You look at the car above, you see its 3 headlights and its center hinged doors and you can only think “what the hell?”. But as we shall see, this weird creation, from interwar Czechoslovakia, was thought to be the future of the automobile. And while this vision of the future didn’t quite come to fruition, it’s still important.
Hans Ledwinka was born in 1878 in what was then Austria Hungary. He got a job at Nesseldorfer-Wagenbau engineering first railroad cars and then automobiles. He left in 1917 but then came back in 1921 to the company that was now known as Tatra in what was now Czechoslovakia. He served as their chief design engineer until 1937.
He was a very innovative man. He came up with inventions such as the backbone chassis, the air-cooled rear mounted engine, and fully independent suspension.
The Tatra 77 showed this futurism. Its streamlined aerodynamic body looked like something from outer space when it was unveiled in 1934. Only 250 were sold as it was essentially a coach built job.
The 87, introduced in 1938, would be much more popular. Its superb aerodynamics (VW attained a drag coefficient of just .36 in 1979, way lower than almost all cars until the 80s) meant it could hit 100 mph despite having a small 3 liter V8 with just 85 horsepower. The brick shaped cars that could match that speed had to use much larger engines and were not nearly as fuel efficient.
It would be the stillborn V570 that would go on to be Tatra’s most influential design, however. While it was never put into mass production, as the company’s own 57 was selling just fine, it did attract the attention of a pair of Germans.
Ferdinand Porsche was very impressed with the design and it would inspire the economy car he was working on. Herr Hitler liked the Tatra a lot, he said of the T77 “That is the car for my highways!”.
When the “KDF-wagen” was unveiled in 1938, Ledwinka was not flattered by this imitation and sued Porsche for copyright infringement. Porsche came very close to settling the case, but then Hitler said “I’ll take care of it”. The Nazis then invaded Czechoslovakia and that put an end to things. VW eventually paid out in 1961. During the occupation, Hitler changed his views on the Tatra. Having the heavy engine in the rear results in a tendency toward fishtailing. Many soldiers died in accidents and the car was nicknamed “the Czech secret weapon”.
But it wasn’t just the Germans who were enamored by the Tatra. American entrepeneur William Stout loved the rear engined layout and put it on his Scarab, which was probably the world’s first minivan.
During the war, industry and government had to keep up the optimism of the American people living through gas rationing and the total halt of civilian automobile production. Many of these “postwar automobile” predictions featured a rear engine and a streamlined teardrop shape. The touted benefits of the rear engine were the lack of a space hogging driveshaft, increased traction by putting the heavy engine over the drive wheels, and less steering effort.
The Tatra influence can be seen here with this 1946 Cadillac prototype. Based on the front grille, it’s clearly not rear engined. But the streamlining, including hidden headlights, is clearly from Tatra. It makes for an interesting what-if in American car design.
The most blatant American Tatra rip-off was the ill-fated Tucker Torpedo. The streamlined shape, the rear engine, and the 3rd headlight makes it clear what inspired it. Unfortunately, Preston Tucker’s ambitions were a bit too much and the company collapsed amidst investigations by the SEC for which he was eventually acquitted. Despite what conspiracy theorists say, it was not Detroit that kept this car down, it was Tucker himself. The car was too expensive and was horribly built. One of the cars that was used at the unveiling sprung a radiator leak.
The rear engine layout made its way onto many European economy cars. The most famous, by far, being the Beetle. But also the Fiat 500, the Renault Dauphine, and the British Hillman Imp.
Detroit would wind up producing just 1 rear engined car, the infamous Chevrolet Corvair. As it turns out, the opposite layout, front engine, front wheel drive, was a much better one.
The number of rear engined cars dwindled quickly post 1970. Today, the most famous car with the engine behind the rear axle is the Porsche 911. Also stuff like the Smart Fortwo and the Tesla Model S which, having its electric motor on the rear axle in rear drive models, is technically rear engined.
However, the aerodynamic influence has lived on. Take a look at this 1986 Ford Taurus with no exposed grille. Automakers have found a goldmine of benefits from cutting down on drag as it is doesn’t involve any compromises on performance or comfort and is much cheaper than using exotic materials or advanced engine technology.
As for Tatra itself, history was not as kind. After the communists took over, the company was ordered to build only trucks. But because communist party brass weren’t impressed with Russia’s luxury cars, Tatra was forced to go back into the business. In 1956, the 603 was unveiled. It was probably the best car the Eastern bloc ever produced, a low bar I know with all those Ladas, Trabants, and Yugos. But it was seriously good. So good that you had to be pretty high ranking to get one, some animals being more equal than others and all that.
Tatra continued building cars even after 1989. But they were simply hopeless against all those Western BMWs and Mercedes. Their last car, the 700, was discontinued in 1999.
Today, Tatra’s legacy is hard to find. Their name is only on trucks, trucks which happen to use Ledwinka’s backbone chassis. Automakers have found front wheel drive to be a better layout than rear engine. But it’s impressive to think that Czechoslovakia of all places was once at the cutting edge of automotive engineering.