1930 Tracta T26/30

Tatra is a vehicle manufactured in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1850 as Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft, a wagon and carriage manufacturer. In 1897, it produced the first motor car in central Europe, the Prasident, and is the third oldest car maker in the world after Daimler and Peugeot. In 1919 it changed its name to Tatra after the Tatra Mountains. Tatra's specialty was technically advanced luxury cars ranging from air-cooled flat-twins to fours and sixes. Production of Tatra cars cased in 1999, but the company still produces a range of primarily all-wheel-drive trucks.

The small 1930 Tatra T26/30 was the forerunner of all Tatra trucks to come with rear-wheel independent suspension, a central tube chassis, and an aluminum, air-cooled boxer-type engine driving through a transmission with six forward and two reverse speeds. The axle differentials can be locked, and one of the rear shafts can be disengaged. Only 181 T26/30 trucks were produced with various bodies, and only five or ten are known to survive.

This particular truck was initially ordered by a Mr. V. Meister of New York, acting as a front for Studebaker, which was manufacturing trucks for the United States Army and wanted to investigate Tatra technology. It was discovered by the Tampa Bay Auto Museum for sale in Ohio in a crate with the Studebaker name. It has less than 5,000 original miles, and the engine still runs very well.