HomeNews and EventsTatra centennial featured June 8-9 at museum in Czech Republic

Tatra centennial featured June 8-9 at museum in Czech Republic

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With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the conclusion of World War I, there were many changes. Among them, the establishment of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Estonia and Romania as independent nations, as well as Austria and Hungary as separate countries. 

Another was NW (short for Nesseldorfer Wagenbau-Febriksgesellschaft), which dated to a wagon-making company founded in 1850 that started producing motorcars in 1897. The company was renamed Tatra in honor of the High Tatra Mountains, where the company’s four-wheel braking system was developed on snow-covered roadways.

Especially under the leadership of engineer Hans Ledwinka, Tatra became well-known for vehicle aerodynamics, chassis innovations, independent suspension and especially, air-cooled, rear-mounted engines.  

This year marks Tatra’s centennial, which will be celebrated by the Tatra Museum, located in Koprivince, Czech Republic, during the city’s Engineering Days celebration, June 8-9, and will feature vintage Tatra automobiles as well as the big trucks, fire-fighting equipment, farming vehicles and even cranes produced by the company.

AACA Museum gets two more from Kozlow

1908 Albany donated to AACA Museum by David Kozlow | Museum photos

David Kozlow, who donated the first vehicle in the AACA Museum’s collection, a 1895-1896 Chicago Benton Harbor, has donated two more early cars to the museum. They are a 1908 Albany and a 1908 Economy, both of them already included in the museum’s “Behind the Scenes” tours offered most days during the summer at 10:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m.

Based in Albany, Indiana, Albany Automobile Co. produced about 850 motorcars in 1907 and 1908. Economy Motor Buggy Company was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1908 but moved to Kankakee, Illinois, and then to Joliet, Illinois during its three years in business. The moves were motivated in part because of a patent-infringement suit by Success Auto-Buggy, which went out of business in 1909.

1908 Economy produced by company that moved to try to avoid law suit

Watch this: Cars and clocks subject of lecture

The connections between cars and clocks is the subject of a presentation and a car show scheduled for June 2 at 2:30 p.m. at the Dartmouth Historical & Arts Society’s Russell Mills Schoolhouse in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 

Bob Fishman, chairman of the time symposium committee of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, will do the presentation that will explore how clock construction influenced mass production and automotive assembly lines, clocks in cars, and the significance of Paul Newman’s Rolex and Steve McQueen’s Heuer wristwatches.

In addition to the presentation, a car show will be staged so people can see a variety of dashboard timepieces. 

NASCAR Museum announces Class of 2020

The NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced its 2020 induction class: Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart, and that Edsel Ford II will receive the 2020 Landmark Award for contributions to NASCAR at ceremonies January 31, 2020.

Blackhawk opens Pebble Beach day trip

The Blackhawk Museum in Dansville, California, has opened the seats for its annual Pebble Beach Concours Day Trip, scheduled for August 18. Until July 1, tickets that include round-trip motor coach travel and admission to the concours d’elegance are $475 per person. 

Special events this weekend

The Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa, Ontario, offers a free downtown automotive walking tour at 1 p.m. on May 31 to explore why Oshawa became known as Canada’s Motor City. For adults on June 1, there are Model A driving classes from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, offers Lil’ Learning Lane for children and public vault tours and vehicle demonstrations June 1.

The California Automobile Museum in Sacramento will show The Italian Job, the 1969 original, at 7:30 p.m. May 31 as a drive-in movie. On June 1, the museum offers “Tinker Time” for children featuring a Hot Wheels toy car track.

On June 1, the Newport Car Museum in Rhode Island celebrates its second anniversary by introducing eight new vehicles to its collection, including a 1956 Porsche 356A Speedster, a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 factory competition car, a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle 465 LS6.

The Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania, stages its Spring Fling from 8 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on June 1. The event features a bus parade (at 3:30 p.m.) and a sale of bus memorabilia, as well as a behind the scenes tour of the vehicles in the museum’s storage building.

The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, launches its new series of summertime first-Saturday cars and coffee events June 1 from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. The event is free, as is admission to the museum during the event. A different local car club will be featured each month, beginning with the Michigan Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club.

1928 Cadillac 341 Touring is subject of ‘If These Cars Could Talk’ presentation at ACD Museum | Museum photo

A 1928 Cadillac 431A will be featured in the “If These Cars Could Talk” presentation June 1 at 2 p.m. at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in northeast Indiana.

