driving characteristic. This explains the lower fuel consumption. For the tested car, the fuel consumption figure determined on the test drives according to the specifications had to be adjusted." Pg 247
https://motor-kritik.blogspot.com/2025/12/1934-motor-kritik-nr-11-14.html

I never tire of pointing out to the internet 'experts' the paucity of evidence for their claims that the Tatra T87 was a Nazi killing deathtrap that Hitler banned German officers from driving. To date, I have not been able to locate any contemporary evidence for these claims, while there is plenty of evidence that no ban actually existed. In the above July 1943 edition of Motor-Kritik - right in the middle years of the war, four months after Joseph Goebbel's "Total War" speech - Motor-Kritik conducts a fuel economy test of the latest Tatra T87. The focus of the test is interesting as petrol shortages were beginning to bite in Nazi Germany from this time and Tatra's excellent fuel economy was an important selling point. What we can deduce from this short article is that Tatras were still available to purchase, which is extraordinary in itself, as from the beginning of 1943 ALL civilian industrial capacity was diverted to war production. All civilian car manufacture was officially halted in Germany at this time - with two notable exceptions - Mercedes-Benz and Tatra; both companies being highly favored by the German elite.

Tatra continued developing and building the Tatra T87 right through the war, selling very small numbers to wealthy, politically connected clients and a small number of military units, such as the SS and Luftwaffe.

Tatra's wartime advertising is easily recognized by the Notek blackout headlamps in place of the central headlamp. For example:






The Origin of the Nazi-Killing Tatra Myth - https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-origin-of-tatra-nazi-killing-myth.html
Nazi 'myth' nonsense - https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-moronic-dross-that-passes-as.html

Behind the scenes filming with SBS

Danny Estrin, frontman and lead singer of the Perth band, Voyager, is a longtime car nut with an interesting collection of mainly 1980s vehicles. Following on from Voyager's recent success at Eurovision, Danny was able to pitch to SBS (Special Broadcasting Services in Australia) a TV series about classic car ownership, which they agreed to pick up. Filming is underway in November 2025.

Danny and I know each through our car club and the classic scene and he invited me to participate in the series. The crew came over to my house on Thursday 20 November 2025 for filming. The Tatra was the subject, although Danny was very interested in my DKWs.

The crew setting up for filming.

Filming was done with two hand held cameras and an automated camera that panned back and forth along the car from the side.

Danny arrives in his Mitsubishi Magna Elite. 1980s magnificence.

Obligatory celebrity selfie! The interview was conducted in the car. The conversation was very easy and we spoke for well over an hour. The editors are going to have their hands full trying to turn that into something useful! After the interview we took the Tatra for drive, filming along the Swan River, the Fremantle Cappuccino Strip and along the South Mole of the Fremantle Harbour. We did a lot of drone shots too. All up we were fully occupied from 9am to 3.45pm. It was a great experience and a real pleasure. Danny is extremely personable with a witty banter.

I am not sure what the series will be called or when it will go to air, but expect it will probably be sometime in 2026. I know there are five episodes in the series, each featuring three cars and their owners. When I know the details I'll update the post and provide links. As SBS is an Australian state broadcaster, I am not sure it will be viewable overseas, unless they license it for foreign markets. We shall see.

When you really love cars, why not bring them on stage with you?

Filming with RAC earlier in the year: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2024/11/behind-scenes-of-in-my-garage.html

B-sport Ferdinand Porsche Documentary Series

Ferdinand Porsche's life story has come to be totally dominated by the Volkswagen, the rear-engined German people's car. The Volkswagen is rightly a legendary vehicle, but the controversies that attach to that project and the car itself, do Porsche a great disservice. The Volkswagen was simply one of a series of vehicles he designed. It's not even the most interesting! Porsche's pre-Volkswagen career is extremely interesting. He started as a metalworker in his father's workshop, then became an itinerate tradesman, became an electrical apprentice, then electrical engineer, designed an electric vehicle motor, designed and patented the electric wheel-hub motor for the Lohner carriage company, designed military trucks and diesel-electric road trains for the Austro-Hungarian army, designed Austro-Daimler's first aero engine (that went on to become the model for Daimler-Benz and BMW aero engines in the First and Second World War), became Austro-Daimler's technical director of vehicle development, designed, built and drove racecars for Daimler, promoted the development of a budget 'people's' motorcar (at Austro-Daimler, Steyr and Daimler-Benz), designed the four and six cylinder engines used by Wanderer, worked on mid-engined racecars for Benz and Auto-Union, designed a three-wheeled delivery van for Zundapp, designed the Volkswagen and its predecessors, developed a 'people's tractor' and designed heavy tanks for the Wehrmacht. Most people don't know any of this. When you understand the full scope of his career, the fairy tales that accuse him of plagarism (of Ledwinka's or Ganz' designs) are easy to dismiss as the nonsense they are.

B-Sport channel on YouTube have done a magnificently detailed review of Ferdinand Porsche's career, from his early years in his father's metalwork shop. B-Sport have many other histories and biographies on their channel that are well worth watching. I highly recomment their content.

Porsche's early life

Revolutionary Designs at Lohner

Porsche at Austro-Daimler

Difficult times at Mercedes


More videos to follow. Subscribe to B-Sport for more content https://www.youtube.com/@bsport320

The origin of the Volkswagen: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/volkswagen-world-beating-peoples-car.html
Volkswagen at War: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2014/07/volkswagen-at-war.html
The Death and Resurrection of Volkswagen: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-death-and-resurrection-of-volkswagen.html
The Tatra-Volkswagen lawsuit: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-tatra-versus-volkswagen-lawsuit.html