Tatra T97
A small pre-war streamliner that tucked an air-cooled flat-four behind the passengers and used its slippery shape to travel quickly with modest power.
1936 Czechoslovakia Tatra T97 · TaurusEmerald · CC BY-SA 4.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Tatra developed the T97 beside the larger T87 as a smaller, less expensive member of its family of rear-engined streamliners. Erich Ledwinka finalized the design, which kept the dramatic central fin but used two headlamps, a single-piece windscreen and a four-cylinder engine instead of the T87's V8. Museum sources commonly describe production as 1936–1939 and 508 cars, while another collection dates production from 1937 and counts 510; the safer editorial position is to treat 1936 as the design or series-start year and flag the production-count dispute.
Look a little closer.
Its tall tail fin was not just decoration: it divided the rear window and helped make the little Tatra look like a road-going airplane.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Speed from shape, not a giant engine
The T97 made only 40 hp, yet museum sources give a 125–130 km/h maximum. Its smooth fastback, skirted rear wheels and narrow cooling inlets reduced the air it had to shove aside. Franschhoek Motor Museum reports a drag coefficient of 0.36, impressive for its time, while Lane Museum notes that the car could cruise at roughly 68 mph.
Source: Franschhoek Motor Museum · Collection in Action: Tatra T97 ↗Why 1936 needs a footnote
Lane Motor Museum and Franschhoek Motor Museum date the T97 family to 1936–1939, but Samohýl's preserved-car catalogue says 1937–1939 and identifies its example as a 1937. That does not make the queue year unusable: it means the profile should say '1936 design/series' rather than pretending every source agrees on the first customer-production year.
Source: Lane Motor Museum · Tatra T97 ↗Where these facts come from
- Lane Motor Museum · Tatra T97
- Franschhoek Motor Museum · Collection in Action: Tatra T97
- Samohýl Motor Veterán · Tatra 97
- Tatra · Museums in Kopřivnice
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.