I'm back !

[CraigS]

Did you miss me ? Probably not ! I have been travelling over the past couple of months - notably to Vietnam and Australia, and working on my cars. I have sold one of my 6.9's to someone in Sydney, and replaced it with another Tatra - this time a T600 or otherwise known as a Tatraplan.

I do regret the sale of one of my 6.9's, but since I still have 3, I guess I can't complain, but when the opportunity came along for the Tatra, I couldn't refuse, and didn't want to outlay any more money on cars, and the Tatra 603 is now registered and available for use - once a few tuning things are sorted out.

The car needs total restoration, however the car is relatively complete, having been stripped down in the 1990's, stripped and panel beated where necessary, and the engine rebuilt but not assembled. The owner at the time reputedly had some severe gambling debts and had to sell. Little or no work will commence for the next couple of years while I determine what if any parts and missing and are located.

Here are a few pictures of what this beast looks like. For the technically curious, it is an air cooled, 2lt 4 cylinder boxer engine.

[nathan]

Welcome back CS,
what a shame, have you now los the crown for maximal cubic capacity??
not that i know anything about tatras, but still looks slick
regards
nathan

[oscar]

Did you miss me ?

Craig who?  
The thought had crossed my mind a couple of times but I thought you were probably busy globetrotting.  All I noticed was the 6.9 pop up for sale. Wasn't too worried though.  I'd only be concerned if all four popped up on ebay.

Congrats on the sale and the purchase.  I was reading Unique Cars magazine today about Alfa BAT cars.  Never heard of them before, so unique, but I noticed Tatra as a manufacturer got a mention along with Chrysler and Cord plus a few more for post war innovative aerodynamic design.  The front of the Tatraplan looks elegant but the rear is phenomenal.. Talk about fastback design, its rear looks borrowed from a 50s rocket.  

Is there window/s in the firewall or are the windows in the boot lid only for observing the engine?

[s class]

Tatraplan, I am impressed - that's a real Tatra as far as I'm concerned.  Did you find the car locally in Australia?

[CraigS]

Yes, it is a local car. Apparently about 50 of them came to Australia, but no one really knows for sure.

There is a window in the window so to speak. The cabin, which is sealed from the engine bay has it's own single window, and the engine cover has those two you can see. I don't think that reversing is going to be any fun ! Just have to continually drive forward.

Coiincidentially, one popped up for sale today, in much the same condition as mine is, for US$12,500 in the US, and citing US$50,000 as the restored value. They might be a little high, but not too much - most I have seen go for EUR 30 - 35,000, although Hymans has one for US$74,900. You can see it here -  http://www.hymanltd.com/search/Details.asp?stockno=3849&recordCount=1

[CraigS]

what a shame, have you now los the crown for maximal cubic capacity??

Possibly ! I might have to toal the 6.9's and the 6.3, but what the hell ! I've got two Tatra's !

[Papalangi]

A link to Jay Leno's Tatra video.
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=277881

It's not the same car but is a Tatra.

Michael

[Papalangi]

Wow!

I didn't watch the video before I posted the link, now I need a Tatra!

I saw his Tatra on My Classic Car a few weeks ago and wondered if he had any more info on it.  Having seen his his site, I'll be spending many a happy hour surfing it.

Michael

[oscar]

Ditto papa.  I've seen a couple of tatra youtube vids when Craig has talked about em before, but nothing as factual and filmed like that.  Will definitely have to check out Jay's site more.  For a guy that's as busy as he is, he  must spend every spare moment he's got researching automobiles.