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Tatra 603 Hemi V8

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by scootermcrad, Jun 15, 2010.

  1. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    Okay, a Dutch buddy of mine sent me a question asking about the Tatra 603 Hemi. More or less, my response was something like, "WTF is a Tatra?" :rolleyes:

    Anyway, thought it was pretty cool! An air-cooled, apparently all aluminum, Hemi V8. European make, and that's about all I know.

    Are these actually Hemis??

    Maybe someone here knows more....

    (pictures found on various sites around the web)

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    They apparently make good coffee tables also! :D

    [​IMG]


    The cars... Sort of bizarre looking, but... well... Pretty neat too!


    [​IMG]

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  2. George
    Joined: Jan 1, 2005
    Posts: 7,723

    George
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    damn fine coffee table!
     
  3. raven
    Joined: Aug 19, 2002
    Posts: 4,698

    raven
    Member

    Wow, looks like something for marine uses.
    r
     
  4. boldventure
    Joined: Mar 7, 2008
    Posts: 1,766

    boldventure
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  5. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    I think if I had one of these I would have to polish the whole damn thing! HAHA!

    Wonder how much can be done to these engines?? Would be really cool in a single seat, rear engine racer, like the Auto Union cars...

    Pretty neat!
     
  6. Tommy R
    Joined: May 18, 2004
    Posts: 717

    Tommy R
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  7. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
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    Actually, Panky Wilson, who worked as a Porter for the Tucker Motor Co., escaped with the factory blueprints after the summit hearings. He set up a secret underground factory in a basement coffee house in Paris, where, assisted by American beatniks, hammered body panels out over wooden bucks, in fine European fashion.
    The hemi's origins are vague, but Zora Arkus-Duntov was said to have visited for Espresso...
     
  8. The_General
    Joined: Jan 8, 2007
    Posts: 35

    The_General
    Member

    How can you just find all those pictures in just 5 minutes that took me a few oures? Good tread btw!

    Does someone know if you can reverse the engine and put it in front?
     
  9. Theo Douglas
    Joined: Nov 20, 2002
    Posts: 807

    Theo Douglas
    Member

    Yeah, this is a great thread. We should all know a lot more about Tatra--and someone with an engine hoist should buy that man a new coffee table. Something in a Noguchi ... .
     
  10. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    HAHA! I was motivated... :rolleyes::D
     
  11. Jose85
    Joined: Jun 16, 2007
    Posts: 56

    Jose85
    Member

    Tatra 805 light military truck uses the Tatra 603 engine mounted in a front-single carb, only 75 horsepower.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    mid-engined racing Tatra 607:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    racing Tatra 603 engine:

    [​IMG]
     
  12. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    WOW! Thanks for the pics!
     
  13. holeshot
    Joined: Sep 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,519

    holeshot
    BANNED
    from Waxahachie

    SCOOTER...well 2,5 liters isn't 603 c.i. but it is very interesting. man just when you think you'v seen it all BAM! you catch one in the nut's. and AIR COOLED! man that mill would be perfect for a rail job, well a MINI rail HA!...POP.
     
  14. EnglishBob
    Joined: Jan 19, 2008
    Posts: 1,029

    EnglishBob
    Member

    I don't care what it is or where it's from I WANT ONE.
     
  15. Sellers Equipped
    Joined: Oct 18, 2006
    Posts: 610

    Sellers Equipped
    BANNED
    from San Jose

    Scoot next time I'm at my buddy Rays shop there restoring a teardrop Tatra, he's a VW guy and has a wealth of knowledge on these motors he has a few extra's.

    The one he is doing is very similar to the pic,, cool thing in the front is a straight axle with a cross over spring.
     

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  16. Weasel
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 6,698

    Weasel
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    Hans Ledwinka, designer of the Tatra was a brilliant engineer and provided inspiration (that's spelt p-l-a-g-i-a-r-i-s-m) for Ferdinand Porsche - check out his bio here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Ledwinka
     
  17. Well scooter, i think i gave Michael (General) the idea, i think he is pretty serious about it.
    If you find one one in Holland they are less than 500 euros for a complete engine, but not easy to find.
    I had one for 175 euro but it was used for autocross so not the most ideal engine.

