To je ale zajímavé čtení, mimochodem prodávala se a nabízela i na ebay už mnohokrát, ty fotky jsou také už několik let staré...
Starting bid: C $3,000.00
(Approximately US $2,573.56)
Reserve not met
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End time: Apr-02-06 14:00:00 PDT (9 days 8 hours)
Sells to: Worldwide
Item location: Toronto Canada
History: 0 bids
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Listing and payment details: HideShow
Starting time: Mar-23-06 13:00:00 PST
Starting bid: C $3,000.00
Duration: 10-day listing
Payment methods: Cashier's Check (certified from US or Canadian bank) or money order,
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Seller: x66hemi ( 12)
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Member: since Oct-08-01 in Canada
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Description (revised)
Item Specifics - Passenger Vehicles
Other Makes
Tatra 613-4 Mi Long - alt Limo to Mercedes ZIL Rolls
Kilometres: 200,000 Doors: 4 doors
Transmission: Manual Interior: Gray
Engine: 8 - Cyl. Year: 1935
Is There an Existing Warranty?: Vehicle does NOT have an existing warranty VIN Number: --
Title: Clear Exterior: Blue
Condition: Used Inspection: --
Fuel Type: --
Options
Sunroof Leather Seats CD Player Power Seats
Air Conditioning Power Windows Power Locks
After Mercedes Benz, who is the oldest luxury car manufacturer in the world?
….It’s not Rolls Royce, Bentley or Cadillac. It is Tatra!
A most unique and exclusive luxury car! A hand-made, air-cooled rear-engined limousine.
English (French and German below – translation not exact and probably not very good!)
You are looking at a 1995 Tatra 613-4 Mi Long. This is a luxury limousine hand-built in the Czech Republic for top government officials. The “Mi” stands for “fuel injected” and the “Long” means it is the extended version. It is the only luxury limo with an air-cooled, fuel-injected 3.5 Liter DOHC V8. The motor is located in a mid/rear configuration over the back wheels.
*Please note - I have problems with the eBay.ca template. It does not accept a Tatra VIN, which is required for a post-1981 car, so I had to use an old year (1935) in the required field for the year of manufacture. My listing title is also screwed up and does not reflect what I wrote in there. And finally, I can't delete the preformatted info in the shipping/payment sections - so please ignore these. *
If you never heard of Tatra and came across this ad by chance while surfing eBay, you may wonder what it is. So, please bear with me, as I have to spend some time outlining the history and significance of the company to help the random visitor understand the car’s heritage.
My first challenge is to break the paradigm associated with cars from the so-called “Eastern Europe”. A Tatra is no Trabant or Lada. These were communist-era products designed to provide basic transportation at minimum cost. Tatra is the opposite. The company was in existence long before Soviet communism rose to power. In fact, Tatra is the 2nd or 3rd oldest existing car manufacturer in the world. (After Mercedes Benz and possibly Peugeot.) Although they stopped making passenger cars in the late 90s, they still produce trucks. Tatra is a grand old marque from a forgotten era – when names like Hispano Suiza, Delahaye, Duesenberg and Tatra had the same ring as Ferrari, BMW, Lexus and Porsche have today. In fact there is a very close relationship between Porsche and Tatra - the similar air-cooled, rear-engined configuration is not by coincidence - and it’s actually the opposite of what you may think!!! The modern autobahn cruisers and champions of the sports car racing world are descendants of a copy of an old Tatra design! But more on this later.
Before World War 2, Czechoslovakia was the 7th strongest economy in the world and Tatra was an innovative luxury car maker. Before World War 1 the Czech lands were the industrial heartland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Back then, German was the official language and there was free flow of commerce and ideas within Central Europe. That is also why two famous Czech brewery towns and their beers are now known around the world by their German names – Pilsen and Budweis. (Incidentally, that is also why Dr. Porsche had Czech citizenship before given honorary German citizenship by Adolf Hitler!) Between the wars, Czechoslovakia, like it’s main allies France and Britain and its neighbour Germany, was a leading European technological power. It had about 10 independent domestic car manufacturers. (The Czechs were also the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world right after World War 2 with JAWA and CZ.)
