Tatraplan | Continued
The Tatraplan was the model T600 Tatra car.
Post World War II, Tatras continued to be built; the factory was nationalised in 1948 after the Communist takeover. Although production of prewar models continued, a new model, the Tatra T600 Tatraplan was designed in 1946-47 by Josef Chalupa, Vladimír Popelář and Hans Ledwinka. The name of the car celebrated the new Communist planned economy. After two prototypes ‘Ambrož’ (December 1946) and ‘Josef’ (March 1947) it went into mass production in 1948. In 1951, a decision of the state planning department decided that the Tatraplan should henceforth be built at the Skoda Auto plant in Mlada Boleslav, leaving Tatra free to concentrate on trucks. This was quite unpopular with the workforce at both plants, as a result Skoda built Tatraplans for one year only before the model was discontinued in 1952.
Tatraplan had a monocoque streamlined six-seater saloon body of Cd 0.32, air-cooled flat 4 cylinder 1,952cc rear engine. 6,342 units were made, 2,100 in Mlada Boleslav.
External links
- Tatraplan website