• jay leno's garage

    A Tatra T87 History Lesson From Professor Leno

    What has a rear-mounted, air-cooled V8, was made in Czechoslovakia, and had a reputation for killing Nazis? That's right, the Tatra! This example is a 1938 Tatra T87, owned and operated by none other than self-proclaimed member of the "more money than brains" club, Jay Leno. And if it that wasn't impressive enough, Jay, as he is with most of the machines in his eclectic collection, is knowledgeable enough about the Czech brand to give us a brief history lesson. Oh, and he takes the car out for a drive too. Check out the vid after the jump. More »

    6:40 PM on Tue Jul 22 2008
    By Mark Arnold
    16,385 views, 71 comments

    Latest by mariospants: I always loved these tatras - there's a good reason why VW/Porsche paid tatra a settlement a few years back more »

  • retro

    1937 Tatra T77

    The Tatra T77, with its air-cooled V8 and slippery-even-by-2008-standards drag coefficient of 0.212, made just about everything else on the road in the mid-1930s seem like a wooden-wheeled goat cart by comparison. This brochure for the '37 model, aimed at German buyers, was perhaps too effective, with the Germans taking not only the Tatras but the entire country of Czechoslovakia the following year (and then ripping off crucial design elements for the Beetle soon after that). Thanks to Teargas for the scans!

    2:00 PM on Mon Apr 14 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    2,320 views, 26 comments

    Latest by aduthie: @junkman: Hear hear. The Lane Museum's T77 is still one of my favorites there. I got a chance to ride more »

  • engine swap

    Engine Swap of the Day: Tatra and Audi V8s In Škoda Felicia

    I've been making inquiries of our Czech friend BobAsh about the possibility of obtaining a Tatra V8 and transaxle from his homeland, thinking it might be fun to do a Tatra-engined VW Squareback as my personal Hell Project. He suggested I check out what some Czech madman did with a late-50s Škoda Felicia: first, a DOHC Tatra 613 V8 in the rear (and this was originally a front-engined car)... but that just wasn't insane enough. Now it's packing an Audi 4.2 with what appears to be eight Mikuni carbs. The article is in Czech, but you get the idea. [FeliciaCentrum.cz]

    12:45 PM on Tue Nov 13 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,308 views, 18 comments

    Latest by NovaloadMissesPolar: A whole new meaning to Junk in the Trunk. more »

  • road test

    BobAsh Road Tests the 1965 Tatra 603

    Apparently, it wasn't enough for our Coronet 440-drivin' Czech friend BobAsh to tip us off about some vintage Tatra hoonage or help us out with a Czech Project Car Hell. Now he's gone and found a beautifully restored, Communist-bureaucrat-spec '65 Tatra 603 sedan, shot a ton of quality photographs, and then road-tested it for us. Make the jump to get the whole story in BobAsh's own words.
    More »

    11:30 AM on Mon Oct 29 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    3,622 views, 35 comments

    Latest by Shapeshifter: So wonderful... And i love how Tatra somehow managed to be forty years ahead of everyone else with their aerodynamics. more »

  • down on the street bonus edition

    Down On The Czech Street: Skoda Spartak!

    Once again, our Czech tipster BobAsh has come through with the Skoda goods for us, this time in the form of a bunch of shots of a Skoda 440 (also known as the Spartak) from the mid-to-late 50s. Since BobAsh was kind enough to write a lot of description, thus sparing my lazy ass from having to, you know, do work, we'll hear the rest in his own words: More »

    2:15 PM on Fri Oct 12 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,690 views, 16 comments

    Latest by bobash: @squablow: Very unusual. On biggest american car show this year there were around 400 cars, including Malaise era boxy stuff. more »

  • tatra

    Tatra-Land USA!

    Since several of Los Jalopniks are now frantically scouring all potential North American Tatra sources in hopes of obtaining a fixer-upper example of our favorite air-cooled V8 Czech car, it was inevitable that we'd stumble across Dr. Nick's "Tatraplan" site. Sadly, all it has accomplished is to make us realize that the only way to get an affordable Tatra is to go east. Way east. I tell you what, the ones with the dorsal fins are the best! [Cement Horizon]

    11:00 AM on Wed Oct 3 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    4,174 views, 22 comments

    Latest by Mark Miller: @bobash: I like your summation. Could be like sayin' Saturns are Confederate states cars since they're made in Tennessee, and more »

  • van

    Forget the VW Transporter: Hippie Barkas!

    After helping us do an All-Czech Project Car Hell last week, our Czech Connection, bobash, now sends us some shots of a hippified Barkas B1000. See, an East German van is far more suitable for patchouli-scented adventures than its West German counterpart. We're starting to think it's time for a visit to the Czech Republic... [Picasaweb]

    3:00 PM on Mon Oct 1 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,830 views, 6 comments

    Latest by Miscellanea, now on the main floor!: @JSmith53: Mudflap... more »

  • choose your eternity

    Project Car Hell, Czech Edition: Tatra or Skoda?

    We've received some great tips for Project Car Hell, but tipster Bobash takes it to a whole new level with these finds. After watching the excellent Czech-hoonage Tatra promotional film, Happy Journeys, he found both a Tatra 603 and a cop-style Skoda 1201. Not only that, he did the translation, provided all the historical background, and even saved our lazy asses a bunch of work by providing a bunch of writing in Jalopnik-approved PCH style. Thanks, Bobash- you're first in line for one of the groo-oovy PCH tipster prizes we keep promising to provide! So hop on the first flight to Prague, ye of eternal vehicular torment, and get ready to wake up as a giant cockroach with a wrench in each of your six hands, because we're entering Kafka territory with these cars.
    More »

    5:00 PM on Thu Sep 27 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    2,996 views, 59 comments

    Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: The Skoda's likely more rust than car, and it has Jack and bugger-all for parts left for it on this more »

  • tatra

    Engine Geeks, Worship At The Tatra Altar!

    An air-cooled hemi-head V8 is always worthy of our drool, and we've dug up a video of a stand-mounted Tatra 603 V8 in captivity. Check out the compact size and that ingenious cooling-fan design. Hey, how about one of these in a Skoda?

    3:00 PM on Mon Sep 10 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,136 views, 15 comments

    Latest by bugattatra: This site may do more to lift Tatra from obscurity to where it belongs than any other effort on the web more »

  • classic ad watch

    Vintage Tatra 603 Hoonage!

    So when you're driving behind the Iron Curtain with an air-cooled V8 mounted in the rear, what do you do? Why, you hoon it up, of course! You get sideways on the highway, blast through charming little towns at maniacal speeds, get airborne going over hilltops, and then do some off-roading, all with Johnny Law on your ass! This early-60s Czech film, apparently done as some sort of Tatra promotion, comes to us thanks to a tip from Bobash. Wait, there's more! More »

    11:00 AM on Mon Sep 10 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,790 views, 26 comments

    Latest by mr.chophoppers: The hapless cops are indeed tooling around in what looks like a pregnant Tatraplan - I guess that the big more »