Tatra T87 - Intelligent Design

[blindfluggegner]

einfach nur schön

[blindfluggegner]

einfach nur shön

[HORVATH1962]

When GOD spoke to Henry Ford ... this is what he meant.

Genious Design. Unlike current BMW, BENZ & AUDI with their retina burning modern headlights.

[tertommy]

rear visibility must be iffy

[omgpuppies0707]

it's great to have someone that knows NOTHING about cars try to explain the design of this car, really great "artsmia"!

[JBC814]

Tucker saw one of these during WW2 and tried to make the same car here. Actually, William Stout made the same type of car in the 30's in the U.S., but it was a rear-engined van. Very practical for weight distribution, but I think Toyota made the final statement in that department with their Previa van in the 90's, which had a centrally located engine with optional 4WD and supercharger. Unfortunately Toyota did not see its greater potential as an SUV or pickup, which would have been a winner.

[Arainion]

Czech cars are the best. And this car was like from another world that time.

[xjerzy]

Why is he talking about driving down the autobahn? This car is Czech not German!

The Germans did steal some the Tatra"s other designs to make the VW bug!

[vlasolis]

Proč se dnes nevyrábí tak pěkná a originální auta?

[MadIgor1]

Dear Mr. Ryan, what German and Austrian autobahn are you referring to? In time of creation of this car Germany had one autobahn in length of 108km and Austria none. This car was a Czechoslovak project, not German, it was used by Germans after occupation, but that doesn't make it a German car.

[OctavianDulf1976]

super this car well done and the condition wow

[honussa]

Driving the Tatra in foggy Austria or Germany???

Most of them at that time were driven in the czech republic, or at that time Czechoslovakia. Only very few, as far as I know were exported to Austria and Germany at those times.

[antochi]

@honussa I guess he meant "driven by german or austrian soldiers in Czechoslovakia" :)

[VALsacount2]

They need to move the wheels back a bit for beter weight distribution.

[Threetails]

They learned that the hard way. The early Tatras had tail-happy handling and would lose it on tight curves. At one time, German officers were forbidden to drive them.

[zagyex]

I heard czehs were very proud of these cars because they killed many german officers, who enjoyed the (at that time very high) speed (140kph) but couldnt take the first curve :)

[honussa]

@zagyex I heard the story about the 603s - they can go up to 165. Not really though because my father bought one in 91 and after having restored it by Tatra, he drove 150 on the highway and as he arrived in Vienna, the oil cooling system, which was new, was completely broken. Nah, it just had quite a big leak. In other words: NEVER drive faster than 130 with a T603! And always wait until the engine, and so the oil, has reached normal temperatures before making the engine go higher rpms.

[MartinTheCoolGuy]

Seems like they dont studdy geography in the US

[VALsacount2]

I do, study geography.

[Seattlecarnut]

Hans Ledwinka! Genius! Is there more to this video besides what we've seen?

[PajkaLS]

This is no made in east Europe but in the middle Europe. This is not the same! The Czech(oslovakia) was one of the most advacend country in the Europe this time.

Even after the second world war (on the communist age).

[AlexDeLarge90]

that is correct, even Ferdinand Porsche looked at the idea when designing the Volkswagen Type 1

not to mention Czech made tanks from the late 1930's were used by the germans when they invaded France and the Soviet Union

[AlexDeLarge90]

the so-called "british" BREN machine gun was based on a Czech design the ZB vs. 26

in fact BREN is short for BRno and ENfield. the gun was designed in Brno

the sole reason Hitler took all of Czechoslovakia was because he needed their great industry to produce enough weapons for his war

so yes, Czech design was influental

[zagyex]

Made in eastern europe :)

[dturtleneck]

Middle Europe :-)

[zagyex]

hah OK.

Greatest Car ever, anyway.

[Thinsid]

"Greatest Car Ever"?? What about Tatra 603 or Lamborghini 400GT? OR later Lamborghini Countach Just a thought!

[zagyex]

if you compare the drag coefficient of a countach 0.44, the T87 will win, it has half of the countach, it is 0.21 which is unbelievable even with modern cars!! Its a big fourdoor from 1930-s, and todays eco concept 1-person cars have this small drag. lookup Automobile drag coefficient on wiki, there are a few examples. this was a fantastic car of its age.

[Thinsid]

I agree-a fantastic car of its age BUT to be "Greatest Car Ever" takes much more than drag co-efficient, try Beauty, Performance, Driver appeal as a package.Considering it as a whole I prefer the 603! AND the Lamborghinis mentioned look like contenders.

[zagyex]

yes, you maybe right, because everyone has their greatest cars, in fact mine is also not the T87 but the car i have (Citroen DS) , but here is no greatest car ever, there are only greatest cars, and the T87 is one of them. the 603 is also one i'd like to have, i found one here in estonia in very bad condition, impossible to restore :/ Lambos are out of my budget :)

[Thinsid]

Now You've got it!! Citroen DS an interesting choice- 19 or 21?

What about the SM with the Maserati engine?? I agree about the Lambos,but the 400GT in electric blue is Stunning!

[zagyex]

The SM had quite a lot of problems with the engine (timing chain jumps), and it is also more expensive, the parts are more rare. I use the DS (21) daily (not in winter) and it was a childhood dream. It is quite reliable. My friend has it with an injection 23 engine and its quite strong (140 hp) it can do 170 kph . I would love to have an SM though, if I have all I need in life and stil money left, I may buy one :)

[McLarenMercedes]

@Thinsid

Ever driven a Lamborghini? I am going to let you in on a secret from former owners. They require a lot of service, and their reliability (even if imporved under Audi supervision) is still nowhere near Porsche levels.

The Countach had no servo, which meant you had to be buff like a bodybuilder to steer the thing in traffic, the airconditioning was pitiful and on summers it's like sitting in a sauna.

The Countach's outrageous looks gave it more fans than its actual quality as a car.

[Thinsid]

@McLarenMercedes RE Lamborghini: What you say is correct, BUT it ranks as a great car for the following reasons. When it appeared (About 1975!!) There was NO other car on earth that looked like it OR went like it. Lamborghini claimed a top speed of 193 Miles/ Hour, HOW Long Before ANYONE else claimed a speed in excess of 190?? ABOUT 15 Years!! Even with today's technology there is NO perfect car.

[honussa]

@Thinsid What about the Tatra 77 and 77a??

[Thinsid]

@honussa For some reason I cant recall the 77! Which one was that??

[honussa]

Tatra77: The most amazing tatra of all times (in my opinion). It was the predecessor of the 87 and at first had only two headlights. The amazing thing is that these cars were built in 1934! I have only once seen a T77a version in the technical museum of Prague. I however have never seen the two headlighted one. Too bad that only 150 or so were produced from both series - I would give everything to own such a car.

But really look at some pictures on Google - they look and are amazing!

[Thinsid]

@honussa Sorry, still can't recall this one. Will have a look at Google pictures soon!

[zagyex]

it has a drag coefficient lower than nearly any other car on the road before and after.

0.212

in 1934.

It is unbelievable.

check out Automobile_drag_coefficients on wikipedia

[Seattlecarnut]

I've always liked cars designed by engineers, rather than stylists. Stylists don't care about functionality and safety, all they care about style and aesthetics.

[DrReal5000]

i saw this car in czech republic, it looks & sounds great

[Toulavej58]

Ledvinka!!Genius originalni

[arospeed169]

@Toulavej58 Ledwinka not Ledvinka

[cimmerianpraetor]

just perfect