Tatra 97

Year of Manufacture: 1937
Power: 40 hp
Engine Displacement: 1,749 cm³

Number of Cylinders/Valves: 4/2
Weight: 1,150 kg

Condition: drivable
Catalog Number: 159

Introduction

The Tatra 97, also known as the Tatra T97, was a Czechoslovak limousine produced by the Tatra automobile company. It was created as a less powerful alternative to the Tatra 87, sharing most components but being smaller and less equipped.

Technical Specifications

The Tatra 97 is a four-door, five-seat sedan with a rear-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive. It is equipped with a spark-ignition, air-cooled flat four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1,749 cm³ and a Zenith carburetor without supercharging. The vehicle produces 29 kW (40 hp) at 3,500 rpm and has a curb weight of 1,150 kg. The front wheels are suspended on two transverse leaf springs, and the rear features a swing axle (half-axles) with oblique leaf springs. Both front and rear brakes are drum brakes.

Production

Production of this model lasted only three years, from 1937 to 1939. After World War II, production briefly resumed in 1946 but was soon definitively stopped to make way for the Tatra 600 – Tatraplan.

Sales

Only 510 units were produced during the entire production period, making it a highly valued collector’s car.

Trivia

An interesting fact is that the Tatra 97 resembled the Volkswagen Beetle, which was created at Adolf Hitler’s behest. Hitler wanted an affordable people’s car for all citizens, and the task was given to Ferdinand Porsche, a native of the Czech town Vratislavice nad Nisou. Porsche had strong support from Hitler at the time but later became known as the “devil’s engineer.”

So where does Tatra fit in? The Beetle and the Tatra 97 share several design similarities. The Beetle had a strikingly similar aerodynamic body and a rear-mounted, air-cooled four-cylinder engine, just like the Tatra 97. It could be said that Porsche copied Hans Ledwinka, the Tatra designer, but it was not that simple. The engineers were friends and often consulted each other’s designs. Nevertheless, German production was accused of plagiarism. The lawsuit, however, did not concern the appearance but the chassis concept with independent suspension. Ferdinand Porsche confided the lawsuit to Adolf Hitler, who said he would solve the problem.

When the Tatra 97 had been in production for a year, the occupation of Czechoslovakia began in 1938. In 1939, the Beetle and Tatra appeared together at the Berlin Motor Show, where Hitler himself noticed the visual similarity. He ordered the production of the Tatra 97 to be stopped, but that was not the end. Nazi forces confiscated all documentation related to the car and transported it to Germany. According to some sources, the documentation is still somewhere in Stuttgart. When the war started later that year, Tatra’s lawsuit was dropped. It was revived only after the war ended, and in 1961 Volkswagen was forced to pay one million West German marks.

Car in Our Collection

The car in our collection is from 1937, fully restored, and in perfect working condition.