1938 Tatra T97

The Czechoslovakian company that would become known as Tatra in 1919 produced its first motor car in 1897. It was founded in 1850 as Ignatz Schustala & Cie and renamed Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft in 1890, Kopřivnická vozovka a.s. in 1918, and finally, Tatra for the nearby Tatra Mountains on the (then) Czechoslovak-Polish border.

The company's early products were renowned for their air-cooled engines, sturdy backbone tube chassis, and affordability. Beginning with the Tatra 77 in the early 1930s, the company fully embraced aerodynamics and unconventional styling. The first serial-produced, truly aerodynamically-designed automobile, the T77 was a large and luxurious car powered by a rear-mounted V8 engine. Initially, it displaced 2.97 liters but later grew to 3.4 liters. The exterior design of the T77 had an exceptionally low drag coefficient and was penned by Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray. Rather than using the company's tubular chassis, it received a platform chassis with a pressed box-section steel backbone. Approximately 249 examples of the T77 and T77a were built from 1934 to 1938.

Tatra Type 97
The Tatra T97 was a slightly scaled-down version of the T87; the T87 was a smaller version of the T77. (The T77 had a 124-inch wheelbase and a length of up to 204.7 inches; the T77a had a length of 212.6 inches; The T87 had a 112.2-inch wheelbase and measured 186.6 inches in length; the T97 had a 102.4-inch wheelbase and a length of 168.1 inches). Styling was similar between these three models, with the T87 being the most popular with 3,056 examples built between 1936 and 1950. Between 1936 and 1939, a total of 508 examples of the T97 were built. The T87 was propelled by a 2,969cc (3.0 liter) V8 engine and the T97 used a much smaller and lighter 1.8 liter flat-four cylinder engine. The Type 77 and 87 had a three-piece windscreen and three headlights, while the Type 97 received a one-piece windscreen and two headlights.

Tatra Type 75
Complementing the unconventional mid-size T97 model was Tatra's more conventional 1,688cc Type 75 which was introduced in 1933 and continued until 1942. The Type 75 was offered in a range of two- and four-door sedan body styles, along with convertibles and six-seat limousines. It had a 106.3-inch wheelbase for most bodies, with the larger limousine body resting on a 126-inch platform. The 1.4-liter, air-cooled, overhead-valve engine was paired with a four-speed manual transmission.

Tatra Type 97 Mechanical Specification
The flat-four aluminum engine powering the Type 97 displaced 1,759cc and produced 40 horsepower. Due to the car's aerodynamic efficiency, the T97 could cruise easily at 68 mph with a maximum speed of around 80 mph. It had a four-speed manual transmission, a pressed steel platform with a central tube for added rigidity, a width of 63.4 inches, and stood 57.1 inches tall.

Production of the Tatra T97 came to an end when Czechoslovakia was invaded by Germany on March 15, 1939.

The styling of the Type 97 strongly resembled Volkswagen's KdF-Wagen, but the origin of T97's design may have begun with sketches by Hungarian engineer Bela Barenyi. Tata sued Ferdinand Porsche for using Tatra's design to design the Volkswagen, but World War II intervened, bringing an end to the lawsuit. When peacetime resumed, Tatra resumed its lawsuit, and in 1965, Volkswagen settled (paying DM 1,000,000 in compensation).

by Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2023