Tatra T603

Founded in 1850, the Czech firm later known as Tatra initially produced wagons and carriages but made its first motorcar in 1918, the Prasident. The firm came to specialise in luxury cars of a technically advanced nature with notably good aerodynamics, usually with large rear-mounted engines. During WW2 they made trucks and tank engines for the occupying German forces but car production also continued because the large, fast saloons were very popular with high ranking Nazi officers.

The T603 was launched in 1955 when Czechoslovakia was under the control of the Soviet Union. A luxury handbuilt motorcar, it came about because high ranking Soviet officials were dissatisfied with the poor quality cars produced in Russia and instructed Tatra to make something better. Never available for sale to the general public, the T603 was reserved for top communist officials and other VIPs, as well as being exported to most other communist nations as official cars. Even Fidel Castro had a white T603 custom-fitted with air conditioning.

Powered by a 100bhp 2.5-litre rear-mounted air-cooled V8 engine driving through a four-speed manual all-synchro gearbox, the T603 was a very robust and well-engineered car that also did well in international rallying. It remained in production until 1975 with numerous improvements made along the way, including four-wheel disc brakes from 1968. Some 20,420 were built in total.

This particular T603 was acquired by Stondon Museum in 1994 but has not yet been UK registered. We are told that the engine starts and runs but the brakes will need some attention. The indicated mileage is 69,860 which may well be correct but cannot be warranted. It comes with a brochure about the Tatra company and a sales brochure for the later Tatra 613 which cost a whopping £29,000 in 1994! A fascinating Cold War relic, this T603 is sure to attract a huge amount of attention when it finally returns to the road. We love it!

Please note: We have not had this running on site.