The Tatra 600, named the Tatraplan, was a large family car produced from 1948 to 1952 by the Czechoslovak manufacturer Tatra. Its streamlined six-seat fastback body, air-cooled rear engine and low drag made it a direct successor to Tatra’s pre-war aerodynamic cars, and it remains a landmark of Czechoslovak industrial design.
Tatra 600 Tatraplan at a glance
| Maker | Tatra, Kopřivnice (and Škoda, Mladá Boleslav) |
|---|---|
| Production | 1948–1952 |
| Designers | Josef Chalupa, Vladimír Popelář, František Kardaus, Hans Ledwinka |
| Engine | rear-mounted 1,952 cc air-cooled flat four |
| Body | streamlined six-seat fastback saloon |
| Drag coefficient | 0.32 |
| Doors | front suicide doors |
| Built | 6,342, of them 2,100 at Mladá Boleslav |
| Award | Classic Car of the Year (1940s class), UK, 2010 |
| Replaced by | Tatra 603 |
History of the Tatra 600 Tatraplan
Origins
After the Second World War Tatra continued building passenger cars alongside commercial and military vehicles, and the factory was nationalised in 1946. The Tatra 600 was designed in 1946–47 by Josef Chalupa, Vladimír Popelář, František Kardaus and Hans Ledwinka. Its name celebrated the new planned economy and also referred to aviation, since éroplan means aeroplane in colloquial Czech. It was first known as the Tatra 107 and continued Tatra’s aerodynamic cars, the 77, 87 and 97, as a newer, smaller and cheaper replacement for the outdated Tatra 57. After the war Tatra switched to a numbering system in which car model codes began with 600, so the 107 became the Tatra 600.
Into production
After two prototypes, Ambrož in December 1946 and Josef in March 1947, the car went into mass production in 1948. The Tatraplan had a monocoque streamlined ponton body with six seats, front suicide doors and a drag coefficient of only 0.32, powered by a rear-mounted 1,952 cc air-cooled flat four. In 1951 the state planning department decided that the Tatraplan should be built at the Škoda plant in Mladá Boleslav, leaving Tatra to concentrate on trucks. The decision was unpopular at both plants, and Škoda built the car for one year only before production ended in 1952.
Place in history
In total 6,342 Tatraplans were made, 2,100 of them in Mladá Boleslav. In 2010 the car won the Classic Car of the Year competition in the 1940s category in the UK. A modified 600 convertible with a Sodomka body was presented to Josef Stalin by Antonín Zápotocký on 22 December 1949; by 2019 it was on display in the Tatra museum at Kopřivnice. The model was replaced by the Tatra 603.
Other models
A commercial Tatra 201 was built in four examples in 1947 (a pickup, a panel van and two ambulances) and, unlike the 600, was front-engined. Three Tatra 600 Diesel prototypes with a 2.0-litre diesel engine were built in 1949. The two-door Tatra 601 Monte Carlo sports car of 1949 was built in one, possibly two, examples, and two Tatra 602 Tatraplan Sports racing cars were built in 1949.
Design and features
- Aerodynamic body: a drag coefficient of 0.32, very low for a family car of the period.
- Rear-mounted flat four: the 1,952 cc air-cooled engine sits behind the rear axle.
- Six seats: a large cabin in a fastback body with front suicide doors.
- Monocoque construction: a unit body instead of Tatra’s traditional backbone chassis.
Tatra 600 Tatraplan versions
- Tatra 600: the standard six-seat saloon.
- Tatra 107: the original model designation.
- Tatra 201: front-engined commercial version, four built in 1947.
- Tatra 600 Diesel: three prototypes with a 2.0-litre diesel.
- Tatra 601 Monte Carlo: two-door sports car of 1949.
- Tatra 602 Tatraplan Sports: racing car, two built in 1949.
The Tatraplan replaced the compact Tatra 57 and carried on the aerodynamic line of the Tatra 87. It was replaced by the Tatra 603, and more cars are in the Tatra collection.
Video: Tatra 600 Tatraplán
Video by veterancar on YouTube.
Sources
- Tatra 600, English Wikipedia: history, body, production, models
