We rub our eyes: This elegant Tatra 57B from 1947, which from the front is somewhat reminiscent of Bugatti, is said to have once served the PTT? “That’s right,” confirms Tim Hellstern, conservator-restorer for technical cultural assets at the Museum for Communication in Bern. “During and shortly after the Second World War, the then PTT procured such Tatra 57B models as Postfourgon, as the vehicles for express service at the post office were called at the time.”
The PTT ordered 21 Tatra 57Bs
The robust Czech Tatra with central tubular frame and transverse suspension, four-speed gearbox and 1250 cc engine with 25 hp have been imported into Switzerland from Garage Schenk in Worblaufen BE since 1935. The company Reber & Sohn from Bern was responsible for the elegant body with the curved fenders, the large radiator grille, the low roof edge and the rear-hinged driver, passenger and rear doors. The archive contains documents according to which the PTT ordered five Tatra 57Bs in 1941, ten more in 1947 and another six a year later. “Back then, at the beginning of motorization and compared to the VW Beetles procured later in the 1950s and 60s, those were of course modest numbers,” says specialist Tim Hellstern.
Series: model cars with reference to Switzerland
In cooperation with model importer Arwico, we present a model car and its original with a Swiss reference every month – regardless of whether it is a showcase, remote-controlled RC or slot racing model. At the beginning of the series, we used the collector’s model Monteverdi High Speed 375 S High Speed from AutoCult to show how much effort it takes to create a small 1:43 model that costs around 95 to 120 francs in retail.
AutoCult has all of its models hand-built in China and only sells 333 copies each.
Raoul Schwinnen
In cooperation with model importer Arwico, we present a model car and its original with a Swiss reference every month – regardless of whether it is a showcase, remote-controlled RC or slot racing model. At the beginning of the series, we used the collector’s model Monteverdi High Speed 375 S High Speed from AutoCult to show how much effort it takes to create a small 1:43 model that costs around 95 to 120 francs in retail.
Daniel Gasser from toy importer Arwico was just as amazed when he came across the pictures of a still existing yellow and black painted PTT Tatra 57B from 1947 in his spare time while browsing the Internet: “I was immediately struck by the extreme elegant shape of this vehicle fascinates. ” And because there are less brand-loving collectors on the model car market in Switzerland, unlike in Germany or Austria, and because we are primarily interested in national topics such as rail, post, blue light and army vehicles, it was obvious for the model car specialist to have this extraordinary PTT service vehicle built in Bern produced in a 1:43 model collector’s scale. After he was able to inspire his German producer AutoCult with the idea, implementation began.
The original is in the PTT depot
The Museum for Communication (formerly the Postal Museum) is an interactive museum on communication in Bern. It was founded in 1907 as a company museum for the Swiss Post. A stagecoach, a PTT Beetle or an original escape vehicle from the Zurich postal robbery of the century – all this and much more can be seen in the core exhibition of the Museum of Communication (opening times: Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
The well-preserved original of the Tatra-57B-PTT model is, however, together with many other historical Post vehicles (including 25 PostBus) in the collection depot in Schwarzenburg BE and can only be admired there on one of the rare open days. No such event is currently planned. Should the depot open its doors to visitors again, the date will be announced on www.mfk.ch in good time.
The Museum for Communication (formerly the Postal Museum) is an interactive museum on communication in Bern. It was founded in 1907 as the company museum of the Swiss Post. A stagecoach, a PTT Beetle or an original escape vehicle from the Zurich Century Postal Robbery – all this and much more can be seen in the core exhibition of the Museum of Communication (opening times: Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
The well-preserved original of the Tatra-57B-PTT model is, however, together with many other historical Post vehicles (including 25 PostBus) in the collection depot in Schwarzenburg BE and can only be admired there on one of the rare open days. No such event is currently planned. Should the depot open its doors to visitors again, the date will be announced on www.mfk.ch in good time.
Original with year of birth 1947
Daniel Gasser and Thomas Roschmann from AutoCult chose a left-hand-drive original as a model for measuring and converting into a model, which was acquired by the Post in 1947 and was first used in the express service for a few years in the Basel region, later with around 75,000 kilometers on the clock was transferred to Bern, where it continued to serve. In the meantime, the well-preserved original vehicle with the post number 797 is in the collection depot of the Museum for Communication in Schwarzenburg BE, where it is currently not to be admired by the public.
In return, the 300-piece model, which has been produced with great attention to detail, has been available from specialist retailers for a few days at a unit price of 119 francs. And Daniel Gasser is confident that this model will find many buyers in Switzerland, but also in Germany and the Czech Republic.