https://www.coachbuild.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=432&t=15125&p=67110&hilit=tatra#p67110
https://www.carrozzieri-italiani.com/dealers/vendrame/
Four page article on Vendrame: https://issuu.com/mareno/docs/maren-dintorni-1/190
March 15th, 2021
Vendrame Tatra
TATRA TRUCKS delivered 1,186 trucks last year and fulfilled its commitments
Covid 19 pandemic causes lengthening of Tatra KT4’s stay in Berlin
Jernej Kožar’s “Naš”, a Slovenian sports car based on the T57K
https://www.coachbuild.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1048&t=15310&p=68357&hilit=tatra#p68357
March 15th, 2021
Belgian Army buys 879 DAF Trucks with Belgian CF cabins, DAF engines and Tatra chassis
Video: Czechoslovak propaganda film featuring several CS brands and includes T111 and a T603 visiting Telc for a photoshoot on its way to the 1958 Brussels World Fair
TATRA TRUCKS delivered 1,186 trucks last year and fulfilled its commitments
18 January, 2021
Despite the pandemic and worldwide decline in the automotive industry, the Kopřivnice-based Tatra Trucks have achieved their production goals and fulfilled their commitments to customers. In total, they delivered 1,186 trucks to their customers. In 2020, they also celebrated their 170th anniversary and won a major contract in Germany.
In sum, the Kopřivnice truck maker produced 1,181 and sold 1,186 trucks in 2020, out of which almost 60 percent went to exports and over 40 percent to the Czech and Slovak markets. In terms of production, TATRA TRUCKS managed slightly exceed their plans for 2020. “For 2021, TATRA plans a comparable volume of production and sales to that of 2020. We are constantly expanding our portfolio of customers and projects in order to achieve this goal. However, we are also working with the option that customers may postpone some of the projects to a later date due to the epidemic,” said Pavel Lazar, CEO and Chairman of the Board of TATRA TRUCKS.
In 2020, TATRA TRUCKS won new orders together with partner companies and produced some unique vehicles. Above all, there was the delivery of 41 TATRA FORCE 4×4 special fire trucks, with an option for another 5 units for fire brigades of the federal state of Brandenburg, where TATRA TRUCKS cooperates with their long-term partner THT Polička. This is the first such large order for TATRA fire trucks in strongly competitive Germany. Already at the beginning of the year, TATRA TRUCKS cooperated with Excalibur Army and THT Polička to deliver the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic with two special fire trucks – a tanker-type rugged CZS 15 Triton fire truck and CV 40 large-volume tanker, which are unique in their categories.
In defense technology, representatives of TATRA EXPORT and Huta Stalowa Wola signed an agreement in September of last year at the MSPO defense fair in Kielce, Poland, to offer the Polish Army the TATRA 4×4 armoured vehicle project. Deliveries of TATRA trucks for the Army of the Czech Republic also continued as per contracts signed in previous years. TATRA TRUCKS also announced that they plan to expand in the Brazilian market. In addition to expanding their cooperation with the Brazilian defense industry, a production plant should be constructed directly in Brazil this year to manufactrure TATRA trucks intended primarily for the local civilian market.
2020 was marked by the coronavirus pandemic, which affected a large part of the economy of most countries around the world. The pandemic hit the automotive industry with a particularly hard impact. In this context, the vast majority of car and truck makers in Europe have suspended their production for some time and have had to deal with problems associated with it and with production declines. TATRA TRUCKS in Kopřivnice was one of the few companies that did not stop their production line. It ran at full speed throughout the year even while corporate management introduced strict hygiene and safety measures.
This allowed the truck maker to secure the protection of its employees’ health and at the same time fulfill their commitments to their customers. “Despite not yet presenting our financial results, we can say that our well-established organizational arrangements and mutually friendly cooperation with all business partners have let us not only keep our production going without interruption, but also exceed our business and financial goals projected for 2020,” said Miloslav Mahut, the Finance Director and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of TATRA TRUCKS.
TATRA TRUCKS fulfilled their production plans and deliveries to customers even though they had to face certain difficulties. These arose mainly due to delays in the supply of components from a few subcontractors, where the pandemic and resulting restrictions caused manufacturing complications. The TATRA TRUCKS management solved the problems by regrouping its production plan and setting up a new sequence on the line. We also managed to provide full service and after-sales services to customers. In addition, the company set up a servicing package to support the operation of Tatra trucks used by the Emergency Service of the Czech Republic and the Army of the Czech Republic performing important tasks within the framework of government measures to protect the health of the population.
