The Tatra JK2500 caused a stir on Czechoslovak roads
Kopřivnice Tatra
The name Tatra most often brings trucks to mind. Massive vehicles, which are capable of traversing the most difficult terrain thanks to their design and engine concept. However, the Tatra Company from Kopřivnice also made deluxe passenger vehicles as well as Tatra trucks.
Car enthusiast Július Kubinský
He was the designer of an exceptional Tatra and named his project the JK 2500. He started working on it at the beginning of the nineteen fifties at a time when he was employed by the Karosa Company. He also had years of experience with other vehicles, which included cars that were built on the foundations of the German KdF military machine. He also built racing cars with Alfa Romeo or BMW engines right after the Second World War in Brno.
The heart and other parts of the car
The number and the type of parts that can be found under the graceful bodywork of the elegant coupé is remarkable. The front axle was taken from the German KdF military vehicle and the steering was also produced for this vehicle. The drum brakes are the same as those used by the Lancia Aurelia and the vehicle has a De Dion type rear axle. There was initially a 2.5 litre Alfa Romeo straight-six engine, which delivered 90 horsepower, under the bonnet. However, after development was completed, the air-cooled V8 Tatra 2.5 litre engine was installed under the bonnet of the Tatra JK2500. This was a Tatra eight-cylinder and initially delivered only 75 horsepower. However, the vehicle underwent two weeks of testing before production started and the JK2500 arrived for testing with a new Tatra 603 engine installed, which delivered 140 horsepower. Only the minimum number of parts were custom-made and everything was created chiefly by hand, just like the bodywork panels, which bodyworker Jan Heger was involved in making.
And the fate of the deluxe Tatra JK2500?
The plan was initially to make 5 items. Unfortunately not even this tiny series of the deluxe vehicle was ever produced. Július Kubinský finished the vehicle to his requirements in his garage. He then drove it for 13 years in normal traffic and he caused a great sensation as he raced along the roads. No one else in the world had a car like it. Kubinský susbequently sold the vehicle, but we can only imagine where it is today.
