Alright tatra passenger cars use a teardrop like shape so Tatras can go fast with barely any horse power in fact the 603 could go over 100 miles an hour with around 90 horse power and these were heavy
Another interesting fact about this car, since it has a column shift, the gearshift linkage is nearly 10 feet long, and amazingly complex, with interesting geometry , arcs being translated into lateral and longitudinal movement via ball joints at each end of a big boomerang, which pivots on it's center, actuating a rod that both rotates through 3 gates and slides back forth under the floor, backseat, and into the front nose cone of the 4 speed + reverse transaxle. I had loads of fun repairing these linkages and adjusting them.......Once I had to fabricate the lower ball stud on the bottom of that "boomerang" from a 10mm X 1.25 HEX BOLT. I ground the hex head of the bolt down on a bench grinder to as close to a 13mm ball as I could. It got me home and around until I could get a co-worker to fab a new ball end stud on the company CNC LATHE. He owed me a favor since I saved his bacon by EDMing a broken tap out of an expensive $$$ Iconel part. '
"Yasser Arafat s Tatra 603 First owned by East German Stasi (The Ministry for State Security). It was assigned to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in East Berlin between 1971-1980 as a diplomatic car used exclusively as a spy courier car between East and West and involved in many PLO European missions. 1971 Tatra 603-2 four door sedan, air cooled , 2,5 liter , V-8 rear 105 HP engine, four speed manual transmission, hydraulic disc brakes, 500 miles, completely restored to A1 condition, museum quality piece, very interesting history"
I love this car! But since I'm 13, I know I will never be able to buy a Tatra 603. Proudly I can say I knew 3-4 of the facts, even though I have never seen one. Cheers!:)
Preslav Don't give up on your dreams! Just make them more feasible! I wanted an 80s corvette or 80s rx7 for my first car, but got a MG midget instead. Its a project for sure, but it turns just as many heads as a corvette does
@@loganrogers9157 Yes, I won't give up! I just say that it will be really expencive to own a tatra, it is expencive now, what lasts for other 20 years. I love classic cars, and glad my dad understands it - now we found a Moskvich (Russian car, it was popular where I live in the 70s) and we'll store and repair it to it's beauty, untill I get a licence.
@@preslav8021 well, if you get lucky, you may have the chance to get a Tatra 603 in the future, also what kind of Moskvich? really love the old 412 due to a friend of mine loving both it and his native Country's Polonez.
@@xander1052 Me and my dad got a Moskvich 2138 (2140 with 408 engine) from 1977, because it has disk brakes and in Bulgaria there are little more parts. Also we found it in great condition - the signal-red paint shines and reflects even without polish, still has tyres from the socialism, the interior has only one part to sew (it has teared up on all Moskvich-es 2140), the engine has to be repaired, but we always had to open it, and we have 4 years until I get a licence.
I will elaborate on some of the points presented in the video here, perhaps someone will find it interesting: The first one is actually true, Tatra was making T87 and T57 after the war for short while, also the T600 Tatraplan was designed, made and even exported to Austria, Switzerland and Canada, however its production was later migrated to Skoda plant in Mlada Boleslav, then the quality went rapidly down and production soon ended. Tatra workers in Koprivnice made funeral for Tatraplan in disbelief of how the "leadership" decided the fate of the car. Many high profile workers who took part in the protest were put on government watch list, other relocated to different branches of the firm. That is also why the 603 was developed largely in Prague Smichov where Tatra corporate HQ was at the time, and the styling was largely done by industrial designer Zdenek Kovar in Zlin, not so far from Koprivnice. As for the second point, the 603 could actually seat six people, not four, and its boxy successor, the T 613, was definitely longer. If not the standard car, then at least those long wheelbase models were (Yes, the communists did bother to build themselves a long wheelbase cars while they were pushing the country towards bankruptcy and exploited millions of their own people). (And those cars did have also an aircooled 3.5l DOHC hemi V8 in it) The point 5 also stands, and it is great shame as those three light models were just gorgeous to look at, however road safety legislation change was passed and thus the unfortunate four-light mask was born. Also this program was even continued several years after the successor, T613 was being made. Due to labor intensity of those refurbishments (some of which were really a new built cars on old papers, due fact that demand for the new car far exceeded "centrally planned output") and the fact that the work was performed alongside production of new cars by same workforce, the economics of production were... well I doubt someone even cared about them. As for the Fidel bit: I have heard that several times before and in reality It is documented that he got a white T603 from Tatra, however little is know abut the specifics. But more interesting is the reason for which he was given the car: The Tatra engineers were eager to put T603 directly to test with Corvair, its prominent American counterpart. They went to extreme lengths to obtain one, and bring it to Czechoslovakia, however there was of course ban on importing this type of goods to Eastern Europe and several cars were seized by US and European customs, including one being seized by West Germany on border crossing. It was later discovered that Fidel indeed had one Corvair in his extensive collection of american cars and he was given the 603 Tatra in exchange.
