Larry Gill, owner of Offroad Trucks and DRILL 2012's major sponsor, talks about the partnership between his company and Tatra Trucks; and how this relationship helps them supply trucks specifically designed for Australian conditions. The Tatra company has been in operation for more than 150 years in Koprivnice in the Czech Republic. Its original concept was for horse drawn buggies, then moved on to rail carriages and locomotives. In 1898 they designed and built the first truck in Central Europe. In the 1920s and 30s, they were still involved in high speed trains (record holders) but had gone on further with the manufacture of trucks from the first World War through to the second World War. Tatra was specialising in all wheel drive vehicles from these early days. In the early 1930s, Mr Hans Ledwinka designed the revolutionary backbone tube drive line with independent suspension on every wheel. This revolutionary concept is still in operation today, and no other design is equal to its capabilities in working in adverse conditions. With this technology, Tatra is still one of the leading suppliers of military vehicles throughout the world. Fortunately, for the last 15 years, we have been able to use this military technology in all wheel vehicles in our tough Australian conditions.
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