"Tatra" from Kopřivnice and "ears" from Štramberk
Many places in the Czech Republic deserve attention and draw visitors with their worldwide reputation. Just across the Polish border lie two towns that are guaranteed to offer attractions for the whole family. Kopřivnice prides itself on being the place where mass car production began in the entire former Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is where Tatra passenger cars, often ahead of their time, were made. Tatra lorries are still built here today. Charming Štramberk boasts a regional product that was the first in the Czech Republic to be granted legal protection.
Right in the town centre, passenger cars are on display in a multi-storey building. A walk of a dozen or so minutes away is another museum, this time devoted to lorries. As if that were not enough, the town also has a private collection, the 'Auto Moto Muzeum Oldtimer Kopřivnice', with vehicles of various makes as well as motorcycles. Each museum is different, and their collections complement one another.
History of the Tatra museum in Kopřivnice
The first attempts to found a Tatra museum were made as early as 1935, when a plan was put forward to safeguard the exhibits and make it possible to present products from all the production lines, namely carriages, cars and railway wagons. Unfortunately, no museum came into being at the time. The next attempt - partly successful - was made in June 1945. That was when photographs and models devoted to the history of industry in Kopřivnice went on display in the Šustala Villa. Many of these printed materials were devoted to Tatra. These graphics and photographs have survived and still form part of the displays in today's museums. Further stages in the creation of the museums followed in 1951 and 1954. The breakthrough came in 1967, when the exhibit register listed 53 engines, 11 chassis, 4 carriages, 27 passenger cars and 26 lorries. Between 1974 and 1979 replicas were built of both the first passenger car, the Präsident, and the first lorry. Building these two vehicles went a long way towards filling the gaps in the story of how car production began in Kopřivnice at the end of the 19th century.
Passenger cars at the Tatra Technical Museum
Although the museum's official name is the 'Tatra Technical Museum in Kopřivnice', inside the building you will find almost exclusively passenger vehicles and their derivatives. The exhibition is arranged chronologically, and some of the exhibits stand on mezzanines. It is a good solution, because it lets you compare how vehicle design evolved over the years of production and see the cars from constantly changing angles.
The exhibition is comprehensive - starting with the first innovative designs, whose backbone was a massive central load-bearing tube (competitors opted for a frame), through the Tatraplan cars, ahead of their time with their aerodynamic bodies, and ending with the luxury limousines of the 1990s. There are closed bodies, convertibles and military vehicles.
On a revolving platform stands a car based on the floor pan of the Tatraplan, but with a body created by the Sodomka company. In 1949 the car adorned Tatra's stand at the Geneva Motor Show, and it was then given to Joseph Stalin for his 70th birthday. The vehicle returned to Czechoslovakia in 1976.
Another interesting exhibit is a Tatra 613-3 - built in 1989 - adapted for testing the grip of airport runways. At the rear of the body there is a hydraulically lowered measuring wheel connected to a set of electronic gauges. The car was fitted with an air-cooled eight-cylinder engine of 3495 cm3 producing 165 hp. The engine was mounted above the rear axle and drove the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox. Fully equipped for measurements, the car weighed as much as 2.5 tonnes, because it also carried a 400-litre water tank inside, needed for measuring wet surfaces. Three tests were usually carried out on the runways, at 65, 96 and 130 km/h.
Another curious exhibit is a rail trolley with a mechanism that allowed the body to be raised and turned through 1800, so that it could travel in the opposite direction. Right next to the trolley stands a white and blue propeller-driven snowmobile.
Tatra T700 - the last Tatra passenger car
The Tatras of the final production period were not only very luxurious and comfortable, but also offered stunning performance - their top speed was 230 km/h. A short run of 62 T700s built in 1996 closes the history of the Tatra passenger car. These vehicles were powered by the 3.5-litre V8 engines known from earlier models. Some versions had their displacement increased to 4400 cm3. In this configuration the engine produced 172 hp at 5,750 rpm and 380 Nm of torque. Tatra did not abandon the principle that its engines should still be air-cooled and mounted above the rear axle. A five-speed gearbox was used. The car was a large four-door limousine, 5135 mm long and 1800 mm wide. With a gross weight of 2250 kg, it could reach a top speed of as much as 230 km/h. A curious fact is that - in addition to the 62 vehicles built in Kopřivnice - a car numbered '63' was also assembled. This happened in a workshop in Prague, using parts left over in the warehouse.
The Tatra lorry museum
The lorry museum is very modern and presents all sorts of vehicles from different stages of production. The restored halls are home to "ordinary" lorries, concrete mixers, fire engines, buses, cutaways and technical models of vehicles, vehicles adapted for work at airports, and engines. There are, of course, vehicles that successfully tackled the Dakar Rally route, as well as fascinating campers of enormous size that crossed the wilds of Africa on expeditions.
