Tatra 600
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| Manufacturer | Tatra, a. s. |
|---|---|
| Production | 1946–1952 6,342 built |
| Assembly | Kopřivnice till 1951 Mladá Boleslav (Škoda plant) after 1951 |
| Predecessor | Tatra T97 |
| Successor | Tatra T603 |
| Body style | 4-door saloon (Finned Fastback) |
| Layout | RR layout |
| Engine | 1952 cc overhead valve Flat-4 |
| Transmission | 4-speed manual[1] |
| Wheelbase | 2,700 mm (110 in) |
| Length | 4,540 mm (179 in) |
| Designer | Josef Chalupa Vladimír Popelář Hans Ledwinka. |
The Tatra T600, named the Tatraplan, was a large car from the Czech manufacturer Tatra.
After World War II, Tatra continued its pre-war business of building passenger cars in addition to commercial (and military) vehicles. The factory was nationalised in 1946 two years before the Communist takeover. Although production of pre-war models continued, a new model, the Tatra T600 Tatraplan was designed in 1946-47 by Josef Chalupa, Vladimír Popelář and Hans Ledwinka. The name of the car celebrated the new Communist planned economy but also referred to aeroplane inspiration ('éroplan' means aeroplane in colloquial Czech).
After two prototypes "Ambrož" (December 1946) and "Josef" (March 1947), the T600 went into mass production in 1948. In 1951, the state planning department decided that the Tatraplan should henceforth be built at the Skoda Auto plant in Mladá Boleslav, leaving Tatra to concentrate on truck assembly. This was quite unpopular with the workforce at both plants: as a result Skoda built Tatraplans for one year only before the model was discontinued in 1952.[2]
The Tatraplan had a monocoque streamlined six-seater saloon body with a drag coefficient (Cd) of just 0.32.[2][3][4] It was powered by an air-cooled flat-4-cylinder 1,952 cc rear-mounted engine. 6,342 were made, 2,100 of them in Mladá Boleslav. In 2010, in the UK, Tatraplan had been selected by public vote in the 'Classic Car of the Year' competition as the winner of the 1940s category.
Streamlined Tatras
- Tatra V570 1931, 1933
- Tatra 77 1933-1938
- Tatra 87 1936-1950
- Tatra 97 1936-1939
- Tatra 600 1946-1952
- Tatra 603 1956-1975
[edit] Notes
- ^ Gloor, Roger (1. Auflage 2007). Alle Autos der 50er Jahre 1945 - 1960. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-02808-1.
- ^ a b http://www.tatraplan.co.uk
- ^ Karel Rosenkranz, Tatra, Autoalbum, 2002, page 107
- ^ Martin Janik, Tatra, Computer Press, Brno 2005, page 76
[edit] References
- Margolius, Ivan: 'Tatra T600 – Tatraplan', Architectural Design, vol. 71, no. 5, September 2001, London, pp. 84–88.
- Field, Ben: 'Smooth Operator', Classic Cars magazine, May 2010, pp. 88–92
- Margolius, Ivan and Henry, John G: Tatra - The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka, SAF Publishing, Harrow 1990, ISBN 0-946719-06-3
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tatra T600 Tatraplan |
