Old Czech Cars

[Philip]

Four examples of vehicles produced by the Tatra factory in Koprivnice, Czech Republic, from 1897 to 1933.

First: The President. First built in 1897, it was based on a reinforced Milord horse-drawn coach. There was a Benz four-stroke, two-cylinder engine under the rear seat and the maximum speed was 28km per hour. It took 14 hours driving time to get from Koprivnice to Vienna (328km) in May 1898. Crowds assembled along the route and either flowers or stones were thrown at the car, depending on whether the spectators were astonished or frightened.

Next: Tatra 11. The factory was named Tatra in 1919 and the name was chosen because the vehicles were given development trials in the Tatra mountains. The first Tatra 11 was made in 1923. The model won lots of races, possibly because it boasted swing axles (a rarity then).

Next: Tatra 12. Four-wheel brakes on this one. In 1925 an example won the Petrohrad-Moscow-Tbilisi-Moscow long-distance race (5,300km) and in 1931 a certain Dr. Baum drove one from Alexandria the length of Africa to Cape Town. The picture shows a "direction indicator" on the driver's side. Quite what it did and for whose benefit it was eludes this bear with little brain.

Last: Tatra 13. Built between 1925 and 1933. A one-ton lorry with a flat, four-cycle, two-cylinder engine.

The kit was published as "Stara Ceska Auta" by Leos Spachta, Albatros, Prague, 1987. I couldn't tell you what the scale is but the wheelbases measure from 7.5 cm (the President) to 12 cm (Tatra 13).

[whulsey]

Cool, Tatra's have always tended to go their own way in engineering and design.

[Yale]

These fascinating examples of auto history immediately remind me of political events. When the President was built, the Czech area still was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (with Vienna the national capital). The new name Tatra of 1919 may have dovetailed with the new name for independent Czechoslovakia -- one result of the Versailles Treaty. And might the "direction indicator" simply be a mechanical turn signal -- analogous to bicycle hand signals?

Thanks and best regards -- Yale

[Philip]

Thanks for your comments, folks. I like the bicycle hand signals analogy, Yale. It still seems a daft bit of equipment though.