Unforgettable Car Geniuses: Hans Ledwinka
08 February 2025 9 min read 5 images
Photo credit: Gooding, Tatra, Wheelsage
The designer and mastermind behind Tatra was the brilliant Austrian Hans Ledwinka. Another Austrian was one of the most demanding customers of the Czech brand: Adolf Hitler, who owned more than one Tatra. Equally Austrian was Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer whom the man leading Germany had entrusted with the creation of a car for the masses—what would later become the famous Volkswagen Beetle.
Few car manufacturers have a history as rich and diverse as Tatra. A history of true innovation, sophisticated technology, distinctive design, political complications linked to the fate of Czechoslovakia from the late 1930s until the fall of communism, and even a surprising case of intellectual property rights involving none other than Ferdinand Porsche and the Volkswagen Group.
Let’s put things in order: Tatra, along with Daimler Benz and De Dion Bouton, was a pioneer in the history of automobiles with its "President" model in 1897. That alone is significant. Then, in the 1930s, Tatra announced a manifesto that it would never abandon—streamlining, an air-cooled rear engine, and a monocoque structure—by introducing the revolutionary T77 model. At that time, aerodynamics were unknown in mass production, and the large sedan, capable of reaching over 150 km/h, featured a streamlined body, a rear-mounted air-cooled V8 engine, and an innovative design. Every detail was meticulously crafted, including a centrally positioned steering wheel with three front seats, a column-mounted gear shift, and even a central headlamp among three front lights that followed the steering movements for better night visibility.
In 1936, Hans Ledwinka introduced the small Tatra T97: a rear-mounted, air-cooled four-cylinder engine, smooth lines for improved aerodynamics, and an overall structure very similar to the people's car that Ferdinand Porsche would present to Hitler two years later. Faced with the German Typ 1 (Volkswagen branding and the Beetle name had not yet been introduced), Tatra asserted rights over the car's concept—though not over the air-cooled four-cylinder Boxer engine, which Porsche had originally developed at Austro Daimler for aviation use. However, Ledwinka and Porsche knew each other well, and the similarities were undeniable. But history took over: Hitler’s Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, and soon after, World War II put everything aside in favor of military priorities. The dispute, however, did not end. After the war, when Czechoslovakia fell under Soviet control and Tatra was nationalized, Volkswagen agreed to pay Tatra a fair compensation of 3 million Deutsche Marks in 1961. Considering the Beetle’s immense commercial success, this sum barely impacted VW’s finances.
Ledwinka’s vision—his idea of a more compact and lightweight version of his flagship model, the T77A, with an aluminum engine and better weight distribution—did not die after the war. Although the company was directed toward producing all-terrain trucks, the desire to continue making cars remained. However, as Czechoslovakia was part of the USSR under post-war agreements, Moscow did not authorize car production. A twist of fate came when Soviet leaders, dissatisfied with the poor quality of their official cars, allowed Czechoslovakia to develop a new Tatra: the T603, primarily intended for Communist Party officials.
Produced with several modifications and updates—note for collectors: Tatra itself frequently upgraded T603 and T2-603 models to T3-603 specifications, both mechanically and in finishing details, so no concours judge can fault you for it—the model was manufactured in just over 20,000 units until 1975. Rare, but not impossible to find.
Tatra’s story could have been even longer. Unfortunately, Ledwinka, like Ferdinand Porsche, was imprisoned after the war for alleged collaboration with Germany. His genius was thus lost, preventing a true Tatra renaissance—an irreplaceable loss for the automotive world.
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