Tatra 903 : 2008

Strong heritage and the potential hidden in the legendary Czech automotive brand Tatra, historically famous for its unforgettable aerodynamics and revolutionary technical solutions, inspired the original Czech car design magazine Auto Design & Styling to ask the designer Mike Jelinek for his vision of the Tatra of the future.

Mike Jelinek worked in many roles for design studios at Skoda Auto, Volkswagen, Citroën, GME, Daimler just to name few. Nowadays, he works as a senior consultant for conceptual design at Autodesk where he is responsible for the automotive design customers.

Tatra 903 is premium fuel cell/electric vehicle redefining the luxury – unique combination of emotional styling and aerodynamics efficiency.

“The water drop shaped back refers to one of the most characteristic values of Tatra, the aerodynamics – same as covered rear wheels. It may look retro, but in the term of aerodynamic optimisation it has its own purpose.

The A-pillar has moved in the axis of the car – again, not just a quotation of split screen theme pointing back to the original models, but certainly a safety factor designed to offer a better view from the car.” describes Mike Jelinek.

“I didn’t want to refer to any model from the history of this legendary manufacturer, but I tried to catch something like the spirit of Tatra cars and bring it to aesthetics a the 21st century.” said Jelinek.

Nowadays, Tatra doesn’t produce any passenger cars, just heavy trucks, but the heritage hidden in the extraordinary cars is still waiting for rediscovery.

More sketches and information can be found in the latest issue of the Czech car design magazine Auto Design & Styling No. 14.

(source: Auto Design & Styling)