The Tatra 613 is the Tatra that answered a simple question — how much car can this badge carry? — with 168 PS from 3.5L Tatra 613 V8. It was built from 1974 to 1996, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. Its designer of record is Vignale.
How it came about
The Tatra 613 is a large luxury rear wheel driven car with rear-mounted air-cooled engine manufactured by Czechoslovak manufacturer Tatra from 1974 until 1996 as a replacement for the Tatra 603 series. It featured an all-new body styled by Vignale of Italy back in 1968 and used a DOHC air-cooled 3.5 litre V8 engine with 168 PS (124 kW).
Later injection versions reached 200 PS (147 kW), with a maximum speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). The design was updated a further five times until being replaced by the Tatra 700 in 1996, itself a restyled T613-5. The Tatra 613 vehicles were mostly used by government officials, industry executives and in limited numbers were also used as police cars and as the rapid response fire fighting and rescue vehicles during motorsport events.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 3.5L Tatra 613 V8; it is rated at 168 PS. Kerb weight is 1690 kg. Power-to-weight lands near 99 horsepower per tonne, which is brisk everyday performance. The gearbox is a 4/5-speed all-synchromesh manual / floor-mounted gear change lever. The layout matters: the engine hangs behind the rear axle, a layout that gives ferocious traction out of a corner and a reputation to match on the way in. The wheelbase is 2980 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Tatra's history is not in doubt: the Tatra 603 came before it; the Tatra 700 followed it; it was built at Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic: Příbor, Moravia. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Lancia Stratos. Its Tatra stablemates include the Tatra 10 and the Tatra 600 kabriolet.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Tatra 613 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.