Last but not least, the previous year was also the 170th year of the Kopřivnice company’s existence. In June, the company commemorated its founding in 1850, when Ignác Šustala started his business. TATRA TRUCKS can thus be proud of the longest continuous tradition of wheeled vehicle production in the world. In December, TATRA commemorated the 198th anniversary of the birth of its founder Ignác Šustala. At the end of the year, a demanding several-year reconstruction of the national cultural monument called “Slovenská strela”, a motorized railway car manufactured by the Kopřivnice company in the 1930s, was also completed. This extraordinary railway car is to return to Kopřivnice in the first quarter of this year, where it will be exhibited in a modern pavilion in front of the new TATRA truck museum.
Categorie: Press, Tatra Works
January 30th, 2021
The Tatraplan is one of the most interesting cars of the Czechoslovak automotive industry
This Tatra is interesting not only in appearance or construction, but also in its time of origin, as it was born in a somewhat “wild” period shortly after the Second World War. But her name is also interesting.
Originally, like its predecessors, it was to have a numbering with a “lucky” seven at the end: Tatra 107. Already in the autumn of 1947, before serial production, it was named Tatra 600, which was associated with assigned the number 6 to the beginning. Just remember the following 603 or 613.
At the same time, the name Tatraplan also appeared, which was a pun referring to the graceful body resembling airplanes. In addition, the aircraft appeared on a promotional leaflet for the car.
The development of the later Tatraplan, which was intended as a more affordable middle-class car, began at the end of World War II. The aerodynamic body and a flat four-cylinder at the rear were taken into account.
The first prototype of the new car was completed in December 1946, the second prototype followed in March 1947. Unfortunately, the prototypes showed certain shortcomings, in addition to a weak engine, mainly instability due to the design of the rear axle, which was formed by swinging axles. Therefore, the designers under the leadership of the then only 31-year-old Vladimír Popelář had to return to the drawing boards and reworked the technology. The famous Hans Ledwinka, with whom the designers went to prison, was also to take part in the modifications. He was in it after being convicted of alleged collaboration with the Germans.
The result of the work was shown in the autumn of the same year, when a five-piece series of prototypes with the internal designation T2-107 was built. These cars were already approaching the later production model with spherical headlights, smaller fins at the stern or cold air traps on the roof. The four-cylinder petrol engine was mounted in three silent blocks by means of a fork extending from the central supporting spine, while its volume increased from 1750 cm3 to 1952 cm3. At the same time, its output also increased, from the original 29 kW to 38 kW. The car managed to reach a speed of 130 km / h.
And on June 24, 1948, production began, albeit in temporary conditions. Over the next few months, the shortcomings are gradually eliminated – for example, the cooling system is changed or the rear axle is strengthened.
In 1950, however, the highest party positions decided to move production to AZNP to Mladá Boleslav, where the production of passenger cars was to be centralized, while the Kopřivnice Tatra was to focus on the production of trucks. In the spring of 1951, the last pieces of Tatraplan were created in Kopřivnice, with the fact that in Mladá Boleslav production began to start only in the autumn of the same year. At first glance, the Mladá Boleslav cars were recognizable thanks to the rounded edge of the rear lid, which replaced the pointed solution.
The following year, however, the production of the Tatra 600 was terminated. The quality deteriorated significantly after the relocation of production, which is often explained by the Tatras by the fact that the Škoda people simply did not want the Tatraplan. Whatever the reason for the spoiled cars, the truth is that the poor quality and failure rate significantly affected sales abroad. These were key, a third of the 6,342 pieces made (of which 2,100 in Mladá Boleslav) went outside the country. The largest customer was Austria (435 cars), many cars also went to China, Germany, Sweden and even Canada.
Despite not very long life, Tatraplan made a significant contribution to the history of the Czechoslovak automotive industry. In addition to interesting design solutions, the 4,540-meter-long and 1,200-kilogram Tatra truck still impresses with its appearance and bodywork with a drag coefficient of 0.32.
