[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpuweiODHw4[/youtube]

As its name implies, the Iron Curtain didn’t let much stuff into Eastern Europe during the Cold War, and it didn’t let much out. Case in point: Most Czechoslovakians in 1956 knew nothing of Western luxury cars like the Cadillac Sixty Special or the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, while most Westerners didn’t know anything about Czech car- and truck-maker Tatra’s brand new flagship, the 603. Of course, if we capitalist pigs had known about the 603, we all probably would have died of exploded brains, leaving the Soviet Bloc without anyone with which to play ICBM chicken.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_7WyAqRps[/youtube]

And why would all the Ike-liking noggins have gone kerblamo? Let’s review. Buck Rogers-set-decoration-worthy styling? Yep. Rear-mounted, air-cooled 2.5L hemi V8? Uh-huh. Kitschy marketing reel with a plot centered on a dapper gent and the daughter of a political dissident he had sent to the bottom of the Danube his wife making a pilgrimage to play in the snow? Yeah buddy!
Still not in lust? Leno has a pre-war T87. Maybe that’s more your speed. Regardless of which Tatra car tickles your fancy, you can be sure that every journey in one will be a happy journey.