There are cars and there are cars. Every car enthusiast has their special car; the car that they desire above all others. For me, that car was a Tatra streamliner. I had never expected that I would ever be in a position to own one however. They are quite rare cars internationally and extremely rare in Australia. The most desirable model, the Tatra T87, fetches crazy money, well beyond my price range. A 1948 Tatra 87 in Sydney had been up for sale for two years (2012-24) for A$350,000. It was eventually shipped overseas to be sold in an auction at Pebble Beach. The only other Tatra I knew of the Tatraplan at the York Motor Museum. In 2103 that car had gone up for action for a price well in excess of my budget. But the market for these unusual cars is pretty small and the Tatraplan was passed in without any bids. The Tatra then passed through several auction houses, each time failing to draw a bid.
Then, a chance conversation I had with a friend in the classic car market led to me say something rather foolish. My friend said he'd seen assessed the state of the Tatraplan and advised in his view it was only worth x dollars. It was substantially below the asking price. I boldly stated, if the seller would accept that, I'd pay it. My friend said he'd ask. I walked away assuming this was all just talk. There was no way the seller would agree to the price discussed, but the next day the offer was accepted and I was the Tatraplan's new owner. I was a little dumbstruck; it happened so fast. Then I had to tell Shelly. We were in the process of completing the restoration of her Karmann Ghia so the timing wasn't great. priorities, but these opportunities only come around once in your life so you just have to seize the day.
The Tatra at the Celebration of the Motorcar in 2012.
Spare tyres in the boot
1.9 litre boxer engine
Beautiful art=deco interior
A contemporary photo taken in Perth of one of the dozen or so Tatraplans imported into Australia in the 1950s. Note that isn't registered. The car would have been displayed at the Skoda dealership in Perth. It is believed the car was later sent east as there were no Tatras registered in WA. Photo courtesy of Paul Blank.
The history of our Tatra
Tatra shipped a single Tatraplan to Australia for the Melbourne Motor Show in 1951. The car created a sensation as it was so different to anything seen in Australia. Interest expressed at the show led Tatra to ship a dozen Tatraplans in 1952. My car was one of these Australian delivered cars.
In 1983 Restored Cars Magazine wrote a feature on George Stelhig's Tatra T600 and T603. The star of the article was George's T603 but there was a small amount information about his T600. Unfortunately there is no information about the car's earlier history. All we know for sure is that it was imported into Australia sometime after 1952, possibly even as late as 1954 as Victorian Skoda dealers were still advertising a Tatraplan for 3500 Australian pounds at that time. Sales for such an unusual and expensive car were very, very slow.
Photos of the interior of the T600 show that at in 1983 it still had column shift. Sometime after this article the car was converted to floor shift by Tatra Repairs Company in Melbourne. The reason for the conversion are unknown, but it was probably due to the difficulty finding spare parts for the shift linkage. All the other Australian Tatraplan that I know of (as many have survived) have also had this conversion.
In 1987 the York Motor museum bought the T600 from George and for the next 26 years it was one of their feature cars. Occasionally the car was bought out for vintage events in York and Perth, including the 2012 Celebration of the Motorcar. http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/celebration-of-motorcar-2012.html
Photos courtesy Z Pasznicki.
The Tatra was serviced at one stage by Jerry of the Karmann Ghia Company of Australia, who has supplied many parts and provided advice for the restoration of Shelly's Karmann. http://www.karmannghia.com.au/tatra.html
In 2013 the Tatra was sent for auction at the Motoclassica in Melbourne, but it did not sell. It was then sent for auction with Shannon's, but again passed in before I bought it in a private sale. http://www.shannons.com.au/auctions/lot/U9C3O8F30T9ZO17E/#.U7qTRDpZrMw
Ironically, a week after I purchased the car Unique Car Magazine featured a small article noting that the last Tatraplan to sell was in 1999.
My research leads me to believe that eight of the original thirteen Tatraplans sent to Australia, have survived. Only one other is on the road and the others are all under restoration.
For more of Tatra posts check out my dedicated Tatra blog: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/
