Located near the Petofi Csarnok in the little-visited south-eastern corner of City Park, this wonderful museum, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1999, exhibits vintage motorcycles and bicycles, early model cars, and antique horse buggies. It also features large-scale 1:5 models of various kinds of historic vehicles, especially trains.  A model train set runs every 15 minutes on the mezzanine level; follow the crowds. On weekends a film on aviation history is shown at 11am. The gift shop features all sorts of transportation-related trinkets. An aviation exhibit is housed in the Petofi Csarnok, an all-purpose community center nearby.

Unknown by a a broad Tatra public is that the Budapest museum houses two rare Tatras.  The first one is an Unitas Tatra Typ 12, a Tatra assembled in Budapest from parts imported from Czechoslovakia. About 500 units were built and three units seems to have survived. Even rarer is a complete unrestored Nesselsdorfer Typ B of around 1902, the oldest Typ B still around. The museum will restore the Typ B and is looking for funds

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/budapest/A25908.html#ixzz0lRwa2v5D

Coincidence or not, there are two one-piece windscreen T 87s for sale. Believed to be private conversions, the first one is offered on http://inzerat.i-bazar.cz/1475682-tatra-87-r-38/ . Advertized as a 1938 model, it looks more a heavily converted 1939-1948 model with one piece windscreen, different grille and non standard bumpers.

The second one, http://inzerat.i-bazar.cz/1397952-tatra-87-diplomat/, is a 1948-1950 “Diplomat” model and also in need of a full renovation.
Comparing the one-piece windscreen jobs, the windscreen on the older model seems to fit better and with its rounded sides to be more in style with the original three-piece windscreen. The conversion of the newer model makes the T 87 Diplomat looking like never realized postwar T97 series car.

To see another one piece windscreen T87 for comparison, click on http://www.eag.unicweb.ee/m14.html and scroll down the page.

Every now and then old photos of Tatra bitzas show up. Frenchman Michael Ravel posted some photos at the “Tatra en France” blog  of his unique restored Tatra T57K open wheeled sports car. It was built by his grandpa on the basis of a former Wehrmacht T57K Kübel in 1945-1948. The central tube chassis was retained and disc wheels were used initially. Later wire wheels were fitted. The open two-seater featured an alloybody with large cooling openings for the T57K boxer engine and a fin on its back, not unlike Tatra’s streamliners and modern F1 cars. Headlamps were placed close together, like the Peugeot 202/302/402 series.

The vehicle was restored and since 2008 presented at several car shows.
See contempory and restoration photos: http://tatra.en-france.over-blog.com/5-index.html as well as http://tatra.en-france.over-blog.com/10-index.html

Czech photographer Vladimir Cettl is fascinated by classic car scrapyards. Recently he discovered this Tatra graveyard with Tatraplans, T 603s, T57a’s and T 57b’s as well as T 75 long chassis models.

Have a look at these sleeping beauties!

http://11-55.nolimit.cz/ homepage

vladimircettl on flickr