If you are also one of the admirers of Tatraplan, then you will certainly be interested in photos from the development of this car. We found them on Facebook and when we saw them, it was clear to us that we had to show them to you as well.
In the pictures you can see, for example, testing the aerodynamic properties of the model in a wind tunnel, six prototypes of the future Tatraplan, a wooden model or, for example, a culvert for a 107 type car, which left the plant on September 6, 1947.
Numerous photos: https://www.auto.cz/galerie/autofun/107636/jak-vznikal-legendarni-tatraplan-podivejte-se-na-prototypy-a-fotky-z-vyvoje-a-testovani?foto=0
Categorie: History
January 28th, 2021
René Berger’s Tatra life
On the occasion of the founding of the “TATRA REGISTER-SWITZERLAND 1982″
A small history:
It all started after the 2nd World War in 1947. At the time, my father had a truck garage in Birsfelden near Basel. On the garage there was a large terrace, where we often watched the returning week-end traffic.
One time, between the then usual cars (let’s call them garden houses) a black streamlined car popped up and I asked my father “what’s that for a car?” He answered me that for a car? His answer was, “this is a Tatra 8 cylinder with air-cooled rear engine.” Somehow, I must then have been infected with a virus that has not vanished till this very day. (2007).
When I occasionally saw such a Tatra, I became stuck, stand rooted and became late for school or even to home. Of course, these delays caused some scoldings at home , but that didn’t intimidate me!
By 1952, my father decided to buy a new Tatraplan. Together with the importer, mr Ferdinand Schenk from Worblaufern near Bern, we had our test-drive. Everything went all-right, till after 200 m the front luggage lid flew high and it was dark in the car immediately. The Tatraplan was bought anyway, but not after the luggage lid was repaired and the prize had been reduced by around 1000.- SFr. .
As soon as I was allowed to drive myself, I wished to have a Tatra of my own. Congratulations to me in 1959! I was able to trade a grass green 1952 Tatraplan for a VW Hebmüller convertible. Because of my driving-around with the Tatraplan, I met several Tatraplan owners and people who knew a Tatra stored somewhere. Of course, I tried to get these Tatras. Often I was able to buy a Tatra for little money or even I could pick them up free. (These days, there were no spare parts more) and I dismantled a couple of them for spare parts for cars in a better condition.
Looking back, the whole thing wasn’t profitable, but the virus had settled within me! For other spare parts, I drove to Prague in 1963, where I also met wife Jana. At the end of 1968, my Tatra fleet was enlarged by a 1958 Tatra 1-603 from Ferdinand Schenk jun. (former Tatra importer for Switzerland) who transferred the car to me at a friendly price.
“MAN, WHAT WAS I PROUD!”
Between 1971 and 1980 it was also possible for us, my wife Jana and me, to detect Tatra owners in Switzerland by putting adverts in the “Automobil Revue.” We found about 40 cars and owners. The war of impulses for the foundation of
“TATRA-REGISTER-SCHWEIZ 1982″
The echo was however a little disappointing. Several Tatras did not have the proper documents any more or were in a bad condition due to lack of spare parts. In the end only the real Tatra hard core was still going strong in 1999, the year my wife and I moved to the Czech Republic and TRS was handed over to Imelda and Ernst Meier in Neuheim near Zürich. The TRS management board would continue the TRS succesfully.
We wish for the future all good !!! TATRA Ahoy !! Jana and Rene Berger
CZ – 25243 Pruhonice, June 19, 2007
(Story and private photos sent by Rene Berger to Manfred Haspel/A; but article was never published. Manfred Haspel. Just recently, the original photos were edited by Manfred Haspel for publication at TW)
Tatraplans in the Vancouver area (CAN) and the hated communist cars around dumped in the sea.
Just recently, this photo of a Tatraplan show car in Abbottstown, BC, Canada popped up on Facebook. But what t could be its background? Which dealer was involved? We’ll lead you to the Tatra Canada stories of the early fifties , dominated by Cold-War feelings. Thanks to John Long and Gary Cullen.
Tatraplan showcar in Abbotsforf (CAN, Greater Vancouver) around 1950
Note Tatraplan with its luggage lid and doors open at the back row. (Photo Gary Cullen)
The overall story of Tatras imported to Canada in a politically sensitive era: https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/the-fascinating-world-of-canadas-lost-tatra-culture