Last year, we marked 90 years since the founding of the Bohemia coachworks in Česká Lípa, so we decided to organise a gathering of Tatra passenger cars called TATRA Concours d´Elegance BOHEMIA.
In 1919, a new railway-wagon factory opened in Česká Lípa under the name Nordböhmische Wagonen und Maschinen baugesellschaft G.m.b.H. After several successful years, however, the ongoing economic crisis brought the factory into serious financial difficulty in the late 1920s, even threatening to close production. The successful industrialist Baron Ringhoffer then acquired a substantial financial stake in the company. In the early 1930s, he renamed the rescued firm with the Czech name BOHEMIA, vozovka a strojírna s.r.o. v České Lípě. In 1933, a car coachworks called KAROSSERIA BOHEMIA also opened at this wagon factory in Česká Lípa. Since the Ringhoffer family also owned the Tatra car factory in Kopřivnice, the Česká Lípa works mainly built bodies for Tatra 57A and 75 passenger cars, but also produced bodies for commercial vehicles and buses.
Although car production at the Bohemia coachworks was short-lived and ended in 1936, when demand once again centred on railway wagons, an unspecified number of Tatra cars with very beautiful bodies were built here.
The Tatra Concours d‘Elegance display was a significant part of Speed Festival, highlighting the elegance and outstanding design of Tatra cars. The exhibition presented unique and rare models that amazed visitors with their beauty, impeccable finish and technical mastery. It included a competition for the most beautiful cars and also provided a meeting place for collectors and enthusiasts who shared a love of automotive history and superb design.