VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lse44WVxB2k
Calendar 2021 – Tatra in Paris
In February of 2020 a grand event took place in Paris, the kind that
only takes place every few decades: an exhibition covering Tatra cars
from the very beginning up until the final passenger car model. The idea
of having a large Tatra exhibition at Rétromobile in Paris had been
brewing for a number of years. The heart-warming thing about this
initiative is that it was hatched by French collectors and fans. They
decided to introduce the public to Tatra’s rich history as well as such
stories as the one about the travellers Hanzelka and Zikmund; the duo
that travelled the world in a Tatra 87 during some politically very
difficult times and thus created a legend about this unique vehicle with
an air-cooled engine.
One cold evening, as Denis Alexandre and I were drinking coffee together
in Prague, he suggested that my photos of Tatra wrecks might be an
interesting addition to the exhibition, and my ears perked up! Suddenly
I heard this Frenchman telling me that my grand and unrealistic dream
could actually soon become reality! Once the preparations for the show
really got going on all levels, it was clear that this was a very
challenging event logistically speaking. About half the cars belonged to
French collectors, but many unique cars had to be transported to Paris
from the Czech Republic. Loading and unloading rare cars into a special
truck is a difficult process, and quite the show! Salon Rétromobile is
one of the largest veteran car shows in the world. It is visited by over
100,000 people in just a few days and several other related events take
place all over Paris – mainly auctions. I could barely imagine this high
level of attendance and wondered if perhaps the numbers weren’t somewhat
exaggerated. But then we experienced it for ourselves! Tens of thousands
of people wandered through the exhibition daily. The most common
inquiries went as follows: ‘Where do Tatras come from? The Czech
Republic? And are they still made? Oh, Tatra, like the Paris–Dakar
Rally, of course!’ France is rather self-sufficient when it comes to
cars and so Tatra is still a bit of a mysterious brand there. Yet
surprising people with something that has a deep and rich history, yet
is unknown to them was a great pleasure!
I must add that in February of 2020, when the car show took place, the
coronavirus epidemic that spread from China was closing in on us. During
the show, things were still relatively normal. The French news still
just reported on the epidemic as one of several news items, however, on
my way home I had some trouble getting onto a plane as many flights were
cancelled. Passengers and airlines found themselves in a difficult
situation, which was getting worse and more complicated by the day. Had
it been scheduled two weeks later, the show would’ve had to be
cancelled, just as many other later events were.
Link >>> https://vladimircettl.com/2021-2/
Price: 39,- EUR with postage for the countries EU (SK, D, F…) & UK
The orders to be sent to: vladimir@cettl.cz (the “calendar tatra” in the
subject.