Tatra's heritage as primarily a truck manufacturer comes through in the driving characteristics. The steering is heavy, the clutch heavy, gear changes must be deliberate, very good brakes considering they are drums. Acceleration is slow and steady (it certainly won't beat anyone off the lights), but the streamlining does make it easy to forget how fast you are going (the driver manual in 1936 warned of this). The suspension is excellent and the car can tackle rough ground easily. I have linked a factory promotional movie from 1962 in one of the comments below of the successor model being driven very roughly. It's eye opening.
@paulmarkham3187 Jay Leno drove a T77 in excellent condition and commented on how light the controls were - including the steering. He described it as astonishingly modern to drive. What basis do you have for your claims?
@@pashakdescilly7517 err, being the owner of the Tatra who drives it regularly. It IS surprisingly modern to drive. This car is from 1952 and it drives better than my 1965 Holden EH did back in the day. And Jay Leno owns a T87
During the thirties when it had a V8 engine, the weight distribution was way out of proportion with the heavy engine behind the axle, causing bad understeer. In fact a story going around was it killed more High ranking German Officers than the War. Because of their superior attitude they thought they could handle it. It was reported that Hitler had to order that the Officers not to drive the car. I presume the later models with a smaller and lighter engine helped in its inherent problem.
Of course someone was always going to bring up the "Czech secret weapon" myth. The story is totally apocryphal and nonsense without a single shred of evidence behind it.
Unfortunately that story - commonly reported everywhere - is completely untrue. It was invented by a couple of British motoring writers in the early 1950s who besmirched the now communist controlled company by equating the Tatra's handling with the poorly handling British Burley Streamliners from 1930. Burleys and Tatras share nothing in common except they have rear engines.
Tatra was definitively not the first to market a rear-engined car. The earliest cars in the late 19th century, including the very first Benz and Daimler motor vehicles, were all rear-engined cars - even mid-engined cars were available (Cadillac Curved Dash). Mercedes introduced a rear-engined car at the same time as Tatra did.
The V8s get all the attention but there were only 2 prewar models and less than 4000 were built. Spectacular cars, but Tatra built far more flat four cars, primarily front mounted. Those cars are far less well known as they're more conventional
Great film, Paul! Congratulations! Best regards from Germany
Tatra is world famous among car guys for its innovation and ingenuity in a corporate lifetime of very difficult circumstances. Lovely example!
Nice one Paul 😃
That's an amazing car, in excellent condition. It would be really great to get driving impressions.
Tatra's heritage as primarily a truck manufacturer comes through in the driving characteristics. The steering is heavy, the clutch heavy, gear changes must be deliberate, very good brakes considering they are drums. Acceleration is slow and steady (it certainly won't beat anyone off the lights), but the streamlining does make it easy to forget how fast you are going (the driver manual in 1936 warned of this). The suspension is excellent and the car can tackle rough ground easily. I have linked a factory promotional movie from 1962 in one of the comments below of the successor model being driven very roughly. It's eye opening.
@paulmarkham3187 Jay Leno drove a T77 in excellent condition and commented on how light the controls were - including the steering. He described it as astonishingly modern to drive.
What basis do you have for your claims?
@@pashakdescilly7517 err, being the owner of the Tatra who drives it regularly. It IS surprisingly modern to drive. This car is from 1952 and it drives better than my 1965 Holden EH did back in the day. And Jay Leno owns a T87
A fascinating car. And Paul seems like such a nice bloke. Like another commenter, I expected an air-cooled V8. A great video.
Obviously better RAC mechanics than those in the RAC here with my Volvo 855 👍🏻🏴
During the thirties when it had a V8 engine, the weight distribution was way out of proportion with the heavy engine behind the axle, causing bad understeer. In fact a story going around was it killed more High ranking German Officers than the War. Because of their superior attitude they thought they could handle it. It was reported that Hitler had to order that the Officers not to drive the car. I presume the later models with a smaller and lighter engine helped in its inherent problem.
Of course someone was always going to bring up the "Czech secret weapon" myth. The story is totally apocryphal and nonsense without a single shred of evidence behind it.
This video shows how a Tatra V8 can be driven.
ruclips.net/video/uR6-ReQR45E/видео.htmlsi=691Wnyx_fAq0w40T
Unfortunately that story - commonly reported everywhere - is completely untrue. It was invented by a couple of British motoring writers in the early 1950s who besmirched the now communist controlled company by equating the Tatra's handling with the poorly handling British Burley Streamliners from 1930. Burleys and Tatras share nothing in common except they have rear engines.
Tatra was definitively not the first to market a rear-engined car. The earliest cars in the late 19th century, including the very first Benz and Daimler motor vehicles, were all rear-engined cars - even mid-engined cars were available (Cadillac Curved Dash). Mercedes introduced a rear-engined car at the same time as Tatra did.
Didn't know they made a flat 4. Thought they were all v8s!
The V8s get all the attention but there were only 2 prewar models and less than 4000 were built. Spectacular cars, but Tatra built far more flat four cars, primarily front mounted. Those cars are far less well known as they're more conventional
So happy this vid had subtitles.. Awful accents