Tatraplan

Infobox Automobile


name = Tatra 600 / Tatraplan
manufacturer = Tatra, a. s.
assembly=Kopřivnice till 1951
Mlada Boleslav (Skoda plant) after 1951
production = 1946 – 1952
6,342 built
predecessor = Tatra T97
successor = Tatra T603
body_style = 4 door saloon
engine = 1950 cc Flat-4
layout=RR layout
transmission = 4 speed manualcite book |last=Gloor |first=Roger |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Alle Autos der 50er Jahre 1945 - 1960|year=1. Auflage 2007 |publisher=Motorbuch Verlag |location=Stuttgart |id=ISBN 978-3-613-02808-1]
length = Auto mm|4540
width =
height =
weight =
wheelbase = Auto mm|2700
track =
fuel_capacity=
related =
similar =
designer = Josef Chalupa
Vladimír Popelář
Hans Ledwinka. T600 automobile.

Post World War II, Tatras continued to be built; the factory was nationalised in 1946 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, the state planning department decided that the Tatraplan should henceforth be built at the Skoda Auto plant in Mlada Boleslav, leaving Tatra to concentrate on truck assembly. 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.

The Tatraplan had a monocoque streamlined six-seater saloon body with a Cd of just 0.32. It was powered by an air-cooled flat 4 cylinder 1,952 cc rear engine. 6,342 were made, 2,100 of them in Mlada Boleslav.

ources and further reading

External links

* [http://www.tatraplan.co.uk Tatraplan website]