Tatra 77 History

Introduced at the 1934 Prague Motor Show, the Tatra 77 is recognized as the world's first serial-produced automobile conceived around aerodynamics from the outset. Body designer Erich Übelacker worked with Zeppelin aerodynamicist Paul Jaray to achieve a teardrop fastback with a rear-mounted, air-cooled 3.0-litre V8 producing 60 hp — and an exceptionally low drag coefficient for its era. Just 249 examples of the T77 and its 3.4-litre, 75-hp T77a successor were built between 1934 and 1938.

The T77 placed Tatra at the forefront of automotive aerodynamic thinking a decade before such principles became mainstream. Its central dorsal fin managed air pressure across the tail — a technique borrowed from aircraft — and the streamlined shape enabled a top speed over 145 km/h (90 mph) despite modest power. The T77 was the direct predecessor of the T87, and together the two cars make Tatra's interwar design language the most technically distinctive of any European marque of the era.