Editing Tatra (company) (section)

==The Tatra 603==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2023}}
{{Main|Tatra 603}}
[[File:Tatra T603.jpg|thumb|[[Tatra 603]] (1956–1962)]]
In 1953, amid much dissatisfaction among Communist party leaders with the poor-quality official cars imported from Russia, Tatra was again given permission to produce a luxury car, the [[Tatra 603]]. Much like Tatra's prewar cars, it was driven by a rear-mounted, air-cooled V8 and had the company's trademark aerodynamic styling. The Tatra 603 initially featured three headlights and the first prototypes had a central rear stabilising fin, though this feature was lost on production vehicles. It was also fitted with almost [[Passenger vehicles in the United States|American-style]] thick [[Chrome plating|chrome]] [[Bumper (automobile)|bumpers]] with bullets (a.k.a. [[Dagmar bumpers]]). Almost entirely hand-built, Tatras were not available for normal citizens as they were not permitted to buy them.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} The cars were reserved for the Communist Party elite and industrial officials,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Brad |date=1 February 2023 |title=The Tatra 603-2 Is A Premium Sedan That You've Never Heard Of |work=Carscoops |url=https://www.carscoops.com/2023/02/the-tatra-603-2-is-a-premium-sedan-that-youve-never-heard-of/ |access-date=23 October 2023}}</ref> as well as being exported to most other communist nations as official state cars. Notably, Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]] had a white Tatra 603, custom-fitted with air conditioning.

Tatra 603s were built until 1975, a twenty-year reign as one of communism's finest cars. Numerous improvements were made during its production run, although not all vehicles built were actually new but rather reconditioned. In exchange for a newer model year car, the older vehicle was returned to the factory. There, it was upgraded to current model year specifications, refinished, and sent out again as a putatively new vehicle to replace another older T603. This makes it difficult to trace the history of surviving vehicles.