Before aerodynamics were a defining feature of car design Hans Ledwinka and Erich Übelacker sat down and designed something that looked less like something designed for the roads of the 1930s and more like a glimpse into a new era.

The result was the Tatra T87: a rear-engined, air-cooled touring saloon of such radical conception that the German Army reportedly banned its own officers from driving one — not out of nationalistic pride, but because too many of them were dying behind the wheel, seduced by a top speed approaching 100 mph and handling that rewarded the attentive and punished the careless with gusto. Whether the story is true, it has stuck and rather overshadowed just how remarkable this car is because in the pre-war are Czechoslovakia was quietly building the most technically sophisticated motor vehicles in the world.

Produced between 1936 and 1950, with just 3,056 examples completed across its production life, the T87 is among the rarest and most historically significant automobiles of the twentieth century.

The T87's silhouette remains, to this day, arrestingly modern. Inspired by the streamlining principles of zeppelin designer Paul Jaray, the body is a full teardrop — low at the front, sweeping upward, then tapering to a distinctive dorsal fin at the rear. That fin is not an affectation; it is a functional stabiliser, directing airflow and preventing the long tail from yawing in crosswinds at speed. Alongside it sit large rear scoops channelling cool air to the all-magnesium, overhead-cam V8 mounted behind the rear axle. Three headlights — the central 'Cyclops' lamp predating the Tucker 48 by over a decade — peer forward from a low, engineless bonnet. Inset door handles, skirted rear wheels, and flush fenders complete a body with a drag coefficient of approximately 0.36, measured in full-scale testing: remarkable for any era, extraordinary for 1936.

Inside, the T87 offers seating for six across its Bauhaus-styled bench seats, with a central speedometer and clear instrumentation. The backbone chassis — Ledwinka's signature engineering solution — runs the length of the car, with fully independent suspension at all four corners and hydraulic brakes throughout. The extensive use of magnesium alloy in the engine, gearbox, and suspension components keeps weight impressively low, contributing to both the car's performance and its exceptional fuel economy of 18.8 mpg — roughly half the consumption of comparable vehicles of the period.
The T87's influence on automotive history extends well beyond its production numbers. Ferdinand Porsche's Volkswagen Beetle shares so many design and engineering principles with Ledwinka's work that Tatra successfully sued Volkswagen for patent infringement — and won. The seeds of the Porsche 356 are visible here too. Jay Leno, who owns one, has called it 'the greatest car that nobody has ever heard of.' Fewer than 250 examples are believed to survive worldwide.

To acquire a Tatra T87 is to acquire one of the handful of automobiles that genuinely changed the course of automotive design. It is a machine of serious historical weight, engineering originality, and visual drama — one that rewards its owner not merely with the pleasures of ownership, but with the satisfaction of possessing something that was, by any fair measure, decades ahead of its time.