In the Automobile of November 2010 Karl Ludvigsen has written an article on his T 87, a vehicle he owned for fourteen years and is believed to be bought new by novelist John Steinbeck in 1947. Ludvigsen tells about its pros and cons, well most its pros, and his personal experiences.
Browsing Press
Why and wherefores of the remarkable Tatra T 87
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MTX V8 article (and beautiful photos)
A nice article on the MTX Tatra V8 recently appeared on the Autoviny website. Featured is the black MTX Tatra V8, the most powerful one produced and holder of the Czech speed record at 210,895 kph. It was originally ordered by an Italian and eventually ended up in the Lany sports car museum. The vehicle has a 3.9 litre engine which powers the vehicle through a five speed gearbox to a top speed of 265 kph.
Slovak text: http://autoviny.zoznam.sk/
GB text (google translation) http://autoviny.zoznam.sk/
Photos: http://autoviny.zoznam.sk/
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Press, Racing & Rallying
Police start penal proceedings in Czech deputy minister´s case
Prague – The police have launched criminal proceedings in the case of alleged corruption of Czech deputy finance minister Martin Bartak who is suspected of having asked for a bribe in connection with a military order for Tatra lorries, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes today.
Regional State Attorney´s Office in Ostrava, north Moravia, headed by Zlatuse Andelova will supervise the investigation into Bartak´s case.
The police have already questioned three witnesses, who told MfD about Bartak´s alleged corrupt behaviour last week, and they all confirmed their words, MfD says.
“There is a substantiated suspicion that a crime may having been committed. This is why criminal proceedings were launched to clarify and examine all circumstances,” said Andelova who in the past investigated the alleged corruption case of former deputy prime minister Jiri Cunek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL).
Her superiors exerted pressure on Andelova over the Cunek case but she did not yield to it. More…..
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Právo: Cabaniss trying to deflect attention from his crime
Prague, Nov 15 (CTK) – Former U.S. ambassador William Cabaniss, head of the Tatra company supervisory board, wanted to deflect attention from his own crime when accusing former Czech defence minister Martin Bartak of corruption, Petr Ptacek, chief executive of the company Praga Export, told daily Pravo out Monday. More………
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Former US ambassador to Prague accuses former Czech defence minister of corruption
PRAGUE — Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas called Friday for a thorough and quick investigation into allegations by the former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, who has accused the country’s former defence minister of asking for a bribe.
William Cabaniss was quoted in Friday’s edition of the major newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes as saying Martin Bartak asked for money during a February 2008 meeting near Washington D.C., where Bartak was with an official Czech delegation.
Bartak was then deputy defence minister; he later served as defence minister and currently is deputy finance minister, in charge of fighting corruption.
Necas said he considered the allegations “serious” because the scandal could harm the country’s relations with a close ally.
“A thorough investigation has to be carried out and must be done quickly,” Necas said.
Bartak denied any wrongdoing in a statement Friday and called the allegations “absurd.”
He said had been given an unpaid leave at his request because he didn’t want the scandal to damage the government.
“I am sure I will be able to return to work soon,” Bartak said. He said he planned to take unspecified legal action against those who are behind the campaign against him.
The major opposition Social Democrats called on Necas Friday to fire Bartak immediately.
Cabaniss, ambassador to Prague in 2003-06, has been chairman of the supervisory board of Czech truck maker Tatra AS. Cabaniss said Bartak offered him his help to solve the company’s dispute with its supplier Praga, which threatened a $150 million deal for Tatra to deliver trucks for Czech military.
“At some point of the conversation he said for certain amount of money, I don’t remember the exact amount, the problems between Tatra and Praga can be solved,” Cabaniss was quoted as saying.
“I didn’t respond. I thought it was a very unusual and out of order conversation from someone at the defence ministry,” Cabaniss was quoted as saying in the newspaper interview. “I walked away and had no further conversation with him.”
Duncan Sellars, the chief of Tatra’s U.S. branch, who was also present at the meeting, said Bartak asked for several million dollars.
Cabaniss was not available for comment Friday, Tatra spokesman Vladimir Bystrov said. He said Cabaniss and Sellars have co-operated with local police and testified Thursday.
The defence ministry has been under increasing fire recently for non-transparent ways of acquiring military equipment.
Necas said his government will stop such practices.
Among other cases, Czech authorities asked the United States in August to help with a corruption inquiry into a lucrative 2002 deal to buy 24 JAS-39 Gripen jet fighters from BAE Systems.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/14/embassy-row-583058910/
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Press, Tatra Works
Army purchase of Tatra lorries involved corruption
Prague, Nov 4 (CTK) – The Czech military’s contract for Tatra lorries signed in 2006 and worth 2.6 billion crowns was accompanied by corruption, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes yesterday, referring to information from the military intelligence.
The intelligence tapped the phone of businessman Pavel Stosek who was to secure the lorry deal for Tatra company without a tender, the paper says.
The government of Vladimir Spidla (Social Democrats, CSSD) approved to place the huge contract to Tatra without a tender in 2004. It was Miroslav Kostelka, defence minister in 2003-2004, who proposed it, MfD recalls.
Kostelka said he hoped that the Tatra deal would be absolutely corruption-free. He trusted Stosek who was his former classmate.
“When I heard that Stosek got a kickback, I was disappointed,” the paper quotes Kostelka as saying.
The state signed the contract though the wiretapped phone calls indicated that lobbyists would receive a high commission for the military order, the paper says.
Stosek and Tatra managers allegedly received a bribe of tens of millions of crowns.
Former defence minister Jiri Sedivy who signed the contract for 556 Tatra T-810 vehicles now says he believes that his then subordinates lied to him.
The contract was signed even though Tatra increased the price for one lorry from the original 1.5 million crowns to the final 3.2 million crowns, the iDnes news server writes.
Sedivy told MfD that his deputy Jaroslav Kopriva assured him that the price of the lorries was good and that the deal was checked.
Kopriva had to leave the Defence Ministry earlier this year over his suspected corruption related to other military purchases.
“Our task was to look for anything deceitful within the purchase of Tatra vehicles,” said Miroslav Krejcik who was military intelligence director then.
“We definitely revealed something deceitful. I reported this to the police,” Krejcik told the paper.
He said the armament section of the Defence Ministry was unwilling to provide information. Soon afterwards Krejcik was dismissed as the intelligence’s head, MfD writes.
The secret wiretapping and investigation of the case stopped on March 17, 2007. This was the date on which Krejcik left the post of military intelligence director, the paper says.
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TFI’s president Ulli Platzek on Oldtimer TV
Watch a nice video of Ulli’s T 87 circling the Bavarian landscape.
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The Genius Of Design – Blueprint For War on ABC1
Those down under who are able to receive ABC1, should watch “The Genius Of Design – Blueprint For War”
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Aussie Tatra gets stuck under bridge
Not so much news from Tatras in Australia, but here is the proof that they are present in the every day news columns.
http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/09/10/truck-gets-stuck-under-bridge/
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Tatra celebrates 160th birthday. Video!
In August 1850 Ignaz Schustala founded his carriage works, meaning hat Tatra celebrates its 160 th birthday. Watch a historic Tatra video, covering several highlights in Tatra’s history.
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Press