Man, do I prefer the weird and unusual cars from such colorful makes as Tatra, TVR, Borgward, Nash, Hudson, Packard, Studebaker, and so many others. They have so much more to offer both in character and general feeling than any conventional brick-like Big Three product that I've seen in the States!
Always loved the 603 and it’s sleeker successor the 613. Shame that one is kinda rough, they look great all clean and fresh and in government-spec black! Also as great as these little videos are, still holding out for more Jason Drives!
2:21 that's the turbine, the petrol is being sucked from the tank. This system is still being used today. One of the more known manufacturers of such system is Webasto.
@@MilanPokorny The last Tatra 700 had this system as well, with a programmable computer. You could tell the system the hour and day when it was supposed to be turned on, so every morning, before you go to work, you would have the car pre-heated (nowadays, Tesla makes a big deal from this feature). On liquid cooled engines, this system even can pre-heat the engine. You can fit this system to any petrol/diesel car.
@@questioner1596 VW Beetles utilized excess heat from the engine exhaust manifolds for this purpose. The heat transfer units were located under the heads, and fed to manifolds under the rear seat. This was a very effective approach, because the Beetle was small and tightly sealed. VW did offer a gas burning heater option, which was primarily used on microbusses in cold climates.
Indeed! That's why it was only available for the communist party bigwigs and large state enterprise managers, in those times when "all people were equal but some were more equal than others". I was born in Czechoslovakia at the time when these cars were common on the streets and I always looked at them with a mix of envy and contempt. There was no way an ordinary guy like me could ever ride one, let alone buy one.
you said it is the largest four door sedan with a rear engine , I think the Tucker Torpedo must be bigger then that . But I can't argue if it is the largest four door with and air cooled engine
I was fascinated with this car when I first saw it in the movie Lemony Snicket's A series of unfortunate events,I want one of these unique classic cars.
Before the war, Tatra built cars that were notorious for killing Nazis, the Nazis didn't know how to handle rear engined cars, and they put the brakes on during sharp turns instead of slowing down first and accelerating during turns and they flipped.
Open the drivers side rear door and the small lever on the wheel arch is the hood release. A later model than shown in the video had a larger fuel storage with an external filler cap located in the middle of the grill which looked like the brands logo badge. The Czech consulate sold it's old one in Melbourne Australian. As the new owner could find neither the petrol cap or hood release lever he had to phone the Consulate.
I rode in a later-model Tatra taxi in Brno yeas ago. It was very roomy and comfortable, and the ride was quite pleasant. The seats were great, too. Even the buzz of the engine behind me was not bothersome. I was impressed. It's really sad that they killed it. Skoda was much less interesting, but got a new lease on life (well, it's essentially a VW in a slightly different body now), while Tatra, a true innovator and an original, is gone forever.
I imagine the reason modern cars lack convenient spare tire access is the same reason most lack a spare tire - modern people are lazy and call tow trucks over flat tires. As a 20 year old I impressed friends born in the 80s or 90s with the ability to install a spare. I personally thought this was an intuitive skill that comes with having a driver's license and the ability to read the owner's manual - apparently not.
