Tatra T77: Czechoslovak legend with an incredible story (20 photos)

At RM Sotheby's March auction in Amelia Island, Florida, rare and very expensive specimens will be presented, from modern supercars to vintage cars from the 1900s, including one Czechoslovak treasure stands out - dark blue Tatra 77 1934 of the year.





Once, a very long time ago, the Czechoslovak company Tatra, produced truly unique cars, for its time of course same. One of these was the Tatra T77. It was pretty advanced the car is not only in terms of technology, but as you can see and design.



Many were surprised at how comfortable and stable the T77 was on speeds above 100 km/h, which was unheard of in the early 30s. The reason for this phenomenon lay in the aerodynamic shell, and air resistance was only 0.21. T77 also had rear air-cooled eight-cylinder engine. At first, a 3-liter gasoline engine with a capacity of 60 hp, and later - 3.4 liters with a capacity of 75 hp. Paired with a four-speed manual transmission, the maximum speed was over 150 km/h





Serial production will last from 1934 to 1938, and the number of units produced is incredibly small. Namely, the total production amounted to 249 units (and four more prototypes), but if focus only on the T77 model, as on the attached photographs, the number will be 106 units.



They differed from the later T77A in the already mentioned volume engine. Auction house RM Sotheby's reported that to this day only five cars survived.



About the car in the photo it is known that it was originally bought by a Czech nobleman named Jagomir Cherninov and he used it about a year before being sold in Italy. After the traces of the car are lost.



He "surfaced" in 2005, when he was bought by a German collector and exhibited at various shows. This attracted the attention of the American public, and in 2012 the T77 ended up in the US and has since passed an expensive restoration process that cost more than a million dollars. The auction will take place at the end of March and the sale price should be in several times higher than invested in the car.