Friday 23rd September 2011

Time For Tea? How To Sell A Car To Communists

While away some dull office time with this lovely communist-era ad. Best way to escape the rozzers? Rear-engined V8...

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Think things were all austerity and five-year plans on the eastern side of the iron curtain during the 1960s? Think again.

At least, that's what this magnificent cinematic advert from 1962 for the Tatra 603 seems to suggest.

Buy yourself a air-cooled, rear-engined V8 Tatra, it seems to say, and you too, could be drifting your way through cobbled streets, weaving dangerously on multi-lane roads, evading speed traps, escaping motorbike-mounted policeman and fording surprisingly deep rivers.

So stastnou cestu, as they say in Czech...

 

[jazzdevil]

Excellent - makes me want to sort out the resto job on mine and get it on the road

[greathorwood]

Water cooled? Air cooled 2.5 litre V8 IIRC...

[dave stew]

That's really cool! I presume it was Prague in the sixties?

[Riggers]

greathorwood said:

Water cooled? Air cooled 2.5 litre V8 IIRC...

Arrgghhh! You think air-cooled, but you type water-cooled.

Corrected

[cookie1600]

greathorwood said:

Water cooled? Air cooled 2.5 litre V8 IIRC...

Yep, air cooled 2474cc V8 in the tail!



http://www.tatraworld.nl/2010/03/05/engines-that-m...

Edited by cookie1600 on Thursday 22 September 16:45

[Fittster]

Didn't Mr Porsche rip off Tatra completely when designing the Beetle?

If the Iron Curtain had been different maybe the 911 would have had a air-cooled V8.

[andrewrob]

Can see where the Saudis from last nights video got their driving style.

[tim milne]

And with the biggest tailpipes you ever saw...

[gareth_r]

Never mind the Tatra, the "policeman" is riding a Jawa bevel-drive OHC 500 twin.

[cookie1600]

How about whacking that old Tatra V8 into a Trabant and going drifting?





Comunistastic Brothers!!!!

[traffman]

That guy polishing the car at the beginning of the film has strong Scott Mills look about him.

[jazzdevil]

tim milne said:

And with the biggest tailpipes you ever saw...

This one never fails to attract attention at the Revival - love it!

[spoodler]

That was absolutely wonderful. Just watched all twelve or thirteen minutes and there are some real gems in there - the (non) NCAP type roll over test procedure right at the end...priceless. In my somewhat eclectically filled dream garage there is definitely room for a 603 - shame prices have risen so dramatically in the last few years.

[W00DY]

PH said:

the iron curtain curing the 1960s

Haymarket taking the "communism is the way forward" line, eh?


Nice video. You've got to love a Tatra 603.

[Maldini35]

mmmm want one

[Hudson]

Ah, motor vehicle for make benefit glorious motherland!

Has a sort of eastern block rendevous feel to it

[bobberz]

That made my day! Gotta love Tatras: all-aluminium, air-cooled, rear-mounted, hemispherical combustion chambered V8!

Great up-tempo music, too, especially the jazzy bit near the end! Lovely dame in the back, as well!

[PATTERNPART]

The Continent was a strange frightening place to most Brits in those days. They eat garlic for heaven's sake!

[Scotty2]

I have always fancied one of the 1990's RHD T613s which were going to be imported. A few were made but not a sucess. Think its claim to fame was the length of the model name Tatra T613-4 Mi L or something like that.

Oh it says one was tested on Top Gear - must look for link...



http://www.flickr.com/photos/tatraskoda/2421120583...

"1990 T613-3 was imported into the UK by Tim Bishop during development of the still-born rhd T613-5"

I'm getting an uncontrolable urge...

http://www.tatra-register.co.uk/613.htm


Edit to add link

Edited by Scotty2 on Thursday 22 September 19:43

[jbi]

Tatra.... the forgotten hero of Europe