In the “stuff that is weird and awesome” department, we have this 1967 Tatra T138 truck that was (and may still be in) built in Czechoslovakia and served in a military capacity over there. These trucks were built for decades and they have an interesting look to them which is largely because of their power plant. Moving these rigs down the road is a V8 diesel engine that is air cooled! We have showed you air cooled diesels before on tractors and other industrial type stuff but we never knew about their role in these trucks. The engine weighs in at well over 1,000lbs and it produced about 200hp and more than 500 lb/ft of torque. The transmission is a five speed manual with an auxiliary box behind it. This model is equipped with a bomb-proof four wheel drive setup as well.
More than 100,000 of these were built over the years and while this is a military version, the civilian trucks were largely identical aside from the paint scheme and the way the chassis could be configured. You can find these as box trucks, flatbeds, etc. in this case, the truck is equipped with a fifth wheel so it can pull trailers.
Because it is air cooled, you lose all that big truck “mojo” that comes with a huge grill and radiator that liquid cooled heavy duty trucks need. Withouth the massive “big rig” grille the truck seems smaller than it actually is. The low profile of the hood and rounded fenders make it seem like an overgrown pickup but when you see it from the rear you realize that the size is comparable to any other rig of its era. We dig the spare tire carrier, the spare gas cans, and the ultra-simple interior. How about the market lights that can be manually lowered to show the driver where his “corners” are. Do you lay them out flat with a wide load?
Judging by the looks of the photos, this truck is still overseas. We’re not even going to guess at how much of a pain in the backside it would be to import into this country. If we had the dough to pay someone to handle it we totally would. This would never get upstaged by a nicer one at a car show and that air cooled diesel V8 would throw lots of people for a loop.
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTS AND THE EBAY AD –
I’m a big fan of Tatra cars – but I’ve never seen one of their trucks before.
Someone should buy this, remove the engine and sell on the rest.
Because that gem of an engine BELONGS in a street rod or even better a motorcycle frame!
I like that idea!
A Tatra-powered competitor to Leno’s M60-engine powered roadster.
Motorcycle???? Reminds me of Quint’s line in Jaws “Here’s to swimming with bowlegged women”. That would take severely displaced hips CHMG! 🙂
If you guys are going to buy the truck for the motor, I’ll take the leftovers and jam a 5.9L 12-valve Cummins in it.