After the Second World War, the number of produced types was limited by the state, a type that would replace types 57b and 87 was to be produced in Kopřivnice . This was problematic, the folk 57b was rated at 18kW, while the luxury streamlined 87 was rated at 55kW. In addition, both cars had a completely different concept and focus.
The first prototype was created in December 1946 and was named Ambrož according to the day of its completion. The second was produced in March of the following year and was called Josef . However, both were unable to convince their designers with the driving characteristics, so the development team decided to visit the designer Hans Ledwinka in prison. With its help, a new passenger car weighing 1,600 kilograms was created, which was capable of traveling at a speed of up to 130 km/h. This is thanks to the air-cooled four-cylinder two-liter OHV boxer located at the rear. Originally, the new car was to be named Tatra 107 in the spirit of tradition, but subsequently a new marking methodology was adopted, so it was named 600 Tatraplan . The word Tatraplan referred to the similarity of the body with airplanes, which were called airplanes at the time. Even on advertising posters, the new Tatra was mostly shown in the company of the rulers of the heavens.
Production began in 1948, and the new car immediately established itself in export markets. In total, it was exported to seventeen countries and was especially successful in Austria, Germany, Belgium, China and Canada. We also saw a lot of Tatraplanes, especially in the function of official cars of party officials. And they were also deployed in sport, for example in 1949 a quartet of cars took the first four places in the Rallye Alpenfahrt . Unique in this quartet was the special Tatraplan Monte Carlo , which was supposed to start at the famous competition. But in the end he was not allowed to start. The car had a partially duralumin body, which also lacked one pair of doors.
Another unique item was a special convertible . It was created in 1949, the bodywork for the Tatraplan chassis was made in Karosa Vysoké Mýto (former Sodomka body shop). The car was given a luxurious ivory color and was displayed at the Geneva Motor Show , where it attracted considerable attention. Subsequently, it was decided to give the car as a gift to Soviet leader Stalin for his 70th birthday. However, he never rode in it, because his paranoid fear caused the condition that he would only travel in armored cars. The car then passed through several private owners, the last of whom wanted to convert it to a more modern type 603 . It was fortunate that the handyman did not start the construction himself, but contacted the car company with a request for help. The automaker responded by offering to exchange the unique convertible for an ordinary six-seat, which the Russian agreed to, and so the rare car returned to Czechoslovakia and is now part of the automaker's collection . You can view it in the museum in Kopřivnice .
The 1950s were marked by central planning, and some sick person thought that it would be best to move Tatraplan production to Mladá Boleslav . They were not happy about it either in Kopřivnice or in the new maternity hospital for stream-lined cars. There was a deterioration in production quality , which also brought about a drop in demand abroad. Just one year later, i.e. 1952, production was definitively terminated anyway. The number of cars produced stopped at 6,342.
Photo: AutoWP
