page_title: Tatra 97
section_title: Resemblance to Volkswagen KdF-Wagen
hierarchical_section_title: Tatra 97 / Resemblance to Volkswagen KdF-Wagen
caption_attribution_description: Tatra T97Tatra T97
context_page_description: The Tatra 97 is a Czechoslovak mid-size car built by Tatra in Kopřivnice, Moravia from 1936 to 1939.
context_section_description: In both streamlined design and technical specifications, especially the engine design and position, the Type 97 has a striking resemblance to Volkswagen's KdF-Wagen. However Tatra 97 itself doesn't appear original, as it has resemblance to sketches by Hungarian engineer Bela Barenyi, conceived in the 1920s and published in 1934. In any case Adolf Hitler is reported to have encountered and said of Tatra's cars, "This is the car for my roads.". Ferdinand Porsche was accused of using Tatra designs to design the Volkswagen quickly and cheaply.  In Ledwinka's words, "Well, sometimes Porsche looked over my shoulder and sometimes I looked over his."
  Tatra sued Porsche for damages, and Porsche was willing to settle. But Hitler cancelled this, saying he "would settle the matter". Soon after Germany occupied the Sudetenland, Tatra stopped production of the Type 97 and the lawsuit was discontinued. After the Second World War Tatra resumed its lawsuit. In 1965 Volkswagen settled it by paying Tatra 1,000,000 DM in compensation.
caption: Tatra 97 interior
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