Photo: The Tatra 813 Kolos was purpose designed to pull the 40-wheel P50 semi low loader. With a load capacity of 80 tonnes the rare Czech makes light work of transporting a Russian ZIL amphibian truck. The 43-year-old truck has permanent 8×8 drive and runs standard in low gear.
A good paying and steady job
As a
Photo: On a recent trip through the Sahara Desert the off-road performance of the big 8×8 came into its own!
“On one of my international
A few months later, he crossed the North Sea again with a rented Scania and semi low loader to collect the rare machine.
“The Tatra did not really want to leave the UK,‘ he laughs.“Because the clutch did not work and all
Two years went by before the Tatra‘s new owner mustered up enough courage to start a rebuild. “Because everything is heavy and oversized on the Tatra you can hardly work on it by yourself. You simply need some extra hands. At the time I had just changed jobs and was working in a steel construction firm.
The owner of it kind of liked my project and offered to help me
The first thing was to detach the cargo body. “The chassis is made of extremely thick steel and did not need any repairs. The cab, however, was a different story. Rust had eaten up several panels. I decided to leave this for the time being and concentrate on the mechanics. Once the clutch, fuel, and
Photo: Looking forlorn in dull green. The 8×8 Tatra was found in the UK.
Photo: The large crew cab is fitted with only six bolts to the chassis and thus can be easily detached with the help of a forklift.
Because repairing the cab was too costly and tiresome, Willem approached a Tatra dealer in the Czech Republic.
“This way I managed to find a good-as-new cab, complete with doors, windows, and floor, and a full interior with seats, dashboard, heater and even a fire extinguisher!‘ On the mechanical side, new
“I am using it for leisure and do not want to be associated with the military. When we took it a few years later down to Romania I immediately noticed the difference. In some East- European countries they still use these Tatras and a few times people asked if we belonged to the army.‘ After a long trip of 6000
Photo: Willem and girlfriend Mirjana with their adventure-plus ride – the mighty Tatra. Like the Tatra, Mirjana also hails also from Eastern Europe.
“During one trip in southern Europe oil consumption went up to three
But the truck is used in the first instance as a mobile home.
Photo: Out for a romantic afternoon drive in their V12 8×8 ex-military go-anywhere vehicle…why wouldn‘t you?
“After driving all over Europe we took it last summer on a Long trip to North Africa. For the
Photo: Due to the ‘significant other‘ in the cab, any conversations occur via headset intercom, courtesy of the aviation industry.
Go anywhere, with almost anything!
The Tatra 813 Kolos, as it is officially known, was a purpose designed truck/tractor for military/