To create such a representative collection, vehicles tracked down in the Czech Republic and far beyond were bought and restored. The story of the Tatra T 815 6x6 from the Dakar Rally shows just how difficult and time-consuming acquiring an exhibit can be. The vehicle was found in North Africa, where for many years a French businessman had used it to support a quad bike hire business. It was bought - or, strictly speaking, bartered in exchange for a Tatra Phoenix 8x8 - in 2016. After a difficult restoration it was presented to the public in 2017.
The Tatra 815 TPL 6x6 was built in five examples. It was used at airports as a tug. Each example differed in its details, and the one shown in the museum is vehicle number 2, built in 1989. It served at Prague airport. These vehicles were equipped with an electro-pneumatic gearbox.
The Tatra 111C is a fuel tanker. Built in 1961, it could carry 7,000 litres in three compartments. Versions able to carry 9,000 litres were also produced.
The Tatra 148 AM-368 6x6 was a common sight on Polish building sites in the communist era. This 'concrete mixer' from 1980 is on loan to the museum and has enriched its permanent collection.
Tatra expedition giga-campers
The three expedition 'giga-campers' on display deserve a closer look. The first is the Tatra 815 GTC 6x6, which travelled around the world between 1987 and 1990, with the expedition officially setting off from Prague's Old Town. The abbreviation 'GTC' stands for Grand Tourist Caravan. The ten-cylinder engine ran reliably in all kinds of conditions, and the body was so roomy that it carried a Babetta moped and a microlight. A tent attached to the roof served as an extra bedroom. The vehicle joined the collection on 7 January 1992.
The Tatra 138 6x6 was built for a humanitarian expedition. It had a military-version chassis and an adapted V3S-type body. In this form - packed with medical equipment - it drove all the way to Gabon in Africa, and it came to the exhibition as a gift from Charles University in Prague.
The private Auto Moto Muzeum Oldtimer Kopřivnice
Kopřivnice also has the private 'Auto Moto Muzeum Oldtimer Kopřivnice'. A former Tatra employee had been collecting cars and motorcycles for years. When the opportunity arose, he began showing them to the public, using the upper floor of a large pavilion on the edge of the town centre. In this collection, the vehicle from 1902 is definitely worth your attention - it is a Windhoff. Probably only two were built, and only one has survived. Another interesting car is a 1928 Fiat 521, very few of which remain in Europe. There are also some interesting youngtimers from Maserati, Porsche, Ferrari, Opel and Alfa Romeo. Among the roughly 40 vehicles of various makes there are also eight Tatra models.
Kopřivnice is only half an hour's drive from the Polish border, just past Ostrava. A visit to its museums devoted to historic motoring is a chance to discover the craftsmanship of Czech car makers. Both Tatra museums - passenger cars and lorries - are open all year round, from Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays), from 9:00 to 17:00 (May-September) and from 9:00 to 16:00 (October-April). The private collection, 'Auto Moto Muzeum Oldtimer Kopřivnice', is open every day, Mondays included, from 9:30 to 17:00.
Štramberk and Štramberk ears
Štramberk, right next to Kopřivnice, is a charming little town. It is a must on any weekend trip. The town has kept its historic layout, with brick late Baroque and Classicist houses and a Baroque church from 1721-1723 standing around a rectangular, sloping market square (set on the slope of the castle hill). Old wooden log houses have also survived in the lanes leading to the square. Above the town rises a wooded hill with the remains of Štramberk Castle and its surviving tower, known as Trúba. Nearby is the Šipka Cave, where the remains of a Neanderthal child were found. The countryside around the town is hilly, and walking and cycling paths have been laid out there.
Many visitors come to Štramberk for its Štramberk ears (Czech: Štramberské uši). They are a type of cone-shaped gingerbread. The biscuits are made from a honey-based gingerbread dough of flour, eggs and sugar, with added spices. Legend has it that the tradition of baking the local ears arose from the Tatar invasion of 1241. The brave people of Štramberk, hiding on the hill, released the water from a reservoir and flooded the enemy camp. While searching the Tatar camp, they found a sack filled with the severed and salted ears of the infidels, ready to be sent to the Tatar khan as proof of victory. So much for the legend - you may believe it or not - but it is a fact that in 2007 the 'ears' became the first Czech protected regional product, and only producers from the town may use the name. There are a dozen or so places in town where you can buy the original product. The most interesting are those where the shop is combined with the bakery, so that while shopping you can watch the treats being made.
Štramberk and Kopřivnice are only half an hour's drive from the Polish border, just past Ostrava. Visiting both places lets you discover the craftsmanship of Czech car makers, enjoy nature and get to know regional culinary products. Both towns have a good range of accommodation, and the museums have leaflets and brochures in Polish.