    Hennie
     
  18. draggin breath
    Joined: Feb 5, 2006
    Posts: 509

    draggin breath
    Member

    Is that aircooled? Sure like to have one in my livingroom and not for a coffee table
     
  19. Sjiefaa
    Joined: May 18, 2009
    Posts: 168

    Sjiefaa
    Member
    from Holland

    I think i've seen a VW bug once with a 603 engine in the back... OT, I know, but cool nonetheless...
    These engines have a very nice sound to them too.

    Just for the heck of it;
     

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  20. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,344

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    How's this for an obscure coincidence... our car club visited the Tampa Bay Auto museum a couple of years ago on a day cruise. They got a wagon load of them! Gary

    See http://www.tbauto.org/index.htm

    PS when you think Tatra, also think Tucker
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2010
  21. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    603 is just the model. Might have even just been the car model number, even. Not sure. Definitely implying it's 603 ci.

    Hey stranger!!! Where you been hiding!?

    Yeah, if you learn anything share it with us. Pretty cool stuff! :cool:
     
  22. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    Aaaaa! So YOU'RE the one giving Michael all the wild ideas! HAHA! :D Neat-o for sure... Would definitely be thinking outside the box putting one in a hot rod.
     
  23. I understand that handling was greatly affected depending on how passengers were distributed. Something about Czechs and balances...
     
  24. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    Wow!!!!!! :eek::eek: Sweet!

    Now I REALLY want to see someone put one of these in a hot rod!
     
  25. Checkerwagon
    Joined: Jul 30, 2007
    Posts: 449

    Checkerwagon
    Member

    Tatra, third oldest automotive manufacturer in the world. Their history is similar to Studabaker in many ways. I like the part of Tatra, during WWII being labeled as the "Czech Secret Weapon"
    Plagiarized from WIKI;
    After the 1938 invasion of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Tatras continued in production, largely because Germans liked the cars. Many German officers met their deaths driving heavy, rear-engined Tatras faster around corners than they could handle. At the time, as an anecdote, Tatra became known as the 'Czech Secret Weapon' for the scores of officers who died behind the wheel; at one point official orders were issued forbidding German officers from driving Tatras.
     
  26. I have had an idea in my head that probably never going to happen (like the most of the ideas I have).
    I´m thinkin T-roadster or Rpu, low an as light as possible with Tatra V8 and nothing in front of the engine.
     
  27. ezdusit
    Joined: May 10, 2008
    Posts: 246

    ezdusit
    Member

    Jeff Lane, who owns the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, has owned a bunch of Tatras. He ran them a couple times in the Great Race. Someone in the Nashville area might want to pay him a visit to get a few more pictures and learn more about these hemis, since he's got several Tatras in the museum.
    http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/
     
  28. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,101

    50Fraud
    Member

    Man, did you push a hot button for me! I've been aware of Tatras since around 1952, and have always thought that they were the mutt's nuts. Try this on; this is the original Tatra prototype circa 1934 (called, I think, a T77):

    [​IMG]

    This was also a rear-engined air-cooled V8; I don't know how similar the engine was to a 603. Then there were some other zoomy looking models built, maybe called T87 but don't quote me, and I think these were both pre- and post-war:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    There is a website about them, but I can't find it right now. Jay Leno owns one, and has done one of his little videos about it; a friend of a friend recently had one restored and I got a ride in it last fall. They're nicely made, very quirky, and not very fast, but very very high on the coolness scale.

    I think the body styles of these two early models are just astounding -- obviously what Batman would have driven if had been a Czech.
     
  29. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
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    So is the engine I posted pictures ACTUALLY a Hemi or was that just someone's definition based on the aesthetics of the engine itself??
     

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