Tatra 138

The Tatra 138 is a truck produced in Czechoslovakia by the Tatra company, built from 1959 to 1971 as the immediate successor to the Tatra 111. The decision to replace the 111 was taken in 1952 under central planning, and Tatra showed the T137 and T138 at the Brno machinery expo in 1956, with up to 70 percent of parts shared. New features included hydraulic power steering, an air assisted clutch and electro-pneumatic auxiliary gearbox selection. It kept the central backbone tube in modular 4x4, 6x6 and rarer 4x2, 6x4 and 6x2 forms, with an air-cooled 75 degree V8 ahead of the front axle that also powered the OT-64 armoured personnel carrier. Top speed was 72 km/h with a payload of 12,000 kg. More than 45,900 were built and exported to the USSR, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, France, Austria, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands.