
The Tatra 603: Wacky Commie Hot Rod - akkartik
https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/tatra-603-wacky-commie-hot-rod
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hristov
I should thank Mr. Locklin for bringing this little known car some attention.
But I must also say that I am incredibly annoyed by the nasty chauvinistic
"top gear" style of his writing. I have liked cars since I was a kid but now I
am turned away from a lot of car related journalism because of that same "top
gear" style.

I do not know what the author thinks communism is, but he seems to be using it
as some kind of semi-racist semi-nationalist all encompassing pejorative,
which was commonly used during the cold war.

It is funny when towards the end of the article he suggests (incorrectly) that
this car is ok because it was really "a capitalist design" that was only "made
by commies". First he is very much incorrect about that assertion. The Tatra
603 was ordered, designed and produced in Czechoslovakia, when that country
was ruled by the communist party and was in the soviet block. But nobody in
then Czechoslovakia would have referred to it as a "communist" country, not
even the top communist brass.

But there is something here that will completely blow Mr. Locklin's mind away.
If the car had been designed and produced under capitalism few years before
the dates in which it was actually designed and manufactured, it would have
likely been designed by the mostly the same group of engineers, and
manufactured by the same workers that made the later "communist" car. You see
there were a bunch of engineers working in a car factory, and then a bunch
wars happened, and then all of a sudden they all become a bunch of "commies"
and everything they made was "made by commies".

~~~
S_A_P
I don't know a lot of the history of the Czech Republic and Czechoslavakia but
this makes a whole lot of sense. I think people make this way to black and
white. Governments don't really represent people. I love music and would try
to make music regardless of who is in charge of the government. Car people are
going to try and make cool cars regardless of their budget

~~~
Gibbon1
I remember talking to a coworker my age (about 20 years ago). He was born in
the early 60's in Britain and his family was middle class. I was born in
California and my family was middle class. When he was a small child in
England his dad bought the first family car. Like ever. In my case my great
grand fathers all bought cars before 1920.

I just seemed to me that Britain, Europe, and especially eastern Europe after
two world wars was a big mess. The US came out of it producing 50% of the
world GDP, not including, Britain, Canada, France, etc.

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jacquesm
It's incredible how mis-informed the author is regarding life behind the iron
curtain and the whole 'commie' saturation this article suffers from makes it
both painful to read and historically inaccurate. Imagine an article about
let's say the Ford Edsel where every reference to designers or manufacturers
would be prefixed with 'cappie'.

~~~
Stratoscope
And the author is even strangely confused about the cars themselves:

"The vague resemblance to the VW bug is no coincidence."

Come now. Not the VW "bug", it doesn't look much like that. Has the writer
never heard of the VW Type 3? That's the one that looks like the Tatra 603:

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/VW_Typ_3...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/VW_Typ_3_front_20080227.jpg)

~~~
rebolek
Of course there is vague resemblance to VW "bug", because bug’s design was
heavily influenced by Tatra V570. So heavily that court ordered VW to pay 1
000 000 Deutsche Mark to Tatra in 1965.

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avmich
> communism was never sold as a fun ideology

Well, then what's about Vladimir Mayakovsky's

Другим странам - по сто, История - пастью гроба, А моя страна - подросток:
Твори, выдумывай, пробуй!

(Other countries are hundred years old, Their future is just coffins and
cemetery, And my country is a teenager Create, invent, try!)

It's not quite correct that communism wasn't ever advertised as fun.

~~~
soyiuz
Woah, I never thought I'd see the day when Mayakovsky is quoted on HN. Thank
you, good sir.

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jkot
Many people at Tatra would get upset for calling them 'the communists'. If
anything Communism killed this car (no exports). Latter it practically killed
the company by merging them with less advanced Skoda.

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Stratoscope
The Tatra 603 ad midway down the page is really fun! It's 12 minutes long, but
worth taking the time to watch. Great soundtrack too.

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sandworm101
Cool car, but the title is a little off considering...

>>The communists had only been running the country for a few years when this
thing came out in 1956, so it’s really an old capitalist/Paul Jaray design
that ended up being made by commies, but it’s pretty damn cool that they kept
it going until 1976.

The "commie" talk in the article is right out of the 60s and is a little off-
putting for a piece about a car. I'd say this sounds like Jeremy Clarkson but
I couldn't see him using the phrase "..grim and serious ideology covered in
human blood" with a strait face.

~~~
mkhpalm
I guess unless what he says is true and the car was only available to high
officials in the communist party.

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smcl
"... unlike the Trabant or Lada, or even a Skoda, the Tatra is pretty"

Weird - I think Lada and Trabant are genuinely smart wee cars if they're in
good nick. Volgas too.

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jacquesm
The Trabant is a very smart little car but it does have some major issues, for
one the resin that it is made out of makes the car a death trap in case of any
kind of fire and for another it is a really dangerous car in case of an
accident.

The Lada's that you're probably most familiar with are actually somewhat
improved Fiat 124's.

~~~
smcl
Oh don't get me wrong - safety wise they're a total liability I am sure. But
1. That's the case with all old cars, and 2. The main thing I was saying was
that IMO they're kinda pretty

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chiph
TFL Car bought one and drove it from Prague to California.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiE8ZvqLoik](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiE8ZvqLoik)

There's a lot of innovative thinking there. And also since then -- Tatra heavy
duty trucks are interesting (a T815 was used in Mad Max Fury Road)

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timonoko
"Tatra" or "Panhard", that was the question in 1960. I remember it well.

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Panhard_...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Panhard_DynaZ_1959_front.jpg)

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analog31
Forget the Tatra, I want the little station wagon that the police had.

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vetinari
Get this -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0koda_Felicia_%281959%E2%...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0koda_Felicia_%281959%E2%80%9364%29)
instead ;)

The red ones were most beautiful.

~~~
analog31
Love it, but... it has to transport a double bass. ;-)

