ability of the car to reach with a mere of engine power: normally at that time twice the power was required for a car to reach such a speed. Director Maurice Elvey was so amazed by the looks of the car that he used the T77 in his science-fiction movie The Transatlantic Tunnel. Notable owners The Tatra 77 was the particular favourite of Tatra design engineer Erich Übelacker, who owned and used a T77 himself from 1934. Other famous owners of T77s were Miloš Havel, the proprietor of the film studios in Prague, who bought a T77 in 1935, Austrian car designer Edmund Rumpler, who designed the aerodynamic Rumpler Tropfenwagen in 1921, Edvard Beneš, the 1930s minister of Foreign Affairs and later president of Czechoslovakia, who both owned a T77a. Design A number of designers around the world were trying to construct an aerodynamic car at the time, but Tatra was the first one to successfully introduce it into serial production. There were numerous reasons why Tatra designers took such a revolutionary approach to the conception of the new car: First of all it was their aim to reduce drag, mostly air-drag, which increases with the square of the speed. A car with a more standard body shape of the era needed a very powerful engine to reach higher speeds. The Tatra's new body shape was tested in a wind tunnel. However, the new requirements this brought about resulted in far-reaching changes to the car's design. The requirement of a small front face area limited the car's height, which in turn required the use of a flat floor. That led to putting the engine in the rear of the car, directly above the driven axle. Subsequently there was no need for a floor tunnel with a drive shaft and exhaust pipes, which contributed to a reduction in weight. As the designers wanted to reduce the rolling resistance, they did their best to produce an engine as light as possible: an air-cooled V8 with a crank case made from elektron, a magnesium alloy. The gearbox was also made from elektron, and it was positioned in front of the engine and rear axle. The rear position of the engine was favourable for air cooling, while the oil cooler, battery and spare wheel were positioned in the front of the car. The frameless body was characterized by its central structural member, which was