The Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance, blessed with superb Connecticut weather, was once again a huge success. The top two prizes went to a Pininfarina-designed Chevrolet Corvette (reminding everyone that the Corvette could have been elegant as well as fast) and this 1938 Tatra T77a, owned by fellow Canadian John Long of Toronto. Of his car Long said "I bought this car in Russia in 2000 and then took six years to restore it in the small town of Koprivnice, Czech Republic, where the Tatra automobiles were originally built. I'd like to thank the Fairfield County Concours d'Elegance and judges for awarding this very rare automobile this important prize and hope it will raise the profile of Tatra automobiles and its designers Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray. While the Tatra possesses amazing leading edge engineering, the fantastic attention to aerodynamics transforms it's shape into the realm of art." In 2007, the Tatra T77a was a key exhibit in the acclaimed "Modernism" exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Tatras were briefly built after the war and for a short time its rear-engine V-8 powered car reminded us that Czechoslovakia was once in the leading edge of automobile engineering. Communism, however, lacked an eye for art.
I have never seen a Tarta in the metal, but I have seen a Tucker – in a Tokyo Toyota showroom of all places.
September 25, 2008 @ 11:21 pmHarley