Welcome to the PACCAR-wing, the museum’s latest extension, where a fabulous collection of classic and more recent Tatra trucks and tractors is housing till next Sunday. It’s time for backbone tube chassis, independent swing half-axles and big, air-cooled engines!
Travelling 95 years back in time with a 1928 Tatra 13 4×2 truck, powered by an air-cooled, two-cylinder engine with 12 hp.
1943 Tatra 27b 4×2 flatbed truck with a wood gas generator. Three to four kilos of wood equals one liter of gasoline, according to the sign in front of the vehicle. Around 20% less power though.
Tatra 111 6×6 military truck. The T 111, produced from 1942 to 1960, was designed by Hans Ledwinka. Initially a Wehrmacht war machine, yet mainly used for (re)construction work once the Second World War was over. It was the first Tatra with a V12 diesel engine. Air-cooled, but that speaks for itself.
The light 1953-1960 Tatra 805 4×4 cabover trucks were built by Škoda, the power unit was a 2.5 liter V8 gasoline engine. The T 805 fire truck in the museum transported firefighters and equipment.
Magnificent, this Tatra 138 6×6 tractor. This series of conventionals was offered from 1959 to 1971 and they were powered by a newly developed 11.8 liter V8, known as the T 928 diesel engine.
Another 6×6 tractor, a Tatra 148. Clearly an evolution of the T 138, the same applied to its diesel engine. The T 928 became the T 2-928-1E, with an engine displacement of 12.7 liter and a maximum power output of 202 DIN-hp.
Around 64,000 Tatras 148 were exported to 43 countries during the 1970-1982 production run. A good number found their way to the Netherlands too, I vividly remember these Tatras. Almost all of them were 6×6 dump trucks. The T 148 was a real bargain, considering their toughness and unbeatable off-road capabilities.
Tatra 813 8×8 “Kolos”. You can say that again! These were capable of towing a 100 tons/220,000 lbs trailer. Granted, on-road.
The number of the howling beast -seriously intruding into the cab- is T 930-17E, a 17.6 liter V12. This military version could run on any mixture of gasoline, diesel and kerosene.
Let’s pick up some speed with a Tatra 815 4×4 (Dakar) rally raid truck from the early nineties. Unsurprisingly, Tatra trucks have always performed really well in rally raids. The late Karel Loprais won the heavy truck class in the Dakar Rally six times, sitting -and jumping around- behind the steering wheel of a big Tatra.
The series-production of the T 815 cabover -the first Tatra with a tilt cab- started in 1983. Designed and built to cope with the most extreme conditions, anywhere in the world. Drivetrain options, throughout the years: 4×4, 6×6, 8×8, 10×8, 12×8 and 12×12.
And this is it, Frosty the Snowman’s favorite truck diesel these days. Tatra’s current version of their air-cooled, 12.7 liter V8. Turbocharged, intercooled and still with a mechanical injection pump. And yet it can meet the not-so-old Euro V (or 5) emission standards, an impressive accomplishment. Maximum power output up to 325 kW/442 DIN-hp.
Tatra’s latest heavy truck and tractor model is the Phoenix. No bow legs when unladen, thanks to the air suspension on top of things. The cabs and engines (10.8 or 12.9 liter) are supplied by DAF, the transmissions come from ZF.
Multiple DAF dealerships in the Netherlands sell and service the Phoenix, from a 4×4 tractor unit all the way to a 10×10 straight truck, which is not offered by any other manufacturer.
The other way around, a brand new Tatra Phoenix 8×8 container carrier for the Belgian Army, marketed as DAF CF Military. On a related note, since 1966 DAF cabs are made in the truck maker’s Westerlo plant in Belgium.
What a splendid show it was! Now I guess we’ll just have to wait for some old Kenworths and Peterbilts, displayed in the PACCAR-wing for several months. Noblesse oblige, as they say in Bellevue.
Related reading and watching:
CC Video: 1961 Tatra 138 6×6 Swing Axle Trucks – Hard-Nosed And Beyond Heavy-Duty
CC Global: 2017 Tatra Phoenix 4×4 Tractor – The Famous Tatra Features Are Included
Truck Show Outtake: 2019 Tatra Phoenix 8×8 Dump Truck – Bring It On!
Very interesting and very forward thinking. Ledwinka was clearly a multi-faceted genius. Air cooled diesels are thermodynamically more efficient as combustion occurs at higher temps (as long as proper cooling is provided!) I’ve always been interested in Deutz’s air-cooled tractors that have been marketed in the US under differing names over the years. Vintage Porsche tractors are interesting also.
