The Tatra 10 is a diverse four or six seaters from Tatra, built from 1915 to 1927, as the assembly line was turning motoring into an industry. Under the bonnet: 5.3L NW U I6. Hans Ledwinka drew it.
The story
The NW type U is an Edwardian era automobile manufactured by Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriks-Gesellschaft A.G. (NW, now known as Tatra). After the success of Type S, models NW T (four-cylinder, 1914) and NW U (six-cylinder, 1915) were launched. Both types were again OHC design with hemispherical combustion chambers with the cylinders cast in one piece with the engine block.
As the company changed its name the model was renamed to Tatra 10 in 1919 and remained in production until 1925. The production version was able to reach 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph). In 1921 a 140 km/h racing version was created. The Type U was fitted with brakes on all four wheels, probably the first production car in the world with such brake system.
What is underneath
Power comes from 5.3L NW U I6. It weighs 1860 kg NW U. It shifts through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 3635 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the NW S; its successor was the Tatra 17; assembly was at Kopřivnice, Moravia. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Chevrolet 490, the Lancia Jota, the British Motor Corporation Morris Cowley — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Tatra catalogue sit the Tatra 600 kabriolet and the CS Class M 120.2.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Tatra 10 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.