T

Abbreviation for "Tachometer".

Instrument to record, on a circular chart, vehicle trip information such as mph, rpm, "stop" and "go" periods. It is used on transport trucks and, generally, is a combination of clock, speedometer, odometer, tachometer and recorder.

A pivoting actuator than opens and closes cylinder valves. Also called "Valve Lifter", this is the unit that makes contact with the valve stem and the camshaft. It rides on the camshaft. When the cam lobes push it upwards, it opens the valve.

Known Czech automotive company trade name. The beginning of car production in the small Moravian village of Koprivnice (then called Nesseldorf) dates back to 1850, when Ignác Sustala founded a family company to manufacture coaches and carriages of his own design. The uncomfortable carriages were replaced step-by step by railroad transport. Sustala´s company built some new facilities to produce its first 15 railway wagons in 1882. An important milestone came in 1897, when the company built the first passenger car in Central Europe, the "Präsident", and in 1898 when the first lorry was produced here. The lorry of payload 2.5 t was driven by two, rear-housed Benz engines, and made in fact a basis for Tatra truck production for the years to follow.

A major contribution to Tatra tradition was made by the ingenious designer Hans Ledwinka, who in 1923 introduced the T 11 car to public. The car design concept was truly of revolutionary nature. This design idea became famous as "Tatra chassis design" that has been used since.

In 1934, the name "Tatra" was officially registered as company's trade name. The third milestone, in 1934, was the aircraft production startup in Tatra.

In after-war period, Tatra specialized itself in production of luxury cars in low and medium series but, in 1998, passenger car production was terminated and company specialized itself mainly on truck production - a sector that, since 1942, was gaining ever bigger share to become the core business now. Truck production development was possible mainly thanks to army orders. Extreme cross-country performance, robust design, simple maintenance, high productivity and long durability made Tatra an ideal engine to work in extreme climatic and off-road environment.

Tatra emblem was introduced in 1919, when the mark N.W. (Nesseldorfer Wagenbau) was renamed to Koprivnická Vozovka a.s.