And one more thing. Shown car is the last type. Try to check web for previous generations. Esp. the first with three headlights is super cool. This car T603 has been produced in 1955 - 1975. On vide "Happy journey" here on RU-vid, you can see the seccond generation called "boss-eyed" or "cross-eyed".
You're probably right about the biggest air cooled rear engined sedan. But if we consider water cooled cars, the Tucker and the Stout Scarab were rear engined and probably bigger.
One can not win the PowerBall jackpot unless all the numbers match. Tucker used a 6 cylinder boxer converted to water cooled, not air-cooled 8. Because Stout used a water cooled Ford, it doesn't match the parameters of being in the uniqueness. Yes, they were longer. Tatra's pre-war T87 model was over 1 foot shorter.
@@cisium1184 with four passengers in it, the weight distribution was 47-53 front-rear. That air cooled hemi V8 weighs only 180kg/397lb. But yeah, swing axles in the rear....
Still today the vast majority of driving public don't check their tire pressure. Not even after more modern publicity of the Ford exploder that Firestone said, UH, No. Fortunately, ignorance of the limitations incurred by heavy rear bias killed about half a dozen high ranking nazis officers. Not equal comparison to Chevy. This was a very expensive, well appointed car equal to Cadillac.
Back in the 60's and 70's many french car brands had creative solutions to store the spare while keeping it accessible. Peugeot 403 had a twin trunk floor , the spare wheel sat between them. The later Peugeot 404 and 504 had the spare hanging under the trunk floor in a dedicated cradle. The Citroen BX had the spare hanging under the trunk floor as well.
Dydia put out a small engine fire with a bag of frozen spinach in that car......Also she still managed to drive it after the gearshift came apart at AeroBooks in Burbank last August. I was impressed, Dydia is a real trooper! If you looked closely, you might find bits of carbonized spinach near the carbs.
The Maserati Khamsin's V-8 engine was placed so far back in front the space-saver spare tire slid out from a tray located underneath the radiator and front bumper.
I personally like the design of the Tatra 613 better, but they should have put the engine in the front in my opinion: better cooling, better handling (fwd) and much bigger trunk. And the spare tire could have been placed in the engine bay.
The 603 could not exist in any other form under the political conditions. The secret marketing plan needed costs to be kept as low as possible. Therefore, in some aspect the 603 was somewhat of a parts bin car. Stick to the original pre-war design with face-lift An officer will have his briefcase and travel bag. There is nothing more annoying than a few men piling into a car with a hump in the middle of the floor. His family won't be traveling with him.
I discovered the 603 in 1975 when I was given the 1970 'Observer's Book of Automobiles' - there it was (in white on page 213) - once seen, never forgotten.
@@k5ing You're right, it was based on a flat six helicopter engine which was air-cooled, so I assumed the Tucker engine would be too.. but it seems they developed water cooling for it.
Restoration in progress? Seems in a bit of a state. Does it run? Earlier powerful Tatras had an evil reputation for being dangerous..Nazi military officers grabbed them after invading Czechoslovakia as sports cars , only to wrap them round trees or drive off mountain roads. Thus did Tatra make its own contribution to the war. The last big Tatras from the 60s and 70s were a lot more modern, very powerful and very fast - but still rear engined. Looked a bit like a blocky Jensen Interceptor.
The engine used in the T603 first application was in the 4x4 T805, and in its 'military spec' it developed 75 bhp, but it had also been used in some interesting Tatra competition cars, like the T601 Tatraplan Montecarlo and the T602 and T607 sports racing cars. In the T603, however, it produced 95 bhp at 5000 rpm.
_Oh come on!_ The Chevrolet Corvair (1960-1969) was also a large(-ish) four-door sedan with a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. Okay, it was a flat-six, not a V-8. Whereas the Tatra had a 2.5L engine, the GM Turbo-Air 6 of the Corvair was a _boxer_ engine up to 2.7L _and_ it was turbocharged. Ahem, in some models. But come on! _Turbosupercharging!_ Hey!
Sure, there were also versions with leather one, but wood was most common. This particular model is in horrible state, so it does not show, but T603 was a limousine.
