Silver Coin 500 CZK Passenger Car Tatra 603 2023 Proof

Famous vehicles - Tatra 603 passenger car

The reverse side of the five hundred crowns is horizontally divided into two parts. The upper part depicts the Tatra 603 passenger car from an oblique view. The lower part of the coin shows a technical drawing of the car from the side view and a part of the technical drawing of the car from the top view. The side view of the car consists of a silver insert with black coating (999/1000 fineness, weight 1.1 g). At the upper edge of the coin are the texts 'TATRA 603' and '2023' separated by a dot. To the left of the car from the side view, the car's brand is depicted in the form of its manufacturer's emblem. The initials of the author are placed at the right edge of the coin.

The obverse side of the coin depicts a Tatra 603 passenger car from a frontal view. The upper part of the coin depicts a part of the dashboard including a part of the steering wheel. The text 'CZECH' appears at the left edge of the coin and the text 'REPUBLIC' at the bottom edge of the coin. The lower half of the coin is depicted as a tile floor. The denomination of the coin with the abbreviation of the monetary unit '500 CZK' is located at the right edge of the coin.

Tatra 603

At the beginning of the 1950s, the Kopřivnice car factory ceased production of the Tatra 87 and 600 passenger cars with the intention of continuing to produce only trucks. Higher class passenger cars were to be imported from the Soviet Union as part of the cooperation of the RVHP.

Nevertheless, the designers of the Smíchov Tatra plant began to work on the development of a new Czechoslovak-made representative car, the Tatra 603. Initially, everything was done outside the view of the central planning authorities. They received approval from the appropriate places in 1954. At that time, the project, led by Vladimír Popelář, was almost complete.

A new limousine with an elegant, dynamic body designed by the artist František Kardaus is being built at the Kopřivnice plant, and will become a legend. The air-cooled, rear-mounted V8 engine was designed by Ing. Julius Mackerle and was tested in the Tatra 607 Monopost sports model. The vehicle's top speed, claimed by the manufacturer to be 160 km/h, reached 170 km/h in operation. The interior was adapted to carry 6 people on two seat benches and contained two storage compartments.

In September 1955, a new representative limousine, designed for the needs of party leaders and diplomats, is presented at the Brno Engineering Fair. Series production starts in spring 1957 and the first car is given to President Antonín Zápotocký for his birthday. International presentations of the car are also part of the promotion. The Tatra 603 appears at the 1956 Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo in January 1956, at the International Motor Show in Geneva in 1957 and in Paris in 1958. It was also a great success at Expo 58 in Brussels.

The car was in series production, with variations, until 1975. In total, 20,422 models left the production line. In the early years, there were only tens of units. Production peaked in late 1973 and 1974 with 1,600 cars per year. Production ended in 1975 when it was replaced by the new Tatra 613.
The famous "Šestettrojka" is considered by many motoring enthusiasts to be the most beautiful car of Czech manufacture and a highly prized collector's item.

Each silver coin is placed in a protective plastic capsule in a dark blue box. An integral part of the box is a certificate of authenticity issued by the CNB.

This product is part of the following product sets: