When it comes to Czech cars, most people undoubtedly think of Škoda. However, Czechoslovakia’s car production has long been associated with another automobile brand – Tatra.

IT WAS powered by a rear-mounted, air-cooled 2.9-liter overhead-cam Hemi-head V8 engine that made extensive use of cast aluminum and magnesium castings to ensure light weight linked to a four-speed transaxle.

With twin transverse leaf springs in front and a unique swing axle setup in back the suspension was fully independent. It was also rather fuel efficient with 45 kilometres per US gallon proven in numerous tests. And it had a top speed of more than 160 kilometres an hour.

The Tatra T87 manufactured in 1938 was a revolutionary vehicle. But it was just one of many mechanical manifestations of Hans Ledwinka’s genius.

Born in a small village near Vienna, Austria, in 1878, at age 14 Ledwinka was apprenticed to Uncle Johann Zwiauer, a local mechanic and toolmaker of regional renown. Two years later he passed entrance exams for the prestigious shop master's school of the State Artisanry School in Vienna.

With completion of studies, he was hired as a draftsman for Nesseldorfer Waggonbau, a manufacturer of railway rolling stock. By the mid-1890s, Ledwinka and several of the company’s engineers were meeting often to discuss the latest automotive innovations. Then in 1897 the group of young visionaries drafted a business plan complete with engineering designs for the company to diversify into automobile manufacturing.

The board of directors unanimously approved the proposal and in less than a year the pioneering Nesseldorfer Type A was rolling from the factory. Never one to rest on his laurels Ledwinka began developing designs for what would become the powerful Type B.

In 1904, Ledwinka left the company, returned to Vienna, and began designing an automobile powered by a compound steam engine for an auto company being launched by Professor Richard Knoller and Alexander Friedmann. For Ledwinka the endeavor was short lived as he quickly determined that steam engines were impractical for automotive application.

So, in 1905, he accepted a position as director of automobile production at Nesseldorfer. For the next decade he worked on the evolution of conventional four and six cylinder powered automobiles. Then in 1916, when Nesseldorfer closed its automobile division, Ledwinka was hired by Steyr to design a large, powerful touring car but WWI prevented the company from commencing production until 1920.

It was while working for Steyr during this period that Ledwinka first met, and began working with, Ferdinand Porsche, a fellow engineer. That association would later result in construction of one of the most famous cars ever produced, and a protracted lawsuit that spanned decades.

Nesseldorfer's new automobiles were built under the Tatra label and employed Ledwinka’s revolutionary designs. The Tatra model 11 and 12 automobiles were powered by a horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine mounted in a conventional forward mounted position. The rear wheels and differential, however, were suspended independently using a swing axle rear suspension system. Over the course of the next ten years Ledwinka developed six-cylinder and V-12 powered models, and began making plans for a small, durable, efficient car that the average person could afford to purchase.

In 1933, designed by Ledwinka and engineer Paul Jaray, the prototype Tatra V 570 with a rear-mounted flat-twin engine and a bubble shaped body was unveiled for extensive testing. This car, and the highly advanced Tatra T77 introduced in 1934, would have a far-reaching effect on the European and American auto industry.

When Chrysler initiated development of the Airflow models, engineers Fred Zeder, Carl Breer, and Owen Skelton studied Ledwinka’s aerodynamic design projects at Tatra. Some were evaluated in wind tunnel tests with the cooperation of Orville Wright.

Josef Granz, a German automotive engineer, was intrigued by the developments at Tatra. His version of a rear engine aerodynamically designed automobile debuted as the Standard Superior in late 1933. The German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, was also enthralled.

The T77 seemed to be the car that was ideally suited for his envisioned autobahn highway system. And it also reflected his vision for a “people’s car” that Ferdinand Porsche was currently working to develop.

Challenges associated with air cooling had prevented several automotive pioneers from moving beyond experimentation with this configuration. And companies that did enter production faced an array of challenges. The first American automotive recall was an air-cooled Chevrolet.

Ledwinka was an early proponent of air-cooled engines. After extensive experimentation he and his engineering team resolved cooling issues with the integrated use of air-scoops linked to fan-forced cooling. These innovations were the subject a patent filed by the Ringhoffer family that owned Tatra.

Porsche also chose a forced air-cooling solution for the Volkswagen. But that resulted in a serious issue as Tatra’s patents on air-cooling technologies were comprehensive. When the Volkswagen debuted in 1938, Tatra engineers examined the car in search of patent infringement. As a result, the Ringhoffer family lawyers initiated a lawsuit against the company manufacturing Volkswagen.

Then in 1939, Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. Implementation of a new legal code prevented Tatra, a Czech company, from suing a state-owned German car manufacturer. After the war the lawsuit was refiled, but it would not be resolved until the 1960s.

The Nazi legal code imposed on Tatra was the first in a series of dramatic changes for the company with origins dating to 1850. In 1938 the German auto industry was regulated under the new Schell Plan. Vehicle designs were standardized to maximize industrial capacity for war production. Following the annexation, Germany brought Czechoslovakia’s industries under this centralized control and Tatra was only allowed to build trucks, trains, and diesel engines. The aerodynamically designed T87 and T57 models were built for special orders only.

Ledwinka remained with Tatra and contributed to the development of diesel engines, four-wheel drive systems, and transmissions. One of his crowning achievements was the design of an air cooled, V-12 diesel engine for use in heavy duty trucks.

After WWII, Ludwinka was arrested for collaboration with the Nazis by the postwar Czech government and sentenced to six years in prison. After his release in 1951, he was offered the position of managing director for the Tatra engineering department. He declined, retired to Munich, and died almost forgotten in 1967. In 2007 the nearly forgotten automotive pioneer was inducted into the European Automotive Hall of Fame.