TATRA 603

CARS & HISTORY: TATRA T603 (1955-1975)

After the nationalization of all Czech companies in 1948, only the three automobile manufacturers Praga, Skoda and Tatra remained. These three companies were under the directives of CZAL (United Czechoslovakian Automobile and Aircraft Industry) which in turn was controlled by the Ministry of Defence. At first Tatra was appointed to manufacture both trucks and passenger cars with an engine capacity of over 1500 cc. This ment production of the very popular Tatra T57B - with an engine capacity of 1256 cc - was stopped by order of CZAL in 1948. After production of the T87 had stopped in 1950, the only Tatra passenger car in production was the T600 Tatraplan. But in 1951 the CZAL decided Skoda would produce all passenger cars and Tatra would produce only heavy-duty all-terrain trucks. Tatra fought very hard to keep it's production line of the T600 Tatraplan, but by orders of the CZAL the entire production line of the T600 Tatraplan was moved from Koprivnice to the Skoda plant in Mladá Boleslav. Less than two years later, in 1952, - after 2100 Tatraplans had been built by Skoda - the production line was shut down completely. This ment there were no more Tatra passenger cars in production. A sad thought when you consider the thriving pre-WW II years with several models in a wide range of sizes and engine capacities.