1959 Other Makes (Pre) Porsche

HEMI -

8 - Cyl.

Manual

Clear

Gasoline

ALL ORIGINAL 1959 TATRA 603: The description of this car defies credibility - so bizarre you'd think I was making this up, but it's true - all original with rear mounted AIR-COOLED TATRA HEMI V8 with twin carbs on a high-rise manifold. Four-speed transaxle with column shift, four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, split rear window. It even has a FACTORY INSTALLED FIRE BOMB under the front seat!! Ordinary people could NOT buy one of these - you had to be a high ranking Communist Party official or eastern European politician to get one, as a result these are quite rare in America. My car has been shown at the Forest Grove Concours d'Elegance, the Portland Historic Races, the Beaches/P.I.R. Wednesday night gathering etc. Runs and drives very well - no rust but the paint is poor. Car looks worse in person than in the photos - I've tried but can't get the poor paint etc to show properly in pictures - take my word for it - IT NEEDS PAINT & Prep but is not damaged or rusted! Tatra is a very important car that most Americans have never heard of, nor know of it's influence. In 1923 Tatra introduced the first rear engined air-cooled car with a boxer style motor and central tube chassis - gee that sounds just like a VW Beetle, doesn't it!! And it's no coincidence - Ferdinand Porsche later admitted he COPIED the Tatra when he designed the original VW at the request of Adolf Hitler! And when the VW went into production in 1938, TATRA was so incensed that they SUED Mr. Porsche for his plagiarism! Due to World War 2, the suit was not settled until the 1960s by which time Czechoslovakia was ruled by communists and Tatra had become a state owned enterprise but nonetheless, Volkswagon was ordered to pay MILLIONS in damages to Tatra! Thus, had there been no Tatra there would have been no VW. And had there been no VW there would have been no Porsche sports cars - as the Porsche 356 evolved from the VW. So, one can claim a Tatra such as mine is the first true "four-door Porsche" fifty years before the Panamera came out! See and drive in Portland. Call me at 360-369-483l. I"m happy to discuss the car with people serious enough to call. If you don't care enough to call, I might not care enough to answer your emails. Titled and registered in my name in Oregon 360-369-4831