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When you think of supercar-building sovereign states, Czechoslovakia probably isn’t very high on the list. However, just because it doesn’t rank very high doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be on there at all. The region now known as the Czech Republic and Slovakia was, in fact, responsible for the car you see above: the mid-engined, air-cooled MTX Tatra V8.
Built as a collaboration between automakers MTX (originally a Škoda racecar repair shop) and Tatra (creators of the Tatra 97, a car that served as inspiration for the original Volkswagen Beetle) in 1991, the V8 was short-lived. Production allegedly ended after just four cars were made due to a fire that destroyed the Kopřivnice plant in which it was being built, per Drivetribe. Almost 200 orders were placed but, for obvious reasons, most were never filled.
Almost 20 years later, the mid-engined Czech supercar found new fame appearing in, of all things, the opening minutes of a Kanye West video. Specifically, we’re talking about the 34-minute “Runaway” film that actually encompasses quite a few tracks from the rapper’s 2010 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album. The MTX can be seen driving through the forest with West at the wheel, “Dark Fantasy” playing in the background. It’s then hit by a fireball raining down from the sky, resulting in the apparent fatality of a woman dressed up to look like a bird. In other words, just another Tuesday for Kanye West.
Using a 3.9-liter V8 sitting in the middle, the MTX Tatra V8 made 302 horsepower, hit 62 mph in 5.6 seconds, and boasted a top speed of 165 mph. It also had Lamborghini-style scissor doors and, in typical early-’90s fashion, pop-up headlights.
Got a question for the author about the MTX Tatra V8? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com.
