Rennzweier (The Double Racer) is a veteran automobile manufactured by Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriks-Gesellschaft A.G. (now known as Tatra) in 1900. It is sometimes also called ''First racing'', ''12 HP'' or ''Rennwagen'' (The Race Car). It was commissioned by baron Theodor von Liebig.

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, the man behind the famous rear-engined Tatras, and at the time only 20 years old, took part in constructing the car. The car was manufactured on May 5, 1900, and the manufacturing process took only 5 weeks.

Predecessor racers

In 1899, the NW-cars Wien and Nesselsdorf (descendant models after the

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), achieved their first significant racing success on the trotter course in Vienna Prater. It was the first ever race under the Austrian monarchy – starting on October 23, 1899. The driver of the winning NW-car ''Wien'' was baron Theodor von Liebig. The other NW-car ''Nesselsdorf'' was the second one before all competitors consisting of four Benz-cars and four Dietrich-Bolleé cars. Later, in March 1900, Liebig raced the triangle 192 km track Nizza – Draguignan – Nizza, where he won the second stage outright. Four days later he won the class of four-seaters up to 1000 kg in famous hill climb race Nizza – La Turbié. Based on this achievements, baron Liebig ordered the construction of a new automobile. While the previous cars Liebig used in races were built as common cars, the one he ordered was to be designed as a pure race car.Tatra - Passenger Cars, Karel Rosenkranz, TATRA, a. s., 2007

Design

The construction was unique at the time. The car was very low, especially the driver's seat. There was no bodywork – all mechanical parts were uncovered. Unlike its predecessors, the steering column was slightly tilted. The car had a modified Benz engine. It was a two-cylinder spark ignition engine with a power output of about 9 kW (12HP) at 1800RPM. It was transversely mounted above the driven rear axle. The driver was situated on a heightened seat behind the steering wheel, while the passenger seat was much lower on the frame, so the passenger's legs were sticking out under the car. The gas tank had a volume of 42 liters, while there was also another tank behind the driver for 15 liters of coolant. The car was able to reach a maximum speed of 82 km/h. Von Liebig raced the car in numerous contests. He won the La Turbie race that took place in Nice, and took second position in

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Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

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race. He later also took part in the

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-Vienna race. Today the Rennzweier is exhibited at the Czech National Technical Museum. A second racing car was made in 1901. This one also made do without bodywork, and this time featured a ''Hardy'' engine (flat two, 3188cc, 7,4 kW-8,85 kW (10-12HP)) was used instead of the previous Benz one.

References

Aleš Dragoun: NW Rennzweier (1900)

External links

Tatra portal - Web site about TATRA cars and trucks - Magazine articles about NW Rennzweier (Czech)
{{Tatra models Cars of the Czech Republic Tatra vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Rear-engined vehicles 1900s cars Vehicles introduced in 1900 Sports cars