Kopřivnice twelve-cylinder Tatra 80: A car with an unusual and top-secret mission

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There were only two twelve-cylinder cars in the history of passenger car production in the Czech lands. First – in 1930 – Kopřivnice introduced the Tatra model 80. It was a car built on the technical basis of the Tatra 70 model.

However, a twelve-cylinder petrol engine with a displacement of six liters moved under its front hood. As usual in the case of Tatra cars, it was air-cooled and provided a maximum output of 120 hp.

The car was able to reach a maximum speed of 140 km / h – you can see the model in our annotated photo gallery above.

A specimen for the president

Between 1930 and 1935, a total of 26 pieces of these Tatras were created, all of which had a body assembled according to individual customer requirements. In the same way, a specimen was created for the then Administration of the House of the President of the Republic, which (of course, at a time when anti-epidemic measures are not in place) can be viewed by visitors to the National Technical Museum in Prague.

This is the so-called landaulet, ie a car with the possibility of opening the roof above the seats for rear passengers. This presidential car was built directly in Kopřivnice. He also had one unique “tweak”. The part of the roof above the rear seats could tilt upwards, allowing people to enter the interior without having to crouch and tilt their heads.

Historical sources state that after the death of TG Masaryk, the car was given another very unusual task: “On the night of September 19-20, the car was entrusted with an unusual and strictly secret mission. “motoring journalist Jan Tuček states in the book Cars of the First Republic.

The car transported Czech coronation jewels from Prague to Rájecké Teplice in Slovakia.

Rájecké Teplice was then the seat of the mobilization of the government and the Czechoslovak president. One week after the Munich Agreement, on October 5, the same jewel car drove back to Prague.

In addition to this landaulet, the presidential office owned another four Tatras 80 with a limousine body. The fifth was used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Czech double: Walter Royal

The second twelve-cylinder car was constructed with a one-year delay behind the Kopřivnice competition in the Prague company Walter. The car was presented in October 1931 at the Prague Motor Show. The brand introduced it in body versions with a six-seater sedan and a four-door convertible.

The car with a really robust appearance was powered by a twelve-cylinder fork with a volume of 5879 cm3. The performance was similar to that of the Tatra 80 – 120 horses. Therefore, the maximum speed was the same – 140 km / h.

The advertised price for the limousine was CZK 198,000, and the convertible was another ten thousand more expensive. The customer could also buy the chassis itself with the engine for CZK 150,000. Bodybuilders (for example, Peter Vrchlabí) then charged approximately CZK 45,000 for the delivery of the cabin.

The limousine measured to a length of 502 centimeters, the width was 176 and the height 175 centimeters. The designers used classic rigid axles suspended by leaf springs and liquid shock absorbers. The deceleration was taken care of by the drum brakes. The four-speed gearbox was supplied by Maybach.

As part of the promotion, the car completed a promotional drive to Paris in the autumn of 1931. The crew, consisting of the company’s CEO Tenny Kumpera and master Jindřich Knapp, completed the 1,100-kilometer route in 18 hours with an average consumption of 25.5 liters per hundred kilometers.

To this day, it is not known how many of these cars were actually created. Estimates range from three to ten pieces. To date, no complete original car has been preserved.

However, from the found chassis, engine and some other parts, the Brno company Hicar assembled a car, which appears here and there at shows today.

The twelve-cylinder engine has also been used in buses and fire trucks. Even its original volume was further increased to the resulting 7.3 liters.

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