One of the reasons why the big Tatra trucks were popular, was because they did so well in extreme cold conditions. The dump trucks were equipped with dump beds that had an inner lining, with the hot engine cooling air ducted from the engine to the front of the dump bed, and that warm air traveling thru the dump bed’s internal heating tunnels kept the contents from freezing to the bed lining, a serious problem when moving wet dirt & rock at very low temperatures.
Tatra Trucks were very popular in the frozen wastes of Siberia and upper Canada, especially for open pit mining operations.
Interesting info Bill, I didn’t know that about the dump beds.
In the seventies, an armada of conventional Magirus-Deutz on-/off-road trucks was also sent to Siberia for a major construction job. Air-cooled, just like the Tatras.
Swing axle hog heaven!
I love these Tatra trucks, and am so impressed at how a relatively small company can stay in business making essentially the same basic product for so long in such a competitive environment. Impressive.
That picture at the top is divine. What a big-boy toy.
Those are very neat trucks! Very (Air-)Cool(ed)
I hope the continued alliance of Tatra with PACCAR allows the former to continue, reading through their recent history it sounds like they were struggling through much of the past 20 years, but perhaps in recent years (2000 trucks/a year) their production has grown enough to provide a sustainable business.
The Belgian Army ordered 879 units of the Tatra Phoenix aka DAF CF Military (different set-ups, armored vehicles included), so that’s good, given the yearly total production number.
Here’s a nice photo-overview of modern Tatras, most of them delivered to Dutch companies over the past years:
https://www.facebook.com/tatranederland/photos?locale=nl_NL
Great post Johannes – those Tatras are really impressive trucks.
There’s a model of the Tatra I like best – the Slovak Flyer train car – sitting on the bed of the 1928 13.
Amazing collection – it’s a treat to be able to see these trucks up close. That 8×8 Kolos is simply incredible!
I worked for Praneda, the Dutch Czech state owned importers for the Netherlands during the summer holidays.
Preparing new 148 ‘s and 813’s 8×8 dump trucks.
There was no match for the 813 in capacity back then ex US army REO and GMC dump trucks were still used but an 813 had double the loading capacity.
We adapted the new Tatra’s by fitting Michelin tyres on the tri-lex wheels (I did hundreds with the Michelin man), the headlights were replaced, the batteries and the gauges by VDO units.
These Tatra’s were good and reliable but they needed a lot of TLC, the grease gun was needed almost every day and the oil cooler needed new oil at least every month. The air filters also needed a lot of attention,
But if you did this the 813 was capable of an almost biblical task, I once had to drive possible customers to a dirt track where our 69!! year old test driver demonstrated the capabality of the 813 fitted with a Piet Ruizeveld tipper unit.
When the fully loaded 813 got stuck, one cusromer shouted ‘if it gets out of there I’ll order five new trucks’ The test driver and me put some bricks in the mud puddle and the mighty 813 gor out!
The customer did keep his word.
One setback of these Tatra’s was the noise of the screaming air cooled Diesel inside the cab, remember the doors inside was all metal and the roof lining was paper thin.
But hauling a new Tatra from the stock to the workshop or the paint shop was always a treat for us kids to do.
Thanks for some inside-information!
The Piet Ruizeveld company is still going strong. There’s always a photo of a recent job with their company info on the inside of the Transmobiel cover.
A fully independent magazine I can highly recommend, excellent photos and content.
In dusty conditions like following onion harvesters even bullet proof Japanese Isuzu trucks need a daily air filter blow out, auto lube chassis greasing systems surely could have been retrofitted to Tatras,
But what a fantastic display if these awesome trucks, the KW Peterbilt show could be good depending on what they have, Ive driven quite a few Kenworths so am not much a fan, Peterbilts are a rarity here.
Great selection from what looks like a great exhibition of really thought out and tough trucks.
Thanks for sharing, but why sell a Tatra as a DAF to the military?
Because there’s a much bigger, worldwide organization behind the DAF brand, I guess. Outside the Benelux (DAF territory for decades), there are more than 1,100 DAF dealerships around the globe, all of them equipped and ready to service these trucks.
If you’re in the market for a Tatra Phoenix, you contact a DAF dealership, there are no Tatra Stores, so to speak. Both the market for heavy AWD trucks/tractors and the Tatra brand itself represent a niche.
Exactly, Johannes – and why Leyland Trucks Ltd products are variously badged DAF, Kenworth or Peterbilt.
Tatras are simply too niche to be even a regional brand, even though they’ve long fascinated me.