Silver coin On Wheels - Tatra 613 car proof
Silver coin On Wheels - Tatra 613 car proof
Product description
The Tatra 613, which was developed as a comfortable and representative limousine for the highest state officials, became the first Czechoslovak car with a body designed in Italy. The twenty-fifth silver coin of the Czech Mint from the Na kolech series pays tribute to it.
When the top leaders of communist Czechoslovakia needed a luxurious, domestically produced limousine, they turned to the proven Kopřivnice car company. At first, the Tatra 603 served them faithfully, but after nearly two decades of production, it had aged considerably and it was time for a change. Tatra's management concluded that they needed help with the design of a new body, and so they began to cope with Italian coachbuilders. In 1967, a collaboration with the renowned Turin studio Carrozzeria Vignale was agreed, resulting in the Tatra 613. The first prototypes arrived in Czechoslovakia in 1969, and although they did not look as original as the Tatra 603, they were impressive at first sight. The original concept of an air-cooled V8 engine mounted above the rear axle, which was beyond anything that was common in the world at the time, was retained. However, there was a departure from the streamlined bodies that Tatra had been using on its higher-class cars since 1933. The Tatra 613 therefore evoked the attractive limousines of Western provenance. A test series was built in 1974 and production started a year later. The car was produced at the Tatra Příbor plant in small series, which were deliberately limited by state intervention. Therefore, its production was expensive with a high proportion of manual labour. The first prototype of the sixty-thirteen was given to Gustáv Husák as a gift after the end of testing. Even the mass-produced pieces were then used almost exclusively for party bosses or representatives of state enterprises. Apart from the excellent engine, the car's greatest strengths were its interior space and ride comfort. The car was gradually modernized and modified versions were created - for example, the Tatra 613 Special, which was even more luxurious. After the Velvet Revolution, however, the car, which had gained the label of a papal car, had a hard time. People associated it with unpopular representatives of the communist regime and preferred foreign competition that offered better cars at a lower price. In 1996, the Tatra 700 became the successor to the sixty-thirteen. However, its production was loss-making, and so it was the last passenger car of the famous brand...
The reverse side of the coin, which is the work of the
medal maker MgA. Martin Dašek, is dominated by a
depiction of the Tatra 613 car from
a three-quarter view. As the coins
of the Czech Mint are issued with the licence of a foreign issuer, which is
the island of Niue, the obverse side
bears its necessary elements - the national
emblem, the nominal value of 1
DOLLAR (NZD) and the year of issue 2025.
Following the title of the collector's cycle, the perimeter of the obverse site
consists of segments of wheels of various means of transport.
An integral part of the coin is a narrative packaging in the form of a popup book, which contains
accompanying text and period photographs.