It may look like I digress, but this is a little bit of history to demonstrate that Tatra once operated under conditions that allowed it to rise to the top of the automotive world. It was no cheap communist-era knock-off of a Western product as our post-cold war perspective may lead us to believe! Quite the opposite. They had a number of automotive firsts and started building streamlined limousines with SOHC V8s in the early 1930s when most manufacturers still had open radiators and running boards. Tatra pioneered the rear-engined air-cooled design. It is now widely recognized that a Tatra design was used as a model for the VW Beetle and that is why Hitler ordered that the similar T97 Tatra cease production when he invaded Czechoslovakia. Which was very ironic! Hitler actually used a Tatra while campaigning for the German chancellorship. He was a great fan of Tatra’s chief engineer, Hans Ledwinka, who, at one of their meetings, gave him the drawings to a “people’s car” prototype that he designed. This was the Tatra V570. Hitler passed this on to Dr. Porsche who was then selected to lead his “people’s car” project. If you are interested, a more in-depth account of this bit of history is covered in Jonathan Mantle’s excellent book “Car Wars” (Arcade Publishing).
After World War 2, Czechoslovakia, and Tatra with it, disappeared behind the iron curtain. Even though the country is located right in the geographic center of Europe, the perceived line between the East and West was suddenly moved to their western border. This had tragic consequences for Tatra who did not fit the austere proletarian image and was directed to adapt their product line to new realities. A descendant of the T97, the T600 Tatraplan was built right after the war for a more general market. In the 1950s, the communist leadership decided that they should be chauffeured around in greater style than the masses and resurrected Tatra’s position as luxury car builder – but only for them. The expertise was still there and the T603 was born. Tatra’s design capabilities were still at the leading edge when the T603 was succeeded in the 1970s by the four-cam T613. Not to be outdone by top Western manufacturers of the era, Tatra hired an Italian design house (Vignale) to style the T613. Both the T603 and the T613 were hand-built in low numbers only for government and official use. They were not sold to the public. An even more exclusive variant of the T613, called the Special, was built in very limited quantities (~ 100 in total over 10 years) only for the top ministers. The Special was slightly longer than the base T613. Although nowhere near as opulent as top Western limousines custom built for the super-wealthy, these cars were probably the most exclusive limos in the world - as no matter how rich you were, you could not buy one new! The communists would not sell it to you.
With the fall of the iron curtain and the re-emergence of Tatra on the world market, the Specials were updated with more opulent cosmetics and became the 613-4 Mi Longs. They now faced the S-class Mercedes and 7-series BMW as their market competition. With help from British engineers and Lotus fuel-injection technology, the Mi Long was a significant upgrade to the T613 Special as an attempt to face these free-market brands. But it had no automatic transmission and no existing international dealer network and marketing. The rest is history. Only a few cars were built - the Czech government was the main customer who could afford as well as subsidize these cars. There were only 25 - 1995 Tatras registered in the Czech Republic at the end of 2003. The hi-end Mi Longs were an even smaller subset of this number. Even fewer Mi Longs were built than Specials. As such, the winning bidder will get a very rare and unique collector car.
The car you are looking at is the ultimate evolution of Tatra’s T613 model and the last basic design line before they stopped automobile production. (The T700 is a cosmetic variant of the same model.) It is slightly bigger than a contemporary S-class Mercedes. Each Mi Long was custom-built and I understand that there were only about 5 made with this optimum interior package.
The car is located in the Czech Republic. It was a ministerial limo until 2003. I am the first private owner. Incidentally, collectors literally line-up to compete for Tatras released from the government! This may seem hard to believe for anyone outside the Tatra community, but you will not find a Mi Long in a used car lot like an S-class Mercedes or 7-series BMW. The car was actually well serviced and taken care of while in government hands. (Brakes were just done before they released it and the interior is like new.) It did have some dings and scratches so I had the whole car repainted with the original colour. Original equipment includes heated and ventilated Recaro seats in gray leather and cloth (a $ 10,000 option with related items). It has all available options, including the two-position sunroof, cell phone (analog) and trunk-mounted CD-changer. Air-conditioning, power windows, power steering and immobilizer were standard. All interior wood trim is real wood. As this was a ministerial limo, a 12-volt plug controlled by a console-mounted switch is provided to the left of the driver’s seat for a portable flashing beacon/siren.
As part of my upgrade in 2003, the driveline was removed and the engine compartment was detailed. The work was done by a Tatra specialist shop in Prague. I instructed them to do whatever was necessary to bring the car to like-new condition. The engine was resealed and the 5-speed transmission was overhauled. There are no oil or gas leaks. New suspension parts were added where needed so the front-end is tight. The brake pads and rotors were replaced while still owned by the government and have very little mileage. I used the car about 2 weeks per year while in the Czech Republic. Otherwise, it’s stored and looked after by a friend who lives there.
So why am I selling such a unique car? Simple. I’m staying with Tatra and using the proceeds towards a vintage model. To put this in perspective, the Mi Longs are currently at about their lowest price-point (app. 10 – 15 years old). Their prices will rise and in 20 – 30 years they should be worth as much as T87s. (There were hundreds of T87s built but only a few 10s of Mi Longs.) I don’t have 20-30 years to wait and unfortunately rusty T87 wrecks now sell in the Czech Republic for about US$ 25 000! At the time of this listing, there is a very nice T600 Tatraplan on eBay for US$ 65 000. My reserve is essentially a fraction of this amount! I have enjoyed my Mi Long for about 3 years and I’m ready to move on to another Tatra.
Now for the bad news for those living in North America. There are no Mi Longs in North America – and for a reason. With hi-volume production cars like 57 Chevys and Ford Victorias reaching US$ 100 000 at the Barrett-Jackson, can you imagine what a super rare and technically unique car like my Mi Long could bring? Well, if I could bring it there, I would not be typing this long eBay ad! Unfortunately, the US has a 25 year age limit on non-US-spec cars for import into the US. There are some exceptions and if you spend the time and money you may be able to figure it out. I don’t live in the US. Canada has a more liberal 15 year limit, but there are no exceptions. So the car will have to wait for 5 years to get in here. Too long for me, in that time I will be ready to move on from my next Tatra. So I expect that the buyer will be from Europe.
Details on inspection, purchase and pick-up/shipping will be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction with the successful bidder. (Please ignore the pre-formated eBay template - I couldn't figure out how to change this.) Some years back, before I found the Mi Long, I sold a T613 Special on eBay. (Yes, I’m slowly making my way up the Tatra foodchain!) As a result, I know what’s involved in an inter-continental transaction. We will get to know each other fairly well with the winning bidder before the Mi Long ends up in his garage. I expect that the winner will want to inspect the car before he/she commits to handing over any cash. If they don’t like the car they can walk away. That is why I’m not asking for any deposits, etc. I will not try to leverage the buyer if they change their mind. I will also walk the buyer through the car’s technical history and answer any questions on the phone at my expense before they go to inspect the car so there are no surprises when they see it. I have travelled a considerable distance once to see a misrepresented car, so I know what that is like. The buyer can always change their mind and there is no point in “pissing them off” in the process. Furthermore, the Tatra community is fairly small and we will cross paths again. And finally, I am under no pressure to sell the car so I don’t need to take any desperate measures. So, if you like the car and are willing to travel to the Czech Republic to inspect it and pick it up, then please bid with confidence!
I can be reached through the eBay link or tatra@rogers.com if you have any questions.
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http://www.veteran.cz
č.i. 0000121668
Cena: 365 000 KC Prodam. 1995 Tatra 613-4 Mi Long. Recara v sede kuzi. Max vybava. Velmi pekny stav. Renovace v 2003. Majitel v Kanade kam neni mozno dovezt az za 5 let. Do 2.4.2006 na prodej na http://www.ebay.ca - search "Tatra". Preferuji prodat v CR nebo vymenit za peknou T603.
24.03.2006 Email: tatra@rogers.com
Pokud by mel nekdo fakt peknou T603, nebo I pekneho Tatraplana, tak bych vymenil! Dalsi moznost je vymena za levnejsi Tatru s doplatkem a nebo za dve v pasujici cenove relaci. Jedna ale musi byt starsi 15 let abych ji mohl dovezt sem. Situace je otevrena a tak pokud nekoho neco napadne – dejte mi navrh. Muj email je 
(Zdicho – jen klid, ja vim ze ty vydrzis vic nez ja!!)
