The other day Curbside Classic reposted a story about the Tatra T-613 (Shafer, 2023). What strikes me about that car, which was designed in the late-60s but did not reach production until 1973, was it looked rather generic (Wikipedia, 2023). Kind of like one of those disguised cars in the old insurance company ads.
How could such a bland car have been built by a manufacturer that had previously produced some of the most adventurous-looking cars in the world?
I suspect that at least one factor was the beginning of a global homogenization of automobile design in the late-60s. Although one could still point to meaningful national differences in design philosophies, the cars of that era shifted more toward the norm. That meant an angular shape deemphasizing aerodynamics.
Tatra’s shift was particularly dramatic. Whereas its earlier cars had a tapered rear end, fastback roofline and rounded front end, the T-613 went in the opposite direction. The car could have easily been confused by non-car buffs with any number of European executive sedans of that era, with its boxy, notchback profile and almost flat fascia.
Trend-setting European automakers lose their nerve
Tatra was hardly alone in going normie. As we have previously discussed (go here), Saab’s new 99 was considerably more mainstream than its predecessor. So too was the Citroen SM in comparison to the trend-setting DS (go here for further discussion).
Among the smaller automakers, Porsche arguably embraced angularity the least. A big reason why may have been its exclusive focus on sports cars, where aerodynamics were still emphasized.
What’s particularly curious about Tatra is that it didn’t suffer from the same competitive pressures as automakers in western-bloc countries. This was a government-owned manufacturer based in Czechoslovakia, which at that point was under communist control.
Tatras were luxury cars only available to party and industrial elite. Production of the T-613 totaled only around 11,000 units by the time this model was replaced in 1996 with a reskinned and updated design (Wikipedia, 2023).
What would an aerodynamic T-613 have looked like?
This brings me to wonder: What would the T-613 have looked like if Tatra had tried to continue leading the industry in aerodynamics rather than slavishly copying the angular styling of that era?
Porsche could have been a role model. The 912 maintained the aerodynamic shape of its predecessor, the 356, while ditching the “pontoon” look.
Or consider the Citroen GS shown above, which illustrates how a fastback roofline could have been maintained even with a tall greenhouse. By the same token, generous cargo capacity in the front could have been achieved in the T-613 — which still had a rear engine — even with a more rounded and swept-back fascia like the GS’s.
It’s too bad that Tatra stopped being a pioneer in aerodynamic design. The automaker could have plausibly inspired western designers to transcend the boxy look sooner than they ended up doing in the 1980s.
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RE:SOURCES
- Shafer, Jason; 2023. “Curbside Classic: Tatra T-613 – Elvis Drank Slivovice Instead of RC Cola with His Clam Chowder and Moon-Pie.” Curbside Classic. Reposted Aug. 21.
- Wikipedia; 2023. “Tatra (company).” Page last modified Aug. 14.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Banner image is a 1976 Tatra T-613 taken by david_7 via Wikipedia Creative Commons 2.0. Photo has been lightly edited to reduce background shadows.
#/media/File:1976TatraT-613.jpg){kind=link}
All very true. The stylistic chasm between 603 & 613 has always blown my mind. Actually you don’t have to guess what the T-613 would have looked like if it actually looked like a Tatra. There was a streamlined prototype – it was called the “603 X” and it looked fantastic, just google that name. A mix of the Tatra tradition with some clues from Citroen & NSU Ro 80, and some Corvair DNA mixed in, too. But it seems someone wanted that Italian styling by Vigniale badly enough… “foreign is undoubtedly better” was a fundamentally flawed, but common way of thinking in the Communist states at the time.
Just some photos of the 603 X:
https://www.autoforum.cz/tmp/magazin/tt/tatra_603x_maketa_x5_04.jpg
https://www.autoforum.cz/tmp/magazin/tt/Tatra_603_X_historie_Perex_alt.jpg
https://ipravda.sk/res/2019/12/05/thumbs/tatra-603x-nestandard1.jpg
The coupe version was just stunning, BTW.
Very nice; thank you for the links. When I repost this article down the road I’ll flesh out this story angle.
For a bland car the Tatra 613 has a odd appeal to it and even spin-off a coupe with the Tatra 613 Vignale Coupe. Volkswagen would be influenced by it for their similarly sized EA128 saloon and wagon prototypes, along with the Brazilian Type 3s styled by Marcio Piancastelli.
With the exception of the 604 prototype, cannot help but ponder how Tatra would have went about moving downmarket into Skoda’s territory or even shifting away from the rear-engine layout had Czechoslovakia ended up being neutral or allied if divided in the aftermath of WW2.
Tatra did explore a 603 based van and pick-up, which makes one think if an unconstrained Tatra would have been allowed to look into a Corvair Greenbrier version of the Tatra 613.
https://www.theautopian.com/these-are-the-vans-and-pickup-trucks-tatra-could-have-made-from-their-rear-engined-cars-but-didnt/
Perhaps the Peugeot 404, the Mercedes-Benz sedans, the Alfa-Sud sedan, the Fiat 124 sedan, the Volvo 140 and then the Volkswagen 411-412 made the Tatra management less adventurous. Thank God there were BMWs, Minis, Saab 99s, Citroens and English Fords ! One of my father’s co-workers at Allison Engineering brought over a Tatra 603 when he came back from Germany. It was a technically interesting car.
With the fall of the USSR and the Czech Republic opening up, I went searching for Tatra V8 cars, especially the Type 87 cars produced thru 1950. However back in the late 1980s & early 1990s those cars were considered “National Treasures” and getting an export permit was near impossible, so I “settled” on buying a couple of nice original T2-603 sedans, one with the narrow early T2 four headlight front, and the other with the wider four headlight variant that had been changed during a factory update in 1968.
Once I had the cars in the US, I began doing research with help from the Archivist at the Tatra Museum. If I remember right, his name was Karel Rosenkranz. One of our discussions was on the difference in the 603 and 613 cars, and what [if any] 613 parts were used on the 603. He indicated that the decision to use an outside styling house [Vignale] in the mid 1960s was made by the State committee in charge of automobile and truck production, as the committee felt the proposed styling designs from the in-house Tatra design staff were not reflective of modern European styling. I remember him writing that the only parts that interchanged between the 603 and 613 cars was basic hardware.
And on a side note; In the late 1980s I visited Tim Bishop, in Tamworth, England, the home of Reliant Motors. I was driving a friend’s Tatra T2-603. Tim was the chief engineer at Reliant, and he was also working with the Tatra factory to modify the current T-613 cars to conform with the EU & UK safety and emissions requirements. Even though the T-613 automobile was basically the same as it was when designed in the late-1960s, Tim was able to quickly modify the cars to conform to the EU/UK regulations. To meet the emissions regs, he fitted Bosch fuel injection to the V8. Tim took us for a ride in a T-613 with fuel injection, and I was very impressed with it’s power and road-holding abilities. The biggest problem with importing the T-613 was the fact it was not available with an automatic gearbox, as the gearbox shared the same lower block assembly and lubricating oil, with the engine [like on the early Austin Mini]. As I recall, only 4 new T-613 cars were imported into the UK.
And King Midget!