The most interestingly odd cars to come from Eastern Europe

Here are some of the most bizarre cars to emerge from the East.

If you were a top-tier Czech executive or a factory owner in the late 1950s, you would be driven around in a luxurious Tatra T603, a car that couldn’t be purchased by Joe Bloggs. Its body shape resembled that of a ground beetle and two large cooling ‘ears’ stuck out of each side, ventilating the oddball 99bhp 2.5-litre V8 at the rear. It was lathered in chrome and four round headlights sat up front.

The Ukraine-built 968 entered the Eastern European market as a people’s car. At first glance, it may not look too special, but it had a certain sportiness with its rear cooling ducts. Underneath, a 41bhp air-cooled 1.2-litre V4 engine drove the rear wheels through a four-speed manual gearbox. Out of the box, the engine made a great sound, and it had an audio system as standard — why bother with a Porsche?

The oddity that lies with this one is quite clear. Inspired by Morgan, the project started in 1936 as two Czech brothers set out to build a small and cheap three-wheeled car. In 1945, the brothers produced their first cars, swapping sheet metal for leather for the bodywork. The cars had motorcycle engines with 6bhp, and overall it cost a quarter of the price of an average car to buy – its name translated to “car on axle”.

By 1954, their small operation had gone large as 80 workers were building 40 Oskars per month. Around 16,680 were made. 

People could be fooled into thinking that this is one of Enzo Ferrari’s creations, but it was built in a country that no longer exists — the German Democratic Republic (DDR). With Le Mans car looks, gullwing doors and a fibreglass body, the RS1000 earned the “Socialist Ferrari” moniker. You would probably expect a howling V10 or harmonic V12, but no... At the rear was a 68bhp 1.0-litre two-stroke. Over 10 years, just 100 were produced. 

Marussia is a name that’s familiar to F1 followers, after taking over the Virgin Racing team. In 2008, the Russian brand revealed its B1 supercar, a car planned to snatch the demand of deep-pocketed Ferrari 458 buyers. Things got a bit bizarre around the engine choices. In base form, it had a 300bhp 3.5-litre V6, although a 2.8-litre Turbo V6 was offered in two tunes: 306bhp and 420bhp.

Weight was low at just 1100kg, trumping the 458’s power-to-weight ratio. A B2 car arrived in 2009, but the company later went under in 2014 with only 12 B2 cars sold.

Some people may be led to believe that Germany is all about luxury and prestige, but the 601 debunks this. It was East Germany’s personal transport solution: cheap and economical. Over the years, it became not only a communist icon, but also gathered a cult following around the world. Its two-cylinder 21bhp engine was designed to run on barrel bottom fuel. It weighed a smidge over 600kg and its doors were made from recycled cotton.

A large amount survive due to the car’s major rust-denying party-piece: its hard plastic bodywork.

Vladimir Putin clearly insisted on his presidential cars being Russian rather than German, so an armoured limo was built for him in the shape of the Aurus Senat. Oddly, it has the body shape, lights, rear and grille of a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but underneath it has a 598bhp 4.4-litre hybrid V8, designed with the help of both Porsche and Bosch. Its $160,000 price tag is a fair bit cheaper than the luxurious Brit’s, however. 

Produced from 1970 to 1988, the 2101 was a heavily modified guise of the Fiat 124, tailored for the Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union. If you bought an early car, you’d get a starting handle to manually crank the engine, should the battery go flat in colder weather, and an auxiliary fuel pump. Over 800 changes were made to the car over its lifespan so it could cope with the tough Russian roads. Today, there are plenty still pottering around Eastern Europe. 

Skoda had big plans to turn its quirky 1000mb into a coupe, but this was quickly dropped due to structural issues. Instead, it took a 110 saloon, chopped the rear, and the 110 R was born. Around 57,000 cars were built, and notably, some featured Porsche-like hubcaps. At the rear, two side-mounted fins fed air to the 52bhp 1.1-litre engine. 

Times were tough during the Soviet Union and not many were in a financial position to buy a car. As a result, the government stepped up and Russian microcar manufacturer, SMZ, was given the go-ahead to produce cheap cars for those who were disabled. The car would be given to people in need for free or with a heavy discount. Inside, it would seat two, and an 18bhp air-cooled two-stroke engine would shove its 500kg mass to a 34mph top speed. 

Engineer Nicolae Cosmescu (1950-2020) chased his childhood dream to build a mid-engined sportscar, and the result was the MD87. Its bodywork came from the Dacia Sport while the engine was moved to the back— its clutch cable was a cool three metres long. The name refers to Cosmescu’s wife (Monica) and his son (Dragos), while the 87 refers to the year that the car was scheduled for launch in. Its design is somewhat peculiar and is said to have been inspired by the Ford GT40. 

Essentially, Lada took a 111 bodyshell, placed it onto a Lada Niva chassis and gave it beefy off-road tyres and a bull bar to top things off. It looked perfectly capable with its high ground clearance and four-wheel drive, but the heavy Tarzan 2 was still powered by a 1.8-litre 80bhp powerplant. It’s believed that roughly 1000 cars were built. 

Before the 1410’s introduction in 1983, Dacia was already making cars such as the 1310. The 1310 blended in with traffic, and in 1983 Dacia facelifted its entire range and introduced the 1410 Sport to keep up with other fastback coupes from rival manufacturers. Its proportions were awkward, leaving many unsure whether they’re buying a sports car or a chopped family car. 

It was Russia’s equivalent of East Germany’s Trabant, and while it was praised for its excellent all-round performance, the 966 went under some scrutiny because of its design. Many thought it resembled an insect and it quickly earned its “hunchback” moniker. Others mocked it for being a small car with large ears due to the air intakes on the side, although this was found in other cars of the same era. One famous owner was Vladimir Putin; a 966 was his first car, acquired in 1972.

The Soviet car racing scene was still young in 1939, and while some marques had built sports cars previously, lightweight body panels and components were still waiting to be discovered. ZIS already had the 101: a large limo designed with the wealthiest in mind. To keep up with the growing sports car demand, the 101A Sport was built as an “athletic limo”.

The project was canned due to the underpowered 141bhp straight-eight engine,  and its luxury car bones bequeathed a hefty weight (around 2000kg) – and in any case in 1939 the Soviet Union would soon have plenty of other things on its mind; a shame, as we reckon this is one of the finest looking sportsters of the ‘30s; just two were built, but several have been re-created in recent years, and we certainly understand why.

Cars imported into Yugoslavia after the Second World War were slapped with a 41% import duty, which meant that only the wealthiest of Yugoslavians could afford these — the only way for many was to go with locally built cars. Zastava saw an opportunity and struck a deal with Fiat to build the 600 in Yugoslavia, which became the Zastava 750. Oddly, although both cars were almost identical, the 750 was slightly longer than the Fiat 600. 

Like the Lada Tarzan-2 mentioned previously, the 24-95 is another example of a saloon car on stilts. The 24 was modular and as a result some were turned into convertibles for military parades and others were given pickup beds. In a bid to assist high-ranking police and militia officials in dealing with harsh Russian winters, GAZ constructed five four-wheel drive 24-95s.

The front axle was a Volga rear axle which was turned backwards, it had raised leaf spring suspension and slightly chunkier tyres. Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev had one, who found it useful to practice his passion for hunting.