Tatra-Fritzmaurice

The streamlining era at Tatra was foreshadowed in October 1933 by a special prototype displayed by the British Tatra concessionaire, one D. Fitzmaurice, at the Olympia Motor Show in London, England. It was called the Tatra-Fitzmaurice and had a streamlined body designed by D. Fitzmaurice and made by Thomas Harrington Ltd. (of England) mounted on a special Tatra-supplied chassis with a front-mounted 1.48-litre air-cooled 4-cylinder engine (a modified T75 unit). It was offered for sale at a very high price and no copies were built.
Nineteen-thirty-three also marked the beginning of the era of Tatra automobiles with rear-mounted (directly behind the rear axle) engines, a requirement for the truly aerodynamically efficient automobile - at least as established scientifically by the Hungarian streamlining specialist Paul Jaray. This engine placement reduced engine noise inside the vehicle, as air-cooled units tend to get noisy and allowed the front of a car to be as short as possible while prompting a long tail, both of which were aids in reducing aerodynamic drag. Of course, one disadvantage of placing the engine in the rear is that it creates difficulty in attaining good weight distribution. The somewhat related concept of positioning the engine in front of the rear axle (so-called "mid-engine" layout) would be better in this regard but very impractical for a multiple-passenger luxury automobile. As a side note, having the engine and driving wheels on the same end has advantages, such as weight reduction, less efficiency loss in the drive, no vibrations caused by a long drive shaft, and a flat floor.

The importance of streamlining in automobiles cannot be overlooked. Aerodynamic efficiency has numerous advantages, some of the more significant are reduced fuel consumption, increased stability, the possibility of higher speeds, and greater safety. In addition, it creates an opportunity for interesting styling ideas.

Since about 1930 the Tatra design team, headed by Hans Ledwinka and composed notably of Erich Uberlacker and a few other engineers, had been considering mounting an air-cooled engine at the posterior end of a back-bone chassis.

In 1931 an experimental prototype rear-engined Tatra was constructed with a conventional body that appeared to be made up of standard components. It must have been successful as indicated by another prototype developed in 1933, the V570. This was a very advanced study vehicle with an aerodynamic body of steel sheets covering a wooden structure and capable of seating 4 persons. An 854cc horizontally-opposed 2-cylinder air-cooled engine drove the rear wheels.

March 5, 1934, is certainly a date to remember. On that day, the official introduction of the Tatra 77 took place, marking it as the world's first serially produced aerodynamically styled automobile powered by an air-cooled, rear-mounted engine. This massive and roomy luxury car, with seating for six, had an exceptionally low coefficient of drag. The occupants sat low and comfortably between the axles of this V8-powered and astonishingly low 4-door automobile. With the steering wheel situated centrally at the front, the driver must have had quite a view of the 45-degree slanted windshield. There was lots of luggage space, above the rear suspension and in the nose, where the spare tyres and battery resided. The efficiently streamlined body, complete with a stabilizing dorsal fin, was mounted on a central tube chassis welded to a box-type frame which forked at the back to surround the motor. Unfortunately, the placement of the engine so far back did cause weight-distribution problems coupled with the swing-axle suspension which greatly affected handling, something that required quite a bit of getting used to. Nonetheless, the T77 was still a remarkable achievement considering, among other things, that its relatively small 2.97-litre power plant propelled it to a top speed of over 140 km/h. The then chief engineer Erich Uberlacker was mainly responsible for the design and suggested the use of aerodynamic bodywork, for the construction of which a license from the Budd Manufacturing Co. of USA (where incidentally Hans Ledwinka's relative Joseph Ledwinka worked) was obtained.

Tatra V570 prototype, photo courtesy of Carter Willey

Tatra T77 with optional canvas roof

Tatra 77A, photo courtesy of Carter Willey

Tatra 87 - back rear view of unrestored T87 at the Schlumpf collection

Tatra 97, the only one in UK - Below the Radar Cars

Tatra 97

1934 Tatra 77 at Transportation Museum , Lucerne, Switzerland

Later during the year Erich Ledwinka, one of Hans' sons, replaced Mr. Uberlacker (who left due to a disagreement with management) as chief engineer. He would be responsible for the last pre-war Tatra automobile, the short-lived T97 which came out in about 1936/37. The T97 looked very much like a scaled-down T87 except for the missing central headlight, a flat one-piece windshield, and a rear glass split window instead of the 'Venetian blinds' which must have improved rearward visibility substantially. Otherwise, its design and construction were essentially like that of the concurrently produced T87 and propulsion came from a 40 bhp 1.75-litre 4-cylinder unit which allowed a very respectable 130 km/h. And it was quite roomy inside despite the shorter length (and a wheelbase reduced by 250 mm to 2600 mm).

In 1938 Tatra fell under German control due to the annexation of part of Czechoslovakia by the Germans. This meant halting all production and having all patents confiscated.

World War II broke out in 1939 and Tatra was forced to produce military vehicles. The T87, referred to as "the Autobahn car" by the general inspector of Germany's Autobahn network, was also allowed into limited production (for civilian use) along with some other automobiles. Strictly forbidden, however, was the manufacture of the T57 (which had been very popular) and especially the T97 "people's cars", certainly due to their closeness to Porsche's Volkswagen design. Therefore the life of the T97 with a great potential for success as a family car was terminated after only 508 copies were produced.

Tatra 87 of Gary Cullen, Delta BC, Canada

Tatra 87 of Gary Cullen, Delta, BC, Canada