[thebear]

1934 The T-77 starts delivery from the Tatra factory in Czechoslovakia. Big Deal? Absolutely. It was the worlds FIRST aerodynamically designed rear engined passenger car. It featured an air cooled 3L V-8, seated six passengers and the driver was in THE CENTER of the front seat. It had a top speed of 88mph (140km/hr). The body was built under a licensing agreement with BUDD Company in the US and featured a dorsal fin to aid in taming the swing axle's handling "irregularities".

1935 The T-77a Tatra debuts with a 3.4L air cooled V-8. New features are headlights that are no longer flush with the fenders and a central headlight that turns with the front wheels. Top speed was 94mph as the redesigned body had a Cv (coeffecient of drag) of only 0.21.That is better than any of today's cars. Approximately 255 were sold in two years.

1936 The T-87 Tatra "Luxury" model debuted and could reach 100mph.

1937 The T-97 Tatra debuted. It was a scaled down version with a 1.8L motor, still capable of 81mph.

1938 German occupation put an end to new Tatra design/engineering. The factory was converted to support Germany's military needs. The T-87 was produced in limited quantities as it was an excellent Autobahn vehicle. Sometime in the postwar era production resumed with a total of just over 3,000 examples built when production stopped in 1950.