Tatra 603

Tatra 603 at a glance

A secret V8 project for the state elite

Tatra's car programme had been stopped in 1951, and the decision was reversed in 1952. Development began that year in secret under the name Valuta. In 1953 the government asked for a new luxury car with a 3.5-litre eight-cylinder engine. Julius Mackerle proposed using the 2.5-litre V8 of project 603 as an interim engine, and the first drivable car was ready in 1955. It was unveiled that year in Gottwaldov, now Zlín, and by 1957 output had reached about two cars a day.

The 603 succeeded the Tatraplan and kept the firm's streamlined tradition alive. It was the last Tatra with a streamlined body, and Wikipedia DE describes it as the last passenger car built in Kopřivnice before assembly moved. Ordinary citizens could not normally buy one. The cars went to ministries, party officials, state enterprises and diplomats, and the political limits went beyond Czechoslovakia: the Comecon trade bloc allowed the country only 300 luxury cars a year. Tatra built more, and in 1958 a comparison trial against East Germany's Sachsenring P240, a saloon from the Zwickau works that later built the Trabant, was decided in favour of the 603. The story of the company before and after the 603 is told in our Tatra history.

Air-cooled V8 behind the rear axle

The engine was an overhead-valve V8 with hemispherical combustion chambers and air cooling, weighing about 180 kg (173 kg for the later version, according to Wikipedia DE). With the engine in the tail and a full load, weight distribution was 47/53 front to rear. The four-speed gearbox had a column change to clear the front floor for a bench seat, and buyers could order "mountain" ratios. Front suspension used MacPherson struts, the rear had swing axles, and both ends ran on coil springs. The drag coefficient was 0.36, according to Classic Car Passion.

Wikipedia EN uses the 603F, 603G and 603H engine designations, and the second-series engine had a smaller capacity but more power. Works consumption was 10-15 l/100 km, and a 1964 test recorded 13 l/100 km at a steady 140 km/h. In 1973 the 603 became the first Czechoslovak car with contactless thyristor ignition.

Three headlamps, then four: the 603 series by series

The first series of 1956-1962 had three headlamps behind a single curved glass cover, and the centre lamp turned with the steering. The T2-603 of 1962 brought four headlamps in a long oval grille, a new dashboard, a rear track 55 mm wider and a revised 2,474 cc engine that raised output from 70 kW (95 PS) to 77 kW (105 PS); our kW to PS and hp converter gives the same figures in hp. Power brakes followed in 1966, and the windscreen grew 66 mm taller in 1967.

The 1968 car, unofficially called the 603-3 or 2-603 II, set the headlamps flush with the front, gained disc brakes on all four wheels and became an official five-seater with compulsory front seat belts. Wikipedia DE dates the four-wheel discs to 1970, so the year depends on the source. Prototypes never reached production: a front-engined, front-wheel-drive minibus called the 603 MB (1961), a notchback 603 A with an ambulance version (1964) and the 603 X (1966). Work on the successor began in 1968, and the Tatra 613 took over in 1974. Tatra's earlier and later cars appear in the Tatra catalogue.

Rallies, races and a car for Castro

The 603 raced far more than its role suggests. Between 1957 and 1967 it started 79 races, 24 of them international, and collected 60 wins, 56 second places and 49 thirds. At the 1959 Austrian Alpine Cup all three entries finished and Alois Mark won his class. In the 1,231 km Rallye Wiesbaden that year Mark was third overall and the best foreign driver. At the Marathon de la Route only 13 of 43 starters finished, and two 603s took third and fourth in their class. The later 603 B5 and B6 were the last racing versions.

About a third of production went abroad, mainly to Warsaw Pact countries, Cuba and China, and East Germany took about 3,000 from late 1959. Fidel Castro received a white 603 fitted with air conditioning, probably the only one so equipped, and is said to have sent Tatra a Chevrolet Corvair in return.

Tatra 603 today: what to check when buying

Most 603s led hard official lives and went back to the factory for repair several times. A first-series car sold in the UK, for example, carried a post-1964 four-headlamp body and had received six engines over its life, so check that the body, engine and documents match the claimed series. Ask for evidence of engine work, because the air-cooled V8 depends entirely on its fans and ducting for cooling. Classic Car Passion warns that the handling with the heavy V8 in the tail is unusual, and that parts are hard to source outside the Czech and Slovak Republics, so join a specialist register before buying.

The same UK car showed bubbles under its paint and needed recommissioning after five years without use, which is typical of a 603 that has stood for a long time. Check whether a car still has drum brakes or has been converted to discs, as that one had.

Values have risen with rarity. In December 2023 Forbes Czech Republic quoted CZK 2.5-3 million (about EUR 100,000-120,000) for a well restored first-series car, more than CZK 1 million (about EUR 40,000) for a restored third series and CZK 300,000-500,000 (about EUR 12,000-20,000) for one that needs restoration. In April 2024 Autiva Auctions in Prague sold an unrestored 1967 2-603 with diplomatic plates for EUR 36,000, above its EUR 20,000-30,000 estimate. Other cars of the same decade are in our classic cars section.