Car designer Albrecht Graf von Goertz crafted his own bodywork around Porsche’s 914 for the 1970 Geneva Motor Show | Museum photo

On June 2, the Porsche Museum in Germany hosts a special display of more than 120 privately owned 914 models and opens its special exhibition celebrating the mid-engine sports car on its 50th anniversary. The 914 exhibition runs through July 7.

The Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, California hosts its monthly “Muscles & Mojo at The Murphy” car show on June 2 from 7 until 9 a.m.

Mark your calendar

The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, will stage its second “Barracudas, Sting Rays & More Show Cars from the Sea” car show on June 8.

The Vauxhall Heritage Centre in Luton, England, opens its collection of 75 vehicles only once a year. This year that event is June 9 and features the 50th anniversary of the Bedford CF van and the 40th birthday of the British-built Astra model. 

LeMay Collections in Tacoma, Washington, stages LeMay Motorcycle Days from June 13-23 with 200 motorcycles on exhibit and with rounds of motorcycle soccer.

The AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, stages its annual Father’s Day Weekend car show with a car coral and flea market. At 3 p.m. on June 15, the museum also presents a special program on the restoration of Tucker 1044 and at 10 a.m. on June 16, a program on the Tucker Tin Goose.

“Daredevils: A Century of Spine-tingling Spectacles,” a special summer exhibit, opens June 15 at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.

The Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, will stage its annual Father’s Day car show on June 16.

“Planes, Trains & Automobiles” is the theme for a summer camp June 17-21 at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The camp is designed for students entering the 2nd through 5th grades.

Author Dan Albert will discuss his book, Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. June 22 at the Simeone Foundation Automobile Museum in Philadelphia.

The Miles Through Time museum in Toccoa, Georgia, hosts its second annual car show from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on June 22. 

The Lions Drag Strip Museum in Rancho Dominguez, California, holds its grand opening June 22.

The National Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but on June 24-235 it will offer a special high-performance drivers education program at Virginia International Raceway in Dansville, Virginia.

The Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, California, hosts its seventh annual vintage trailer show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 29, with more than 40 vintage trailers and campers on display.

The Mustang Owner’s Museum near Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced monthly “Fords at the Museum” car shows to be held the last Saturday of each month from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. starting June 29.

LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, will be the finish line for the 2019 Great Race and plans to celebrate with a “Shine Time” car show on June 30. 

The British Motor Museum hosts its seventh annual “BMC & Leyland Show” on July 7, featuring vehicles produced by the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland and The Rover Group. Featured will be the 90th anniversary of the BSA front-drive car, the 60th of the Morris Oxford Farina, the 50th of the Austin Maxi, the 30th of the Rover R8 and the 25th of the Rover SK3. The show also celebrates Triumph National Weekend.

“The Car. The Future. Me” is the title of an exhibit scheduled to open July 13 at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, UK, to explore “futuristic car design and (to) challenge your idea of how we will interact with the cars for the future,” the museum said. 

The Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, inducts new members Sergio Marchionne, the late chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Janet Guthrie, the first woman to qualify as a driver in the Indianapolis 500; Richard “Dick” Dauch, co-founder of American Axle Manufacturing; and Patrick Ryan, creator of the first auto dealership finance and insurance department, on July 18 in Detroit.

The North East Motor Sports Museum in Loudon, New Hampshire, will honor NASCAR champion and New England native Joey Logano at a special event July 19.

From the 1960s into the 1990s, the Hale Farm & Village in Cleveland hosted a car show. On July 21, the tradition returns with a car show that will include vehicles from the Crawford Auto-Aviation Collection and those from private collections and other entrants parked among the farm and village’s historic buildings.

On August 3, the British Motor Museum will be the site of the Classic Mini Mosaic world-record attempt that is expected to draw more than 600 classic Minis. The following day the museum will be the site of the National Metro & Mini Show.

The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, inducts racer Briggs Cunningham, Corvette designer Tom Peters, and Dollie Cole, Corvette enthusiast and widow of former GM president Ed Cole, into its hall of fame on August 30.

“Legends of Speed,” a showcase of nearly two dozen historic racing cars, opens November 2 at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Does your local car museum have special events or exhibitions planned? Let us know. Email [email protected].

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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